Dealing with Recruitment Consultants

[nky_84]

I have spoken to a few recently and im wondering how honest people are with them and if there are any implications / laws surrounding the accuracy of the information you give them.

For example, if asked about current salary, is there any harm in bumping it up a bit as to shorten the gap between current salary and the advertised roles etc? I have been told that recruitment companies pass on current salary info to allow their clients to benchmark any offer etc.

This small white lie seems to be my only option of significantly boosting my salary in these times. Could it come back to bite me if found out? Not sure how they could ever find out anyway....

thanks in advance

[Dupont666]

I cant be bothered to lie to them, so tell the truth... probably were Im going wrong with them.

whats the point in lying about something?

They have contacts and can find out

[Gargamel]

nky_84 said:

I have spoken to a few recently and im wondering how honest people are with them and if there are any implications / laws surrounding the accuracy of the information you give them.

For example, if asked about current salary, is there any harm in bumping it up a bit as to shorten the gap between current salary and the advertised roles etc? I have been told that recruitment companies pass on current salary info to allow their clients to benchmark any offer etc.

This small white lie seems to be my only option of significantly boosting my salary in these times. Could it come back to bite me if found out? Not sure how they could ever find out anyway....

thanks in advance

As I recruiter I or my client usually request a pay slip or P60 to confirm earnings. You might get away with it, you might not ....?

[NewNameNeeded]

nky_84 said:

For example, if asked about current salary, is there any harm in bumping it up a bit as to shorten the gap between current salary and the advertised roles etc? I have been told that recruitment companies pass on current salary info to allow their clients to benchmark any offer etc.

If you got a job with the new firm they'd need a copy of your P45 in order to set up their pay role correctly. So you should ask yourself firstly are they going to be smart enough to see from your P45 that you lied about your actual salary - and secondly, if they do spot it are they going to ignore it or fire you on the spot?

[john_p]

Don't look for a job based on your current salary

[nky_84]

NewNameNeeded said:

nky_84 said:

For example, if asked about current salary, is there any harm in bumping it up a bit as to shorten the gap between current salary and the advertised roles etc? I have been told that recruitment companies pass on current salary info to allow their clients to benchmark any offer etc.

If you got a job with the new firm they'd need a copy of your P45 in order to set up their pay role correctly. So you should ask yourself firstly are they going to be smart enough to see from your P45 that you lied about your actual salary - and secondly, if they do spot it are they going to ignore it or fire you on the spot?

True, but i was recently promoted and my current salary does not reflect my previous earnings Mr!
Bit of an issue if they want to see a current payslip... but they got destroyed in the fire....

[TEKNOPUG]

Currently salary is irrelevant.

How much money do you want to earn? How much money are you prepared to accept for the job that they are offering?

Always ask for more than you will accept - that way you have room to negoiate. Most people only get pay rises when they change jobs, so it would be pretty stupid to change jobs for the same money.

Remember that the agent isn't your friend, they aren't doing you a favour. They are trying to sell you to a prospective client for a fee. They are also trying to sell the job to you. So they'll be lying to the client about your experience, your CV, your qualities and about how much you are prepared to accept in salary. They'll then be lying to you about how great the job is, the benefits and chances of career progression and about how, in this time of recession, it really isn't too bad a rate at all.....

Bare in mind that they'll be charging between 30 & 40% commission on you rate. So although they want you to earn as much as possible, they'll also rather that you accpet a lower rate than no rate at all.

Most clients won't expect someone to take a pay cut to do the same job somewhere else, so always bump up your current salary. If you were selling a car (rather than yourself in this case) you'd advertise it for more than the lowest you'd accept?! Personally, I always try and get an agent to come back with an offer from the client first, rather than tell them the rate that I would accept because it's quite often higher.

[Dupont666]

nky_84 said:

NewNameNeeded said:

nky_84 said:

For example, if asked about current salary, is there any harm in bumping it up a bit as to shorten the gap between current salary and the advertised roles etc? I have been told that recruitment companies pass on current salary info to allow their clients to benchmark any offer etc.

If you got a job with the new firm they'd need a copy of your P45 in order to set up their pay role correctly. So you should ask yourself firstly are they going to be smart enough to see from your P45 that you lied about your actual salary - and secondly, if they do spot it are they going to ignore it or fire you on the spot?

True, but i was recently promoted and my current salary does not reflect my previous earnings Mr!
Bit of an issue if they want to see a current payslip... but they got destroyed in the fire....

your going to have fun with the IR aint you

[TEKNOPUG]

NewNameNeeded said:

nky_84 said:

For example, if asked about current salary, is there any harm in bumping it up a bit as to shorten the gap between current salary and the advertised roles etc? I have been told that recruitment companies pass on current salary info to allow their clients to benchmark any offer etc.

If you got a job with the new firm they'd need a copy of your P45 in order to set up their pay role correctly. So you should ask yourself firstly are they going to be smart enough to see from your P45 that you lied about your actual salary - and secondly, if they do spot it are they going to ignore it or fire you on the spot?

I fail to see how my current salary is of any business of either my agent, or my prospective new employer. Neither do I see how my current salary should have any relevance whatosever on my salary for a different employer, doing a different job. The only reason it is of interest to them, is so that they can adjust their offer to me accordingly.

"We'd normally pay £75k for this job, but seeing as you're only currently earning £45k, we reckon that you'll accept £50k and a couple of extra days holiday leave....."

[zippy3x]

Gargamel said:

nky_84 said:

I have spoken to a few recently and im wondering how honest people are with them and if there are any implications / laws surrounding the accuracy of the information you give them.

For example, if asked about current salary, is there any harm in bumping it up a bit as to shorten the gap between current salary and the advertised roles etc? I have been told that recruitment companies pass on current salary info to allow their clients to benchmark any offer etc.

This small white lie seems to be my only option of significantly boosting my salary in these times. Could it come back to bite me if found out? Not sure how they could ever find out anyway....

thanks in advance

As I recruiter I or my client usually request a pay slip or P60 to confirm earnings. You might get away with it, you might not ....?

In 20 odd years of applying for jobs thru pimps I have always put at least a couple of grand on my current earnings. I have never been asked to provide payslips to prove this - If I was asked to provide them, I would ask for the payslips of other people doing a similar job at the prospective clients, see how that went down.

iirc from my permie days - the P45 only contains the amount of money earned and tax/NI paid for the year to date - simply say you took a month or 2 off on compasionate grounds as unpaid leave.

Alternatively say you get a bonus at the end of every tax year equivilent to the gap between your P45 and stated salary.

Alternatively tell them your current salary is none of their business and you will do the job for x thousand pounds a year.

[Gargamel]

Brilliant that lots of folk on here refer to recruiters as pimps or (as above a few posts outright liars) and then we hear from people happy to tell lies about their salary.

I agree with the posters who state that the Job itself determines the salary and reward scheme, not the current earnings of a person.

But in my experience they only say that when it is more !

[Puggit]

I'm currently undergoing a recruitment process and today was discussing salary with my pimp recruiter. As I work in a sales environment I'm paid a commission which for various reasons has been shocking this year.

So my recruiter asked for my P60 as evidence of what I'd earned in commission this year, when I told him it had been cack he said we better not then!

[TEKNOPUG]

Puggit said:

I'm currently undergoing a recruitment process and today was discussing salary with my pimp recruiter. As I work in a sales environment I'm paid a commission which for various reasons has been shocking this year.

So my recruiter asked for my P60 as evidence of what I'd earned in commission this year, when I told him it had been cack he said we better not then!

Did you ask to see what the recruitment agency had made in commission that year also?

[BenjC]

TEKNOPUG said:

Puggit said:

I'm currently undergoing a recruitment process and today was discussing salary with my pimp recruiter. As I work in a sales environment I'm paid a commission which for various reasons has been shocking this year.

So my recruiter asked for my P60 as evidence of what I'd earned in commission this year, when I told him it had been cack he said we better not then!

Did you ask to see what the recruitment agency had made in commission that year also?

Is it really that unreasonable to ask?

First of all I am going to come at this from another angle - I am a partner in an executive search firm however I will talk about how I hire.

Do you perhaps think current salary could be an important tool to verify claims of revenue generation in a sales environment?

Now I am not commenting on any of the posters here but being in a sales position myself and interviewing potential employees regularly you would be amazed at some of the claimed revenue figures being bounded around. As my industry traditionally pays heavily on commission current actual earnings can help me verify actual sales.

In respect to other industries and the sectors I recruit for I think that the current salary of a candidate can be a pointer towards level of seniority however that is all. For me I want to understand the motivations as to why a person is looking to move jobs and if it is predominately salary improvement I need to know why.

Is there no chance of a promotion with their current company? What happens when the counter offer from the current employer is put forward? Do they stay? Having invested the time searching for the right talent for a client I do not want to let them down. I trade on my reputation. If I have candidates dropping out 2 weeks before start date how does that make me look?

For me it sets off alarm bells.

I completely understand why the OP is adding a couple of grand on their salary, but do you not think that the recruiters you deal with may well take that into account?

On the whole I strongly believe the job market is like any other - completely driven by supply and demand. If you are lucky enough to work in a sector where no else can do the job that you do - name your price.

Just look at Red Adair - Gawd rest his soul.

[Soovy]

On the legal side, if you obtain a job by fibbing on your CV then you have committed a criminal offence. It used to be called "Obtaining Pecuniary Advantage By Deception" but they now call it something else under the Fraud Act. Not sure the name off the top of my head.

You can fib about salary, but don't be surprised if they pick up on it when you give them your P45 from your previous employer. We ALWAYS check.

Edited by Soovy on Tuesday 11th August 17:54

[deevlash]

BenjC said:

Just look at Red Adair - Gawd rest his soul.

just googled him, fascinating

[smartie]

you can ask HMRC to issue a notice of coding without 'year to date' figures on and not actually give the P45 to your employer.

[nky_84]

TEKNOPUG said:

I fail to see how my current salary is of any business of either my agent, or my prospective new employer. Neither do I see how my current salary should have any relevance whatosever on my salary for a different employer, doing a different job. The only reason it is of interest to them, is so that they can adjust their offer to me accordingly.

"We'd normally pay £75k for this job, but seeing as you're only currently earning £45k, we reckon that you'll accept £50k and a couple of extra days holiday leave....."

Well put! Basically what was whirring round in my head and somehow found its way onto the crazy and sometimes pleasantly informative world that is PH :-)

Regarding accuracies in CV etc, that is all above board, i merely plan to add a few k to an irrelevant figure a recruitment consultant asked for over the phone.

[okgo]

I now work with an Ex IT recruiter, and some of the things they do to get a job are unbelievable, not a great bunch from what I can tell.

[nownek]

Recruiting right now. Accountants, first move from practice. We always ask for details of current package because:

1. salaries tend to be fairly consistent (within a band) across the population we are looking at
2. job descriptions aren't (necessarily)
3. we already have a fairly good idea of the numbers so can identify the dreamers
4. anything too high means we'd be wasting our time without further clarification (usually via the consultant)
5. anything too low raises questions about how much their current employer really values them...
6. people tend to write a higher than normal amount of bks on their CV's so anything you can get which gives you a feel for the level they are ACTUALLY at is helpful
7. our salary structure is banded. If we bring them in at the maximum then there is very limited scope for increasing their pay (above inflationary rises) in the future. People seem not to like "just" inflationary rises.
8. it's a commercial arrangement and we have a budget. We'd be mad not to negotiate