Recruitment Agencies - how much personal info

[anonymous-user]

Slowly finding my way through the job hunting maze but this morning had an agent phone up and he wanted a lot more personal info than any previous agent had wanted.

Is this typical? I can understand it if they need to verify your right to work in the UK but chap just wanted to fill his database rather any legal need as he didn't mention right to work, etc.

Appreciate people's views.

[bad company]

What questions did he ask specifically ?

If you have a UK or (currently) and EU passport that proves you have the right to work.

[anonymous-user]

He wanted the following.

Home Address
Date of Birth
Nationality
Marital Status
Health eg excellent/ non-smoker
Transport eg own vehicle/full and clean licence
Current salary
Salary expectations
Availability for interview, start

I think the DoB, health status and licence (not a driving job) were the ones that made me wonder, not bothered about the rest as reasonable. I have dealt with quite a few agencies and this is the first asking in such detail.

[Mr Pointy]

gottans said:

He wanted the following.

Home Address
Date of Birth
Nationality
Marital Status
Health eg excellent/ non-smoker
Transport eg own vehicle/full and clean licence
Current salary
Salary expectations
Availability for interview, start

I think the DoB, health status and licence (not a driving job) were the ones that made me wonder, not bothered about the rest as reasonable. I have dealt with quite a few agencies and this is the first asking in such detail.

The ones I wouldn't answer are 4, 5, 7 & maybe 8. The rest are fairly normal.

[bad company]

gottans said:

He wanted the following.

Home Address
Date of Birth
Nationality
Marital Status
Health eg excellent/ non-smoker
Transport eg own vehicle/full and clean licence
Current salary
Salary expectations
Availability for interview, start

I think the DoB, health status and licence (not a driving job) were the ones that made me wonder, not bothered about the rest as reasonable. I have dealt with quite a few agencies and this is the first asking in such detail.

If I still ran a recruitment agency I think I might be wary of asking for date of birth now, unless they're using it as an identifier. I'd be concerned about being accused of age discrimination.

I don't see much problem with the other questions. Transport / driving licence to make sure you can get to work. You may prefer not to answer the salary questions but if you decline don't be surprised if the agency approaches you with jobs that don't match your requirements .

[Splurge997]

gottans said:

He wanted the following.

Home Address
Date of Birth
Nationality
Marital Status
Transport eg own vehicle/full and clean licence
Current salary
Salary expectations
Availability for interview, start

I think the DoB, health status and licence (not a driving job) were the ones that made me wonder, not bothered about the rest as reasonable. I have dealt with quite a few agencies and this is the first asking in such detail.

Bit baffled to be honest - some i understand but others i'm just baffled by. Sounds like you've spoken to someone very junior who's been given a tick list of what he needs to ask to any potential candidates.

I will always ask the following;

- Home address - i need to provide this to most clients, but only if i have confirmed i am submitting your CV to the client.
- Date of Birth - again, some clients use to the track applicants on portals. Never asked for it however randomly. Only required if i am sending your CV to a client
- Nationality - i have to ask for this. If on a Visa i will ask for a photocopy or scanned copy of your right-to-work. will only ask if i've confirmed i'm sending your CV to the client
- Current salary - always have to ask this, including breakdown of bonuses, pension contributions, holidays etc. will ask this irrespective of whether i'm sending your CV to a client or keeping the information to hand.
- Salary expectations - will typically ask a ballpark figure on what you're looking at if you're considering different role. If i'm going to send your CV to the client, i will ask specifically what you're looking for. Typically will then add another 5%-10% on the figure we agree on to ensure the client doesn't start ttting us around with lowballed offers.

[wiggy001]

Splurge997 said:

Bit baffled to be honest - some i understand but others i'm just baffled by. Sounds like you've spoken to someone very junior who's been given a tick list of what he needs to ask to any potential candidates.

I will always ask the following;

- Home address - i need to provide this to most clients, but only if i have confirmed i am submitting your CV to the client.
- Date of Birth - again, some clients use to the track applicants on portals. Never asked for it however randomly. Only required if i am sending your CV to a client
- Nationality - i have to ask for this. If on a Visa i will ask for a photocopy or scanned copy of your right-to-work. will only ask if i've confirmed i'm sending your CV to the client
- Current salary - always have to ask this, including breakdown of bonuses, pension contributions, holidays etc. will ask this irrespective of whether i'm sending your CV to a client or keeping the information to hand.
- Salary expectations - will typically ask a ballpark figure on what you're looking at if you're considering different role. If i'm going to send your CV to the client, i will ask specifically what you're looking for. Typically will then add another 5%-10% on the figure we agree on to ensure the client doesn't start ttting us around with lowballed offers.

Current salary is none of your, or any interviewing company's, business. Address and Nationality are required, DoB isn't but no point withholding as it's easy to work out from work history etc.

[bad company]

wiggy001 said:

Current salary is none of your, or any interviewing company's, business.

In which case please don’t complain if the agency puts you up for a job which doesn’t match your salary requirements.

[wiggy001]

bad company said:

wiggy001 said:

Current salary is none of your, or any interviewing company's, business.

In which case please don’t complain if the agency puts you up for a job which doesn’t match your salary requirements.

Salary expectation was cited separately and of course should be stated.

[Splurge997]

wiggy001 said:

Current salary is none of your, or any interviewing company's, business. Address and Nationality are required, DoB isn't but no point withholding as it's easy to work out from work history etc.

If i didnt have written confirmation of base salary, bonus %, due date for bonus payment, written evidence of existing stock/shares, i wouldnt send the CV to the client.In the highly unlikely event i did send the CV out the door without that info, id likely get an absolute roasting from HR.

I want total transparency with all candidates from start to finish. My client base is exclusively investment banks, someone who refuses to provide existing compensation is not going to pass the integrity check.

[bad company]

Splurge997 said:

wiggy001 said:

Current salary is none of your, or any interviewing company's, business. Address and Nationality are required, DoB isn't but no point withholding as it's easy to work out from work history etc.

If i didnt have written confirmation of base salary, bonus %, due date for bonus payment, written evidence of existing stock/shares, i wouldnt send the CV to the client.In the highly unlikely event i did send the CV out the door without that info, id likely get an absolute roasting from HR.

I want total transparency with all candidates from start to finish. My client base is exclusively investment banks, someone who refuses to provide existing compensation is not going to pass the integrity check.

My client base was law firms and in house legal departments at local authorities & major companies. They didn’t require the level of integrity check your talking about but they wouldn’t be best pleased if I’d wasted their time by sending candidates seeking salaries outside of the range (if they’d given me one).

[slow_poke]

Splurge997 said:

If i didnt have written confirmation of base salary, bonus %, due date for bonus payment, written evidence of existing stock/shares, i wouldnt send the CV to the client.In the highly unlikely event i did send the CV out the door without that info, id likely get an absolute roasting from HR.

I want total transparency with all candidates from start to finish. My client base is exclusively investment banks, someone who refuses to provide existing compensation is not going to pass the integrity check.

I have a contractual agreement with my employer that I shall keep confidential my remuneration. What sort of "integrity check" am I going to pass by breaking this agreement through sharing the information with agencies and potential employers????

[Zetec-S]

Splurge997 said:

I want total transparency with all candidates from start to finish.

Obviously some people feel differently, but I'd have to agree with this.

When it comes to disclosing your current salary, surely it helps to set a ballpark figure for expectations? Perhaps it varies for different industries, but if you take accountancy as an example, someone in an accounts assistant role paying £20-25k ish could dress up their CV and chance their luck applying for £40k+ roles. Their current salary is probably a good indication of their level of knowledge and experience, but if the recruitment agent didn't know that then they could put the candidate forward and then then look foolish when they almost inevitably fall over in the interview. But if the agent knew their current salary it would be another thing to help them set the right expectations and put the candidate forward for more suitable roles.

[bad company]

slow_poke said:

I have a contractual agreement with my employer that I shall keep confidential my remuneration. What sort of "integrity check" am I going to pass by breaking this agreement through sharing the information with agencies and potential employers????

I’d say that you have an unreasonable and unenforceable contractual agreement with your employer.

[wiggy001]

Zetec-S said:

Splurge997 said:

I want total transparency with all candidates from start to finish.

Obviously some people feel differently, but I'd have to agree with this.

When it comes to disclosing your current salary, surely it helps to set a ballpark figure for expectations? Perhaps it varies for different industries, but if you take accountancy as an example, someone in an accounts assistant role paying £20-25k ish could dress up their CV and chance their luck applying for £40k+ roles. Their current salary is probably a good indication of their level of knowledge and experience, but if the recruitment agent didn't know that then they could put the candidate forward and then then look foolish when they almost inevitably fall over in the interview. But if the agent knew their current salary it would be another thing to help them set the right expectations and put the candidate forward for more suitable roles.

There are so many reasons why this doesn't work. It is the recruiter's job to get to know the people on their books and understand what level they are working at and what they are aiming for. If the recruiter puts someone forward for a job they cannot do then there is no one to blame but the recruiter themselves.

Your logic suggests no one should get a decent payrise when moving between companies which is ludicrous. That administrator you mention could be moving from a local suburban firm to the City for example. Or could actually be working at a much higher level than his/her title and salary suggest, hence wanting to move companies.

I've been asked my current salary before by recruiters and have only ever told them what I would want in order to move companies, which has never been an issue.

[Mr Pointy]

It's quite hilairious to see all the agents wriggling so hard about knowing the applicants current remuneration details. The only reason you all want to know this is so that you can ensure any offer is as small as possible a step up from the current salary & hence demonstrate to the employer it was worth using you.

If an applicant has detailed what his expectations are that's all you need to allocate applicants to positions.

[Zetec-S]

Mr Pointy said:

It's quite hilairious to see all the agents wriggling so hard about knowing the applicants current remuneration details. The only reason you all want to know this is so that you can ensure any offer is as small as possible a step up from the current salary & hence demonstrate to the employer it was worth using you.

Really? Bearing in mind most agents operate on a % of salary commission I'd have thought they'd want the opposite...?

[Zetec-S]

wiggy001 said:

There are so many reasons why this doesn't work. It is the recruiter's job to get to know the people on their books and understand what level they are working at and what they are aiming for. If the recruiter puts someone forward for a job they cannot do then there is no one to blame but the recruiter themselves.

Part of the process of getting to know people on their books (for some agents) would be to know what your salary is.

wiggy001 said:

Your logic suggests no one should get a decent payrise when moving between companies which is ludicrous. That administrator you mention could be moving from a local suburban firm to the City for example. Or could actually be working at a much higher level than his/her title and salary suggest, hence wanting to move companies.

Geographical relocation would obviously be something an agent would take into account. Likewise if someone was working at a much higher level than their title/salary suggests (which let's face it, is fairly unlikely) then the agent would also take this into consideration. They might also ask why this person has accepted this and then get to know the reasoning behind why they want to make a big leap.


When it comes down to it, there are good recruitment agents and rubbish ones. Whether they want to know about your current salary or not won't change that. Likewise if someone doesn't want to disclose this then they are free to go elsewhere.

[bad company]

Mr Pointy said:

It's quite hilairious to see all the agents wriggling so hard about knowing the applicants current remuneration details. The only reason you all want to know this is so that you can ensure any offer is as small as possible a step up from the current salary & hence demonstrate to the employer it was worth using you.

If an applicant has detailed what his expectations are that's all you need to allocate applicants to positions.

Many employers want to know candidate’s current salary before interviewing and if they employ the candidate they’ll find out anyway from the P45.

[Pravus1]

I imagine they don't take much notice of a p45. The easiest way to get out of a cycle of being underpaid is to refuse to discuss salary.