Reply to: iprofile???

[Clippy]

Finally got round to reading the email I received about iProfiles and was going to sign up but thought I would check on here first.

Glad I did.

That's one less thing to do on my to do list!

[BrilloPad]

Hardly a major problem, agencies phoning. I used to go in and delete it every time (it's been going on for YEARS) but I couldn't give a crapola now.

it is a big problem if on my personal mobile! I keep an agent mobile and one for people I want to speak to...

[TheBigYinJames]

I would not leave it...
http://forums.contractoruk.com/327705-post10.html

Hardly a major problem, agencies phoning. I used to go in and delete it every time (it's been going on for YEARS) but I couldn't give a crapola now.

[BrilloPad]

Just ignore them. Daft agencies sign you up for it without your premission, and you can't get them to get rid of it without a lot of trouble, and then you get registered by the next numptie....

best just leave it.

I would not leave it...

http://forums.contractoruk.com/327705-post10.html

[TheBigYinJames]

Got an email from iProfile today 'welcoming' me to their service

Just ignore them. Daft agencies sign you up for it without your premission, and you can't get them to get rid of it without a lot of trouble, and then you get registered by the next numptie....

best just leave it.

[windog]

Got an email from iProfile today 'welcoming' me to their service

said >>> a recruitment agency set up your iProfile on...

so I logged in and they have a 6 year old copy of my CV with a telephone number I don't recognise as my contact number. Rung it and it's a recruitment company that I have never heard of

They have also changed my CV to make it look better - lies actually.
The part time cinema job I did at uni has been changed to a support/analyst role!!! for a cinema

deleted it - rung the agency but they dont know anything about it or how it happened etc...
agencies seem to always deny everything if you ring them about spamming, text spamming, not deleting your contact details from their DB etc...

[jazza]

It's not very smart yet, or agents aren't. Or both.

As we all know, it does (or is made to do) some pretty dumb keyword matching. If you have "database" on your CV, you'll get pinged repeatedly for DBA roles. "SQL" will get you SQL Server DBA roles. CRM will get you all levels of roles using all CRM software, as well as 1st-line support for apps using any CRM package.

One of these CVs I must try the legendary "I have NEVER used xxxxx" and wait for the xxxxx contract offers.

Yes I don't think it does anything too clever. SQL Server full text indexing for the fuzzy searches. Things have probably moved on these days though.

[NickFitz]

It's not very smart yet, or agents aren't. Or both.

As we all know, it does (or is made to do) some pretty dumb keyword matching. If you have "database" on your CV, you'll get pinged repeatedly for DBA roles...

Earlier this year I received an email from a well-known agency seeking "heating, ventilation and air-conditioning engineers"

I still haven't worked out which part of my CV might have met the following criteria:

- HVAC
- HVAC Design
- Maintenance
- Heat Calculation
- Load Calculation
- Heat Transfer
- Fan Design
- Thermal Calculation
- HEBA comp
- Ductwork
- Site Surveys
- Design for installation
- Air Handling Units (AHU’s)
- Cooling Towers

I did watch some cooling towers being demolished back in 1982, but I don't recall ever listing this as a "skill" anywhere

[oraclesmith]

I used to diligently update my iProfile with accurate information and then realised that every so often it would get overwritten with garbage from recruiters, so I don't bother anymore. Occasionally I get spam from recruiters who are looking for something well wide of the mark - like a French-speaking payroll expert - and I think 'iProfile' !!

[malvolio]

Ask Malvolio if the PCG have got anywhere with this yet

Sore point. We are "in discussion" with them, and have made some progress, but they are not exactly falling over themselves to help. My view, which is shared by some, is that their model is only of use to permies and if they want to handle contractor CVs they need a second service, but I don't hold out any hope of the people on our side pushing for that to happen.

The other issue is that you have to agree to their totally unacceptable Ts&Cs before using the site. The answer to that is to click the "Accept" button then cheerfully ignore them and legalities be damned. And by far the best answer right now is to open your CV on their database, delete all the content and replace it with "Quick Brown Fox" nonsense (someone suggested "FOAD iProfiles" as a string...) and lock it against further editing. Personally as soon as Hays or one of the other misguided souls tell me they have created an iProfile for me, I immediately delete it. It's not like it will cost me work or anything.

I also asked a few of the more intelligent agencies about their service. Polite laughter was the average answer...

[expat]

Funnily enough I worked on this bit of software at one point in time (not the website though I hasten to add). Basically the agents have a desktop tool that they use for searching CVs, so presumably they can do much more specific types of searches than they can on the job boards.

Actually software for parsing cvs and uploading details is a reasonably big business in the recruitment world I believe.

It's not very smart yet, or agents aren't. Or both.

As we all know, it does (or is made to do) some pretty dumb keyword matching. If you have "database" on your CV, you'll get pinged repeatedly for DBA roles. "SQL" will get you SQL Server DBA roles. CRM will get you all levels of roles using all CRM software, as well as 1st-line support for apps using any CRM package.

One of these CVs I must try the legendary "I have NEVER used xxxxx" and wait for the xxxxx contract offers.

[jazza]

Funnily enough I worked on this bit of software at one point in time (not the website though I hasten to add). Basically the agents have a desktop tool that they use for searching CVs, so presumably they can do much more specific types of searches than they can on the job boards.

Actually software for parsing cvs and uploading details is a reasonably big business in the recruitment world I believe.

[Diver]

In fact there is an option to delete now (unsubscribe they called it). But they also say that as soon as you send your CV to another agent that uses iProfile you will be signed up again.

You know, there must be a law against this. Any lawyers frequent this site?

Contractors

[Cowboy Bob]

Ask Malvolio if the PCG have got anywhere with this yet

[Angus]

In fact there is an option to delete now (unsubscribe they called it). But they also say that as soon as you send your CV to another agent that uses iProfile you will be signed up again.

You know, there must be a law against this. Any lawyers frequent this site?