Reply to: interview with agency, via google hangout

[MrMarkyMark]

next time attach your photo to your cv

Unless you are a real munter, of course

At Client Cos Polish office, a lot of the girls have their online / Lync photos all in soft focus / photo shopped etc.

Very odd

[JRCT]

I might hire a lookalike, in case I have to do this. Someone who looks like me, but ever so slightly younger, slimmer, more attractive (if that person exists).

[Eirikur]

so turns out it was standard enough, he dropped me a mail with a few standard questions (background, projects managed, problems encountered etc), then logged me into the hangout, turned broadcast on (to record I imagine), ran through the questions for about 5-10 minutes and that was it

I asked if it was the agency or the client that had requested the hangout interviews and he said it was the client, because they are hiring a large number of people, they want to get a quick look at people and decide who they want to bring in

will see what comes of it

next time attach your photo to your cv

[Antman]

Please do. People will be interested to know.

[moneymoney]

All the moaning on these forums about agents not having a clue about our industries / skills, etc, and how they add no value to the recruitment process as they do not effectively vet contractors before submission.

Now an agent says they want to interview a contractor before submission and people still aren't happy?

Of course, I agree that the questions are more likely to be around previous contracts, contact names, etc, but still...

This wasn't something the agent initiated, this was a request from the end client. I don't have any real issue with it, I just posted the question as I hadn't come across this type of screening previously so wanted to know if others had.

In fairness the questions were all standard interview questions and definitely not fishing for information about previous roles/contacts. I expect I might hear an update by the end of the week so I'll keep updating the thread if I do.

[Forgotmylogin]

All the moaning on these forums about agents not having a clue about our industries / skills, etc, and how they add no value to the recruitment process as they do not effectively vet contractors before submission.

Now an agent says they want to interview a contractor before submission and people still aren't happy?

Of course, I agree that the questions are more likely to be around previous contracts, contact names, etc, but still...

[LondonManc]

I've worked with DBAs who we simply didn't let near business people. It's not necessarily just face fitting.

[moneymoney]

Ah, so they want to see if you match (look like) their existing workforce profile in terms of age, appearance, mannerisms, 'fit,' etc.

yes, that's exactly what I thought! in some ways I can understand them wanting to make sure I can speak clearly and how I present myself but I wouldn't be surprised if it was more about being part of what they see as the "fit" for their company

[Elliegirl]

Ah, so they want to see if you match (look like) their existing workforce profile in terms of age, appearance, mannerisms, 'fit,' etc.

I went to an interview once where I was told by the agent afterwards that the client said my 'face didn't fit'. The agent had never met me and would never have conveyed that message if he had.

So naturally I swallowed my disappointment and got another role 2 weeks later paying an extra £150 a day.

[BolshieBastard]

he said it was the client, because they are hiring a large number of people, they want to get a quick look at people and decide who they want to bring in

Ah, so they want to see if you match (look like) their existing workforce profile in terms of age, appearance, mannerisms, 'fit,' etc.

[moneymoney]

so turns out it was standard enough, he dropped me a mail with a few standard questions (background, projects managed, problems encountered etc), then logged me into the hangout, turned broadcast on (to record I imagine), ran through the questions for about 5-10 minutes and that was it

I asked if it was the agency or the client that had requested the hangout interviews and he said it was the client, because they are hiring a large number of people, they want to get a quick look at people and decide who they want to bring in

will see what comes of it

[BolshieBastard]

Is it any different from a Skype interview?

Totally different as far as I understand hang out. Hang out is open to anyone to join in at any time. Its like an open conference call where anyone on the net can join in.

Skype is one to one because they're contact you via your Skype number \ name etc.

I wouldnt do an interview via Hang Out myself.

[LondonManc]

the contact came through linkedin, so he's a legitimate recruiter (as much as they can be) or if not, he's gone to a lot of effort building up a profile, contacts and history

he has sent on a spec and told me about the client it is for, which all adds up, so it might be legit......i'll go ahead with it and update tomorrow with the questions

If you've got a specific role and client then great. Could be that LinkedIn is a new way of operating for some of them (could mean that they don't have to share leads on corporate systems).

[MrMarkyMark]

he has sent on a spec and told me about the client it is for, which all adds up, so it might be legit......i'll go ahead with it and update tomorrow with the questions

If that's the case, I would go for it, then

[moneymoney]

I've heard of that before. I'd wait and see what the five questions are first - overly specific and I'd smell a rat. It could be that they want a specific subset of skills, though, for a particular problem.

the contact came through linkedin, so he's a legitimate recruiter (as much as they can be) or if not, he's gone to a lot of effort building up a profile, contacts and history

he has sent on a spec and told me about the client it is for, which all adds up, so it might be legit......i'll go ahead with it and update tomorrow with the questions