Submission to Interview time

wawww that is a good idea.........when in rome eh

Sometimes I feel like ringing up a few agencies, telling them that I am looking for X number staff and get the sods to drive and meet me...

how does the Online job application work?! He clearly wasn't looking through the CVs he gets from the website...

They have various software packages to scan e-mails for keywords. It's sad but the only way to bring your CV to prominence these days is to load it with meaningless buzzwords. Remember: style over substance.

Agencies aren't agencies at all, they're employment businesses. That means they are in business to source candidates for their clients, not find you work or market you to the company

That's very true, but the agency still has a vested interested in promoting you to the client for a specific position. After all, their agency is usually competing against other agencies for the vacancy, so salesmanship can make the difference. It's extremely rare but I have worked with an agent who did just that and made a real effort to impress the client...maybe it was all a dream

I get so cheesed off by the agents they have databases full of cv's but yet still post the job on jobserve. They do not source jobs anymore for us they just gather cv's

Had one only this morning. Agent was gushing about how impressive my CV was and that they really wanted to invite me in ASAP to discuss roles with them. I asked them about the role I had actually applied for on Jobserve...mumbled response about clients like to see their roles advertised once they are filled just in case the chosen contractor disappears

I agree, it would make the agents sort themselves out as they would not want to fund interview expenses unless they were 100% sure the candidate was a good match.
I get so cheesed off by the agents they have databases full of cv's but yet still post the job on jobserve. They do not source jobs anymore for us they just gather cv's

Not really. Agencies aren't agencies at all, they're employment businesses. That means they are in business to source candidates for their clients, not find you work or market you to the company. If that were the case they would be agents, who you would be paying to do this.

The crazy thing about all of this is that we're still expected to fund out own interview expenses. The logic of this is stupid. If the hirer is using employment businesses to source candidates then we are doing the hirer a favour via the recruiter to put ourselves forward. So when we go for an interview, we're doing the hirer a favour by being there for them to select from, we're not there to find ourselves a job (even if we ourselves are looking for work). It seems logical, therefore, that the hirer should be prepared to pay all interview costs if a contractor requests it.

If this is true, how does the Online job application work?! He clearly wasn't looking through the CVs he gets from the website...

What really cheeses me of is if I see a contract I fancy, am unable to contact the shark by phone and so email him... but I hear nothing... Then a day or a week later I get either a call or an email from him/her for a totally different job and often one that bears no relation to my line of expertise...

I have noticed that there are less agents around today who are prepared to promote you to a client and, instead, the latest generation seem to concentrate on the keywords in any info the end client has given them. If you do not have all the keywords then they do not wish to know... it is nuts!

I hate it when hirers take forever to decide when to interview and when to hire. I also think it is unfair to expect contractors to pay to attend interviews when the budget is not yet secured or they're still scouting around internally, just in case it falls through for external contractors.

I applied for some jobs earlier this week on Jobserve, hadn't heard anything back, so I called the agent of the advert I liked the most.

He hadn't seen my email and said he has 200 - 300 CVs in his inbox every day...!

If this is true, how does the Online job application work?! He clearly wasn't looking through the CVs he gets from the website...

Pre-2000 it was interview on day 1 and start day 2. Now I submit my CV and a week or 2 later get feedback as to whether I get an interview or not

That's pretty much my experience. It used to be the case that if I hadn't heard anything by the end of the week I put it down as a lost case, but now I have a couple of positions on the back burner for over a month. The agents don't help...just sit around on their fat ar**s watching everything float along at it's own merry pace - whatever happened to salesmanship?

It does seem that clients have got their act together so they make time to make the right selection

:rollin Good one!

You might have moved up the ranks since the 90s as well. When I started out in contracting I tended to get the lower ranking jobs with disorganised clients who need somebody right away, but with more organised projects and higher up positions there's usually more breathing space.

I had one who interviewed me and said great but then decided they needed to spend 8 weeks on requirements to scope how many peeps they needed....needless to say i told them where to put it.....
About to start a role middle of next month which I first applied for start of march, so nearly three months in total.........Basically if you start a three monther you better start looking staight away....christ could be a never ending cycle.

The ones I have on the go at the moment I really don't think are phishers - I have the names of the clients, and even had quick telephone interviews etc so they are definately live. I have one in the public sector who wanted to interview me first before he made his proposal to the finance board so he could go in with actual costing rather than projected - sensible I suppose.

Just been asked by another potential for more specific info on team leading experience - I started this one 4 weeks ago so its taken 4 weeks to read my CV.

Either people very busy or can't decide.

There are still an awful lot of nerves out there, peopel unsure whether projects are going ahead, people just generally nervous and companies not convinced they need to do a big IT spend. It all seems a tad flaky at the moment.

I had an agency ring me up about a role last night in Brum but they would not tell me the client so I told them where to go... they feared I would know who it was so I said "I don't think a career at Rover is worthwhile" and then the girlie on the phone started going on about my career motivation.... GET A SODDING LIFE!

Things should speed us now as a new financial year starts. A lot of agencies and project managers fish for candidates before they secure funding.

Has anyone else noticed these days that from the time you submit your CV to the time it takes to interview has generally got longer?

Pre-2000 it was interview on day 1 and start day 2. Now I submit my CV and a week or 2 later get feedback as to whether I get an interview or not. I have a couple that have been going on over a month now and one public sector client wants to book me from late July!! Just had a tele interview for something I went for last month.

It does seem that clients have got their act together so they make time to make the right selection - just means these days you need to plan more in advance when looking for the next contract if you don't want a gap.