Reply to: Recruitment Agents...

[darmstadt]

OK, so how successful are German recruitment agencies compared to UK ones?

Did I say they were successful, I was pointing out that they seemed more professional than UK ones. As you're in the business you should probably know this. Actually many of the agencies here are in fact UK subsidiaries or at least the German arm of a UK firm so the question would be, which companies branch is more successful, the UK or the foreign ones? BTW, the largest recruitment agency in the world is Swiss

[DodgyAgent]

And what does that prove, apart from the fact that you're still living in the past? Maybe if you got away from that then maybe you would be a better businessman

OK, so how successful are German recruitment agencies compared to UK ones?

[darmstadt]

We still beat them in two world wars

And what does that prove, apart from the fact that you're still living in the past? Maybe if you got away from that then maybe you would be a better businessman

[DodgyAgent]

I had an agent contact me with a role a couple of days ago, I politely replied that although I was looking, this particular role was not my skill set. I got back an e-mail apologising for sending the mail but my profile came up in her search and all the relevant keywords matched (it was directly connected with what I do, just not what I do - it was a DBA role) so she decided to to contact me. She now knows exactly what I do and will look in that particular area.

I also had another agent contact me in much the same manner for a not too dissimilar role, he was very upbeat and that I wold be a cert for it so I decided to go forward with it. This was 6 weeks ago I haven't heard a peep since...

Apart from the fact that the first one who was female, the only other difference was that the first one was also a German agent and German agents and agencies tend to be like that, polite, contact you even though you turned it down, ask you exactly what your skill set is and then contact you only with your requirements. I said that the last time I was looking for a project that I wouldn't deal with UK based agents again due to their ignorance and just downright uselessness but I went ahead and nothing has changed. As people on here have pointed out, just look at their LinkedIn profiles and you'll see what they really are, salesmen. Look at their previous jobs and then also look at how many times they have changed their jobs and fields. I'm afraid that it seems the majority of UK agencies employ barrow boys and spivs and in my eyes are nothing less than unprofessional.




(* Not all of them as I have met and dealt with some good ones with whom I would be more than willing to deal with again)

We still beat them in two world wars

[alreadypacked]

Agent I use the most is coming in to town to take me out for a few beers after work before Xmas. To be fair, I've made him sh1t loads of cash over the years (he has for me too with good roles!) ..... so I may have to go for a bucket of shampoo

Find a few good agents. Build solid relationships with them. Then when they have roles they will be contacting you before the role ever gets advertised

Unfortunately that is not so easy to do anymore.
More and more companies have a short list of preferred suppliers.
Agencies who are preferred suppliers, think anyone can do the job, so the regularly have a clear-out of the more experienced/expensive staff.
Agencies hiring new staff have really bad contracts, rates and consitions, so they are getting worse and worse staff.
The type of agent you are talking about are few and far between, and are not being replaced.

Welcome to the new normal, things are not getting better.

[Whorty]

Agent I use the most is coming in to town to take me out for a few beers after work before Xmas. To be fair, I've made him sh1t loads of cash over the years (he has for me too with good roles!) ..... so I may have to go for a bucket of shampoo

Find a few good agents. Build solid relationships with them. Then when they have roles they will be contacting you before the role ever gets advertised

[SueEllen]

I don't bother with cover notes to agents.
What did you put in it?

My cover notes are one line. As sometimes the agents posting the job are new to the UK so will read the email.

[darmstadt]

I had an agent contact me with a role a couple of days ago, I politely replied that although I was looking, this particular role was not my skill set. I got back an e-mail apologising for sending the mail but my profile came up in her search and all the relevant keywords matched (it was directly connected with what I do, just not what I do - it was a DBA role) so she decided to to contact me. She now knows exactly what I do and will look in that particular area.

I also had another agent contact me in much the same manner for a not too dissimilar role, he was very upbeat and that I wold be a cert for it so I decided to go forward with it. This was 6 weeks ago I haven't heard a peep since...

Apart from the fact that the first one who was female, the only other difference was that the first one was also a German agent and German agents and agencies tend to be like that, polite, contact you even though you turned it down, ask you exactly what your skill set is and then contact you only with your requirements. I said that the last time I was looking for a project that I wouldn't deal with UK based agents again due to their ignorance and just downright uselessness but I went ahead and nothing has changed. As people on here have pointed out, just look at their LinkedIn profiles and you'll see what they really are, salesmen. Look at their previous jobs and then also look at how many times they have changed their jobs and fields. I'm afraid that it seems the majority of UK agencies employ barrow boys and spivs and in my eyes are nothing less than unprofessional.




(* Not all of them as I have met and dealt with some good ones with whom I would be more than willing to deal with again)

[darrylmg]

... and cover note. ...

I don't bother with cover notes to agents.
What did you put in it?

[pjclarke]

Similar story, a few weeks ago a pretty good role in a pretty good location for me appeared on Jobserve, last thing on a Friday. I banged in a CV and cover note. On the Monday the agent emailed me with a 'please excuse the direct approach however we have a role which you may be interested in ...' for the same gig, so I tried to phone, got no answer, replied with CV and note attached.

There then followed two days of trying to contact the apparently teenage girl who emailed me. When I finally got her on the phone she was at first vague ... 'Sure I've got your CV here somewhere' (rustling of papers), followed by ... 'My account manager has already sent over some CVs for that one, and so I am not allowed to, but I'll keep you in mind for future roles' ...

I was very good, didn't swear at her or anything....

Tulip happens. Nil Desperandum, Now boomed with a 3 monther, slightly nearer home ...

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

In my early days as a contractor I used to apply for 100 roles, get perhaps 2 interviews and then 1 offer.

As I got more experienced I started to sniff out which roles were genuine and which were not. Often there would be roles which "exactly" matched my skillset at the time.... But that is probably because my skills were more generic and covered more.

Current gig came to me through linkedIn without any effort and agent could tell from my profile I had the skills and experience for it.

You will also start to pick up on which agencies are time wasters and which ones will only call u when they have something relevant. Usually if they are not calling you back it is because they don't actually have anything to offer you.

[TykeMerc]

Of course it's entirely possible that the "role" is total vapourware and never existed beyond being a trawl net to collect CV's.

Hardly a new tactic nor is dropping the client name.

Move on.

[colinrobinson]

I have applied for a role, which Im pretty much a perfect match. The agent got in touch and I sent him my updated CV and gave him the go ahead to represent me for the role.

I haven't heard anything from him since. Thats ok, you dont get every role you apply for, I appreciate that.

However, what pisses me off is the fact that Ive sent him a number of emails, and called him a few times (never seems to be at his desk), but he has just pretty much ignored me, which is fine, thats what recruitment agents do... right?

Anyhow, he gave me the name of the client, given the fact that he no longer seems to want to represent me can I go ahead and get in contact with the end client myself?

If you don't want the agent to represent you in the future you can try it, If you go ahead don't discuss rate and suggest the client gets in touch with your agent if they are interested.

[JRCT]

Not to be big headed, but I was a 100% match for the role. The role had been advertised at £xx but then the agent tried to back track and said, "Well actually they are only offering £x". As I went in at the high end of the budget they might not have put me over as obviously that reduces the agents cut.

Doesn't matter how big your head is. Sometimes there's someone else with bigger t1ts.

[northernladuk]

Chance of them taking you on direct if there is an agent involved is slim to none as they use an agent to do without dealing direct. Once client has seen your name agent has dibs. Grow some and move on IMO.