Why we hate Recruitment Agencies

[NoNeed]

bad company said:

To those 'Recruitment Agency Haters'

Why do you think the agencies exist? From this thread the industry seems to hated by both employers and employees. Both sides of the divide are saying that they do better without agents so why not do just that?

I don't hate the agencies, I hate the way they alter and change my CV to suit a vacancy, I hate the way they try and get me to go for jobs That I'm not qualified for probably because they have promised x amount of candidates but most of all I hate the way that as soon as I show any king of interest they will ring my boss to try and replace me before I have even arranged the fking interview.

[DJRC]

Im nothing but a we. Of course I can be.

The point however, stands. Anubis seemed to think with such an attitude I must be a numpty graduate or that wonderfully middle class notion of polite = good.

Im not a director of anything, I have no desire to be.
I am well built, however it is fat and flab.
I am Blackpool chav scum done OK. Nothing more, nothing less with no pretensions otherwise, simply telling you how to treat recruitment agencies so you get what you want from them, not the other way round and expressing amazement that anyone lets them waste their time.

But hey, fk it. Im the only one on ph who would happily describe themselves as a Northern chav scum we, so what do I know?

[bad company]

DJRC said:

But hey, fk it. Im the only one on ph who would happily describe themselves as a Northern chav scum we, so what do I know?

Do you really want us to answer that?

[roofer]

bad company said:

DJRC said:

But hey, fk it. Im the only one on ph who would happily describe themselves as a Northern chav scum we, so what do I know?

Do you really want us to answer that?

He probably doesn't give a fekk, but i've got to admire his honesty.

[mondeoman]

bad company said:

To those 'Recruitment Agency Haters'

Why do you think the agencies exist? From this thread the industry seems to hated by both employers and employees. Both sides of the divide are saying that they do better without agents so why not do just that?

That previous link to Greg Savages blog is something I've been seeing a lot more of: the old recruitment agency business model is a dead man walking and recruitment going to turn into a business for people with real networking/people skills, not the CV flingers of yesteryear. Probably.

[bad company]

NoNeed said:

I don't hate the agencies, I hate the way they alter and change my CV to suit a vacancy,

You should be altering your own CV for just about every application you make. Not changing the facts but bringing to the top and highlighting the stuff relevant to the job you are applying for. That is what the agency should be doing for you.

[bigandclever]

bad company said:

NoNeed said:

I don't hate the agencies, I hate the way they alter and change my CV to suit a vacancy,

You should be altering your own CV for just about every application you make. Not changing the facts but bringing to the top and highlighting the stuff relevant to the job you are applying for. That is what the agency should be doing for you.

That'd be great if you were dealing with someone who actually understands what the client wants and what the candidate can offer. They're few and far between, in my experience.

[bad company]

bigandclever said:

bad company said:

NoNeed said:

I don't hate the agencies, I hate the way they alter and change my CV to suit a vacancy,

You should be altering your own CV for just about every application you make. Not changing the facts but bringing to the top and highlighting the stuff relevant to the job you are applying for. That is what the agency should be doing for you.

That'd be great if you were dealing with someone who actually understands what the client wants and what the candidate can offer. They're few and far between, in my experience.

So ask the recruiter for a copy of the CV as submitted to the client before going for the interview. Several of our candidates did this.

[bigandclever]

bad company said:

So ask the recruiter for a copy of the CV as submitted to the client before going for the interview. Several of our candidates did this.

That's a given.

Anyway, here's the linkedin profile of a recent agent, filling a decent contract role with a decent client.

03/04 Stage Hand
04/06 Sound recordist
06/12 Broadcast director
bit of a gap
13/now Recruitment consultant, specialist in 'big data' (I know, I know...)

He re-wrote my profile ... actually, this particular organisation seem to like dumbing everything down to a star-rating (so if you're really good, you get 5 out of 5 stars). So the client got a profile comprising 10 sections, each with 5 coloured stars in it, and fkall else.

Clueless about what the client wants; clueless about what I do. And utterly immovable on his margin

[NoNeed]

bad company said:

NoNeed said:

I don't hate the agencies, I hate the way they alter and change my CV to suit a vacancy,

You should be altering your own CV for just about every application you make. Not changing the facts but bringing to the top and highlighting the stuff relevant to the job you are applying for. That is what the agency should be doing for you.

They altered it leaving gaps that got questioned and added qualification I had not even heard of.

[NoNeed]

bad company said:

bigandclever said:

bad company said:

NoNeed said:

I don't hate the agencies, I hate the way they alter and change my CV to suit a vacancy,

You should be altering your own CV for just about every application you make. Not changing the facts but bringing to the top and highlighting the stuff relevant to the job you are applying for. That is what the agency should be doing for you.

That'd be great if you were dealing with someone who actually understands what the client wants and what the candidate can offer. They're few and far between, in my experience.

So ask the recruiter for a copy of the CV as submitted to the client before going for the interview. Several of our candidates did this.

I wish I had. After receiving a very apologetic email I was assured it had been corrected and the unaltered CV sent to the employer, then I got a second interview where a new manager immediately asked about the gaps, I was livid, mostly with myself for not taking a copy with me and believing what they had said.

[alock]

We're recruiting again and going though the pain of the agencies. Is it against forum rules to post job specs here?

[KFC]

DJRC said:

Those who do understand that Im their customer

You're not the customer, you're the product...

[blindswelledrat]

Anubis said:

Literally just got off the phone to yet another agency. Advert states in black and white - Location: London.

Conversation goes as follows:

Her: "Hi, is that <my name>?"
Me: "Hello, yes it is"
Her: "oh hi it's Lizzy, you applied for XYZ role this morning"
Me: "Yes I did. Thanks for calling."
Her: "okay, you look a really good fit. there's just one thing; the role isn't actually in London..."

oh, here we go - it's just outside London or something like Kent or Surrey...

Her: "...yer it's actually in SOUTHAMPTON. How does that work for you?"
Me: " Southampton? You sure? The advert said London; that's no where near?!"
Her: "er yer. so, will you be willing to go to Southampton?"
Me: " erm...no sorry, im trying to stay in London. Thank you"

I mean...that's like putting an classified ad up on PH for a red Ferrari but turns out it's a blue Fiesta. It's not even close...

No it's not. Its like putting an advert in the classifieds for a red Ferrari based in London but turns out it's based in Southampton.
Stop being such a drama queen. In every industry simple mistakes get made and yet that's really worth 7 roffles? Jesus!

[blindswelledrat]

DJRC said:

Im nothing but a we. Of course I can be.

The point however, stands. Anubis seemed to think with such an attitude I must be a numpty graduate or that wonderfully middle class notion of polite = good.

Im not a director of anything, I have no desire to be.
I am well built, however it is fat and flab.
I am Blackpool chav scum done OK. Nothing more, nothing less with no pretensions otherwise, simply telling you how to treat recruitment agencies so you get what you want from them, not the other way round and expressing amazement that anyone lets them waste their time.

But hey, fk it. Im the only one on ph who would happily describe themselves as a Northern chav scum we, so what do I know?

But the thing is, everything you've said is bks anyway.
If what you are saying was true, with your manner and lack of basic social skills - no recruiter would ever put you forward for a job regardless of how good or relevant your CV was.
I can just imagine them telling a client about you: "Well on paper he's er perfect. But before I send him to you - I don't suppose you have stopped doing interviews by any chance have you? Why? Well, it's just that erm he can't exactly speak human and as a person you won't like him. And by that I mean you will hate him. But his cv's pretty good. How about it?"

[Anubis]

blindswelledrat said:

No it's not. Its like putting an advert in the classifieds for a red Ferrari based in London but turns out it's based in Southampton.
Stop being such a drama queen. In every industry simple mistakes get made and yet that's really worth 7 roffles? Jesus!

[alock]

alock said:

We're recruiting again and going though the pain of the agencies. Is it against forum rules to post job specs here?

I'll follow this up since there were no objections....

We're looking for a senior C# ASP.NET developer in Basingstoke. For the full job spec, send me a private message.

[edc]

Post a new thread. Nobody is going to find it in this one. Look at the sticky thread at the top of the forum.

[siovey]

One thing that irks me is the lack of response to job apps that i am 100% compatible with. 15years + experience doing exactly the same role advertised, but not even a "sorry you're unsuitable" email. Do they even look at some of the cv's sent in?
I've also applied several times for recruitment jobs as i fancied giving it a try. 20 years sales / customer service experience but i've not had a single response. Then hearing about air hostesses or people who used to work ib a shop doing this job, it does my head in!!

[blindswelledrat]

siovey said:

I've also applied several times for recruitment jobs as i fancied giving it a try. 20 years sales /

That amazes me. It may be regional but the recruitment market is recruiting massively at the moment and there is a horrific shortage of decent applicants.
Out of interest - how have you applied?
Just a fired off cv and fingers crossed? We do get hundreds (literally) of those and have stopped ringing them back because it is a complete waste of time. 99% of them you ring back and they don't have a clue who you are and have no specific interest in the job, but have merely pressed a button on a website somewhere to apply, and have applied for 200 jobs simultaneously.
In recruitment you can never take on someone who is fairly interested or just fancies giving it a go due to the fact you are invariably looking at paying them 6 months-2 years of salary with no return.
In other words- if you want to work in recruitment then pick up the phone and make someone interview you. If you are vaguely salesey and committed you will get work easily.