Fake jobs

[jmo21]

I had an amusing one last week - I can't quite decide if it is a fake or not, but let me run you through the toe curling conversation.

Me + Family @ Pub Lunch

Ring! Ring!

Me : Hello, IT Drone Speaking

Language Barrier Agent : Hi, We got your CV for XYZ FANTASTIC JOB. Me and my colleague ( sic ) have looked through your CV and decided its just right for the role.

Me : Mouth twitching into smile, looking at half empty pint, rolling eyes and thinking, Oh god, 30 seconds til references.

Me : Thats great that both of you really like my CV.

LBA : Yeah, its great that you've got some long contracts. Now, what rate are you looking for?

Me : Names high rate and waits for the argy bargy as we come down to an ok one.

LBA : OK, thats great, now, tell me a bit about your current role.

Me : Reported into "Great and Powerful Service Director for Huge Blue Chip company who, clearly, needs billions of staff every second of the day"

LBA : Thats really great, we knew you where just the right person to call! Now, in order for the eventual contractor to start with our client, we like to provide references along with the CV

Me : Thats a great idea, really speeds the process up.

LBA : Yeah, so can you tell us who your manager was and give us some contact details?

Me : If your client, and I completely respect your urge to keep them confidential, makes an offer after interview, then sure.

LBA : oh..............

Me : Anyway, thanks for you time, and do give me a ring if they want to proceed to interview. Bye

Me : Drops call off mobile.

Family :

So guys, they are still out there and as active as ever.

I've been on the bench for a few months now, and had the foresight to put some rainy day money away to last me fairly comfortably until 2010. But still, market seems quite random.

Your Penguin in Arms

Pingu

- LBA = Lying barsteward Agent

[Pingu]

Yet more fake jobs

I had an amusing one last week - I can't quite decide if it is a fake or not, but let me run you through the toe curling conversation.

Me + Family @ Pub Lunch

Ring! Ring!

Me : Hello, IT Drone Speaking

Language Barrier Agent : Hi, We got your CV for XYZ FANTASTIC JOB. Me and my colleague ( sic ) have looked through your CV and decided its just right for the role.

Me : Mouth twitching into smile, looking at half empty pint, rolling eyes and thinking, Oh god, 30 seconds til references.

Me : Thats great that both of you really like my CV.

LBA : Yeah, its great that you've got some long contracts. Now, what rate are you looking for?

Me : Names high rate and waits for the argy bargy as we come down to an ok one.

LBA : OK, thats great, now, tell me a bit about your current role.

Me : Reported into "Great and Powerful Service Director for Huge Blue Chip company who, clearly, needs billions of staff every second of the day"

LBA : Thats really great, we knew you where just the right person to call! Now, in order for the eventual contractor to start with our client, we like to provide references along with the CV

Me : Thats a great idea, really speeds the process up.

LBA : Yeah, so can you tell us who your manager was and give us some contact details?

Me : If your client, and I completely respect your urge to keep them confidential, makes an offer after interview, then sure.

LBA : oh..............

Me : Anyway, thanks for you time, and do give me a ring if they want to proceed to interview. Bye

Me : Drops call off mobile.

Family :

So guys, they are still out there and as active as ever.

I've been on the bench for a few months now, and had the foresight to put some rainy day money away to last me fairly comfortably until 2010. But still, market seems quite random.

Your Penguin in Arms

Pingu

[TykeMerc]

Is the number of fake jobs increasing? And will some agencies go to the wall?

Yes and yes.

[BrilloPad]

Is the number of fake jobs increasing? And will some agencies go to the wall?

[expat]

Aren't fake jobs totally illegal now ?

I mean they can be a bit tardy about removing already filled jobs from Jobserve but that's about it.

To be irritatingly precise, we are not talking about jobs here, we're talking about contracts between businesses.

Note BTW Malvolio's fine response. The whole thing is about agents trying to gain an advantage in an overcrowded market (theirs), by means other than being better. Being visibly better is of course difficult when its hard to see what good you are in the first place.

[thunderlizard]

A certain agent of dodgy repute explained this really well a few weeks ago:

http://forums.contractoruk.com/gener...cies-work.html

[TykeMerc]

"so they will go through their current list of candidates and look for a match."

Have serious doubts about that ! Personally get a ton of emails that have no / zip / zero relevance to either the "profile" or even the itself Cv., i.e. they ( the agents ) have NOT read it or even categorized my skill set.

For example, at the most basic level, what part of "CONTRACT ONLY" do they not understand ?

"job adverts bear little relationship to the actual requirement" ECHO that !

I get loads of those too, the simple fact is they don't read the CV's, they use document search systems and email bomb all the hits on a certain number of matches.

I just bin them.

Aren't fake jobs totally illegal now ?

I mean they can be a bit tardy about removing already filled jobs from Jobserve but that's about it!

Literally speaking yes, but who's going to check, for that matter how can they be sensibly checked?

[eliquant]

Aren't fake jobs totally illegal now ?

I mean they can be a bit tardy about removing already filled jobs from Jobserve but that's about it.

[greg_canada]

"so they will go through their current list of candidates and look for a match."

Have serious doubts about that ! Personally get a ton of emails that have no / zip / zero relevance to either the "profile" or even the itself Cv., i.e. they ( the agents ) have NOT read it or even categorized my skill set.

For example, at the most basic level, what part of "CONTRACT ONLY" do they not understand ?

"job adverts bear little relationship to the actual requirement" ECHO that !

[malvolio]

It's more subtle than that. They get paid by putting people into jobs. If they have a vacancy, they want to be the ones to fill it, so they will go through their current list of candidates and look for a match. To increase the chances of that happening, you post non-existent roles to harvest CVs across a range of skill sets. But if you post a role on Jobserve, at least one of your rivals will know what the job is and may well poach it, using their own list of CVs. So the trick is to gather CVs without giving away the job you're trying to fill; which is also why most job adverts bear little relationship to the actual requirement.

Good, innit.

[pmeswani]

I'm new to contracting. I've seen a number of post where people talk about fake jobs to aquire CVs

I don't understand - why would an agency want to wast time with CVs for jobs that dont exist?

Because it is cheaper to post fake jobs to acquire CVs than to obtain CVs by paying for it. When a candidate post a CV on a Job Board, the Agency will see it.... if they want it without asking the candidates, they have to pay for it.

[NickFitz]

Usually they will tell you that they need references before they can put you forward for the putative contract. You then tell them the details of the people who have been responsible for hiring you in the past, imagining that the agent will call them to establish your credentials.

In fact, the putative contract doesn't exist. The agent phones those people whose details you have provided in the hope of obtaining business from them for their future recruitment requirements, and you never hear from the agent again, because there was no contract.

When you do need a reference from those people for a real contract, they won't give you one, because they're so sick of taking phone calls from agents, all of whom have said you were responsible for telling them to call.

Always remember: if you give most agents a goose that lays golden eggs, they'll immediately call all the goose's previous owners asking if they want to buy a goose, at the same time as throttling the existing goose, throwing its body in the canal, and chucking its eggs in the bin. Strange business model, but that's what they do.

[Soled73]

I'm new to contracting. I've seen a number of post where people talk about fake jobs to aquire CVs

I don't understand - why would an agency want to wast time with CVs for jobs that dont exist?