Reply to: Agent speak

[Ken Dodd]

references required

I did a contract last year and was asked for references by the agency after I had secured the gig. I gave them one work/client referee and one personal referee. None were contacted.

I was asked again for my current role at initial CV submission stage, and I trotted-out my new answer; "I am more than happy to give you contact details for referees, but the previous clients (the referees) have said specifically that I must ring them first to forewarn them that an Agency would be contacting them AND they do not want to be contacted unless there is a firm contract offer. They are very busy people." Since then, no-one has mentioned this again, and I have been here nearly two months. It makes you wonder.

If every applicant gave gives you two names of referees, you will soon fill your contacts database.

[Pogle]

I was under the impression that if your CV was being sent off to a client you had a legal right to know who the client was?
Otherwise, how could you agree to it being sent on - it may be going to someone you don't want to work for.

I would not allow my CV to be sent out unless i was told who it was going to.

Sounds to me like you had captain Birdseye on the phone!

Pogle

[Liability]

I get dispensation - I am illiterate and also cant read and write.

[DS23]

I had a good one today

Agent One - Calls and says he has a role in Bracknell and I have the skills that suit. Than asks if I have done any client facing roles? At this point my attitude to him was downhill but I kept with it - told him to refer to the cv during periods "so and so". "Ahhh! Yes - We recruit exclusively for them" Now this bit! WHAT A BLOODY CHEEK. He reels off names that DO NOT EXIST THEIR! With the intention of me YET AGAIN saying "oh no, they dont know me but so-and-so" anyway - moving along we than hit me with the "So who did you work for?" At this stage I ask "Who are you recruiting for their as Ill know them" at which point he pretended to read my CV paused and said "My account manager will be calling you soon".

20 mins later

"Hi, you just spoke to my colleague about a role." To which i explained that no I didnt, he was telling me he had a role to fill and then went off on a tangent. He then followed up with "So who was you working for their?" at this point I asked why he wants to know. He explanation was so that he can check I was their. LOL.

At this point I said I wouldnt work their as their tulip and have have no desire to excel in their market. Fone went down.

These guys are getting really desperate!

[Lewis]

I am discussing with an agent about a potential new role. He contacted me and seems genuinely enthusiastic over it BUT he

1) won't reveal the client unless I get shortlisted for an interview

2) he wants references prior to interview if I am short listed (I intend to hand these directly to the end client at interview).

Part of me suspects a rat but another part of me thinks this could be all genuine. I am going with the flow for now but I would be interested to hear what you think.

If it is all a fake, what would the agents motivation be?

(Almost) all comments welcome.

Rat ... I would never allow my CV to be send to a company I didn't know. I might not be interesting in contracting there!

[qska]

"So who was you working for their?"



"there"

[DodgyAgent]

I am discussing with an agent about a potential new role. He contacted me and seems genuinely enthusiastic over it BUT he

1) won't reveal the client unless I get shortlisted for an interview

2) he wants references prior to interview if I am short listed (I intend to hand these directly to the end client at interview).

Part of me suspects a rat but another part of me thinks this could be all genuine. I am going with the flow for now but I would be interested to hear what you think.

If it is all a fake, what would the agents motivation be?

(Almost) all comments welcome.

If the job were real he would not compromise the possibility of attracting the best contractors by adding the burden of providing references. It is a reference fishing ploy.

Sorry answered it before

[lightng]

He reels off names that DO NOT EXIST THEIR!

Yup, same thing happened to me. To my embarrassment, I gave them a real name and only after five minutes realised what they were doing. That was early days - now I treat all agents with the suspicion that most of them deserve. If I'd read this forum then, I would have been much wiser to their weasel tricks.

[Liability]

I had a good one today

Agent One - Calls and says he has a role in Bracknell and I have the skills that suit. Than asks if I have done any client facing roles? At this point my attitude to him was downhill but I kept with it - told him to refer to the cv during periods "so and so". "Ahhh! Yes - We recruit exclusively for them" Now this bit! WHAT A BLOODY CHEEK. He reels off names that DO NOT EXIST THEIR! With the intention of me YET AGAIN saying "oh no, they dont know me but so-and-so" anyway - moving along we than hit me with the "So who did you work for?" At this stage I ask "Who are you recruiting for their as Ill know them" at which point he pretended to read my CV paused and said "My account manager will be calling you soon".

20 mins later

"Hi, you just spoke to my colleague about a role." To which i explained that no I didnt, he was telling me he had a role to fill and then went off on a tangent. He then followed up with "So who was you working for their?" at this point I asked why he wants to know. He explanation was so that he can check I was their. LOL.

At this point I said I wouldnt work their as their tulip and have have no desire to excel in their market. Fone went down.

These guys are getting really desperate!

[Crusoe101]

Yes but

It could be government.

I had a perm role like this and turned out to be a very deep MOD role

[expat]

No agent is going to give up on a "right time" "wants the job" "right skills" "right price" contractor candidate for the sake of references which are not even required until the contractor has landed the job.

Let us get this straight references are no more than "was he there? " and for how long? No agent is going to waste time checking references unless the contractor has got the job and cannot start the contract until the references have been checked.

reference requests are as I have said before provide serious market information- and in the case of most agencies they are now built in to the day to day activities of each recruitment consultant-. All the "GREAT AND THE GOOD" "evangelists" who get paid for trotting out speel of how to succeed in recruitment, are using reference chasing as "the next big thing" for making recruitment agencies succeed.

The voice of sanity as usual from Dodgy. Of course he wants references, that's part of his job; but he won't pass by a paying deal for want of them.

As Dodgy also points out, your contacts are serious market information: stop throwing them away. Give them to people you like (i.e. who help you make money).

[DodgyAgent]

I am discussing with an agent about a potential new role. He contacted me and seems genuinely enthusiastic over it BUT he

1) won't reveal the client unless I get shortlisted for an interview

2) he wants references prior to interview if I am short listed (I intend to hand these directly to the end client at interview).

Part of me suspects a rat but another part of me thinks this could be all genuine. I am going with the flow for now but I would be interested to hear what you think.

If it is all a fake, what would the agents motivation be?

(Almost) all comments welcome.

No agent is going to give up on a "right time" "wants the job" "right skills" "right price" contractor candidate for the sake of references which are not even required until the contractor has landed the job.

Let us get this straight references are no more than "was he there? " and for how long? No agent is going to waste time checking references unless the contractor has got the job and cannot start the contract until the references have been checked.

reference requests are as I have said before provide serious market information- and in the case of most agencies they are now built in to the day to day activities of each recruitment consultant-. All the "GREAT AND THE GOOD" "evangelists" who get paid for trotting out speel of how to succeed in recruitment, are using reference chasing as "the next big thing" for making recruitment agencies succeed.

[pmeswani]

1) Fair enough

2) Sounds like you're on the ball enough with that one.

Overall, a healthy sense of cynicism is required at all times when dealing with pimps...

WHS. The agent who got me the interview for today refused to tell me the client's name until I got shortlisted. If he had asked me for references, I would have made a judgement call and decide whether I should or shouldn't. But I wouldn't give my current client as a reference until I get the job.

[Turion]

He's a bummer and probably reference scamming. Go with it, but do not supply any references (if, and you almost certainly will be 'shortlisted' for an interview which mysteriously won't happen for some reason )

[ratewhore]

1) Fair enough

2) Sounds like you're on the ball enough with that one.

Overall, a healthy sense of cynicism is required at all times when dealing with pimps...