Recruitment agencies - name, shame (and praise)

lil_lisa

Just thought I'd give some thoughts on recruiters here in the US for comparison.

Bearing in mind that, over here, recruiters are usually trained sales people who learn a few terms and jargon for the sector they're recruiting in, I don't know if its like that back home also, by the sounds of it it is.

So I started looking for a job about six months ago whilst in my current job. A few recruitment agencies got a hold of my CV, through Monster, other sites and by putting up fake ads for jobs. Several contacted me and I had a few interviews with them, all was going pretty well. Then I'd notice that a few wouldn't return my phone calls, emails, nothing. Just cut contact altogether.

There was one in particular, he called me, was a friend of a friend so I was happy to chat with him. He asked me why I was looking for a job, told him my whole team in work was looking (including my partner who worked above me). He was very helpful and interested in trying to find something for me. I was excited. Then, all of a sudden, all contact dropped. He also wouldn't return phone calls or emails. A few days later, he somehow has my partner's email and phone number. He heard that he was looking for a position and that he could help him. Really? That's what your job is? Calling people to use them for even more contacts? It was disheartening to say the least.

Now, I know that every recruiting company I spoke to works directly for the employer so they have no obligations to help the prospective employees. But, there's still a thing as common sense and common courtesy, right?

Sorry for my rant, I just wanted to express that here, the recruitment agencies just seem to be vultures wanting to build their database to "sell" the company to employers. I've ignored every recruiter since and have no intention in speaking to one again (unless hired by me).

pow wow

A similar thing happened years ago in the UK when a recruiter was calling me back, at work, about an interview I'd had elsewhere. I wasn't at my desk so my supervisor (who luckily was also a good friend of mine) answered the phone. He asked her who she was, she said she was a manager, and then he launched into his spiel of what agency he worked for and would she be interested in a consultation as he had loads of companies looking to hire...bla bla. It was really inappropriate, especially considering agencies usually use the utmost discretion when contacting you at work.

Back here I've found Sigmar in Cork very good as well as Hays in Dublin. I've been disappointed with a couple recently (Lex Consultancy and Recruiters) advertising jobs as ongoing only to get the usual 'we already have plenty of candidates for this role' guff when I apply. It wastes both my time and their time. I know why they do it, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating. At least they have the courtesy to reply though right?

the_syco

DunkingJulez wrote: »

Hmm...it appears the agency sent CVs to the same employer I told them about during my interview with them to help me look for a job!!! Used my disclosure to help them flog out more CVs.

No thats the lowest an agency can go.

Most agencies ask for this reason. The other reason would be to see if you have applied to the job they are trying to get you into, from another company.

pow wow wrote: »

He asked her who she was, she said she was a manager, and then he launched into his spiel of what agency he worked for and would she be interested in a consultation as he had loads of companies looking to hire...bla bla. It was really inappropriate, especially considering agencies usually use the utmost discretion when contacting you at work.

A lot more common than you'd think, I'd say. Whilst working in my current jobs, I've had a few calls whilst working in other sections. Depends on the mood, it'd range from "be interested, waste their time, and hang up when I got bored" if they sounded like a rude person, to saying "no thanks" if it was a polite person.

ABajaninCork

the_syco wrote: »

A lot more common than you'd think, I'd say. Whilst working in my current jobs, I've had a few calls whilst working in other sections. Depends on the mood, it'd range from "be interested, waste their time, and hang up when I got bored" if they sounded like a rude person, to saying "no thanks" if it was a polite person.

Certainly seems to be. Took me a while to realise this, but now either I feed a few red herrings (i.e. companies I know do not use agencies) or politely refuse to tell them the company.

daigo75

I recently discovered the tendency, from some recruiters, of not listening to the answers to their questions or, in some cases, to plainly ignore them. I received around 50 calls in the past two weeks and, apart from the usual useless questions answered with "it's in the CV", there was a gem: why do you want to change?
I explained to each and every single one the reason, 90% of them replied with positions that weren't even remotely satisfying my requirements. Some even try to convince me that opening an Ltd and becoming a contractor for their client (at a much lower annual gross and farther from home) was a huge opportunity!
I thought that this recession would have wiped out these clowns, but instead I see a sharp decline in the quality of their services.

nocheerleader

I’ve had similar experiences with agencies too recently, I’m a part qualified accountant and was made redundant last November.

For example, Office Angels (temping division of the Adecco group) recently had a call for temps on Jobs.ie. I sent off my CV in the hope that I could get some temp work while looking for permanent roles. About 2 hours after I sent them my CV I got a call from their office asking if I could come in the next day as they were “inundated with roles to fill” and my experience matched what they were looking for. There was even talk of a 6 week role to be filled the following Monday which would suit me.

Brilliant .....Or so I thought. I was being optimistic after months of looking; finally hearing positive news like this was great.

So off I went into their offices the following morning. Got there and had to fill in forms – of the exact info that was on my CV (??). I then got to speak to one of their staff for 5 – 10 minutes to be told they didn’t actually have anything at the moment, they apparently just filled the role they had talked to me about, and they would be in touch if anything came up that matched my skills. I was in there for an hour and 10 minutes. I was handed a “Welcome Pack” which included photocopied sheets of information easily found online (interview tips etc) and a bag of Haribo jellies.

I haven’t heard from them since.

I’ve had similar meetings / registrations with other agencies and it’s usually the same story but I always go in the hope that something will come up.

More recently, I had an interview directly with a company, the MD interviewed me, and it was a very informal first round interview. I asked about second round and amount of other candidates. He then revealed to me something I didn’t know about Jobs.ie and was very disappointed to find out. Maybe this is common knowledge but I wasn’t aware of it. He told me that there were 800 views of the job spec on Jobs.ie, 600 applications made, Jobs.ie vetted the applications and only sent 85 through to the company (from which he choose 12). I was disappointed to know that all of those personalised cover letters I make for Jobs.ie applications never even make it to the employer...

I think from now on I will double up - make the application through Jobs.ie and find a direct email contact to the company. Just in case!

flash harry

Hey Nocheerleader

I'm a recruiter and I have never heard of Jobs.ie doing screeneing like this (not saying it doesn't happen but bit bizarre). Also they didnt screen very well if they still sent 85 CVs to the guy.

As for the figures quoted to you I call BS on them - no way c.75% of viewers applied for the role irrespective of the current climate.

Maybe the guy was given these figures by Jobs.ie and they bumped it to make it sound better but the whole story you got sounds like crap. The number of views is def possible but everything else......

Best of luck with you job search

FH

nocheerleader

Cheers Flash Harry!

I hope that it was BS too or at least as you said bumped up somewhat, I left that interview happy with my performance but disappointed by the information revealed about Jobs.ie

Wonder if anyone else can verify / backup this claim?

fitca

i have been applying on jobs.ie for about two weeks and have only had one reply (which incidentally turned out to be bs)
i have years of experience in sales and management, i also hold a decent degree but still no word. its infuriating. does anyoone reccommend another site? please dont say monster, they're as bad as jobs.ie...

Mr. Loverman

flash harry wrote: »

I'm a recruiter and I have never heard of Jobs.ie doing screeneing like this (not saying it doesn't happen but bit bizarre). Also they didnt screen very well if they still sent 85 CVs to the guy.

As for the figures quoted to you I call BS on them - no way c.75% of viewers applied for the role irrespective of the current climate.

Maybe the guy was given these figures by Jobs.ie and they bumped it to make it sound better but the whole story you got sounds like crap. The number of views is def possible but everything else......

Best of luck with you job search

FH

I know for a fact (100% fact) that Jobs.ie screen all job applications and reject a large number of job applications. The jobseeker is not told their job application was rejected.

Newbie 123

Hi,

Apologies if this is bit of the subject slightly but I have do some MS Word Skills Testing with an Agency and when I asked the format they said "It will be self explanatory." Dont want to mess it up and be prepared as much as possible.

Anyone out there had experience of these skills tests?

Cheers !

Buck

Hi guys.

I applied for a job through Monster and was contacted by someone from HRM about an interview with a manufacturer in Dublin. I attended the interview and was contacted again the day after asking as to how I got on. I mentioned that I was still interested and would be available for a second interview.
However, that was over 3 weeks ago and I've heard nothing back...
I left a message on my contacts voicemail just to see if there was a 2nd interview....no reply.
So earlier this week I sent him an e-mail asking about my interview, still nothing.

It's been over 3 weeks now so I don't hold much hope of getting the 2nd interview but I would have thought that the recruitment agency would have the courtesy to let me know.

Mr. Loverman

Buck wrote: »

It's been over 3 weeks now so I don't hold much hope of getting the 2nd interview but I would have thought that the recruitment agency would have the courtesy to let me know.

They don't think you will provide a sale so they don't care about you.

flash harry

Buck wrote: »

Hi guys.

I applied for a job through Monster and was contacted by someone from HRM about an interview with a manufacturer in Dublin. I attended the interview and was contacted again the day after asking as to how I got on. I mentioned that I was still interested and would be available for a second interview.
However, that was over 3 weeks ago and I've heard nothing back...
I left a message on my contacts voicemail just to see if there was a 2nd interview....no reply.
So earlier this week I sent him an e-mail asking about my interview, still nothing.

It's been over 3 weeks now so I don't hold much hope of getting the 2nd interview but I would have thought that the recruitment agency would have the courtesy to let me know.

Buck email them once more today and if they don't come back to you by, say, Wednesday, email the person who interviewed you saying "thanks for t opportunity to interview....unable to get feedback...."

flash harry

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

I know for a fact (100% fact) that Jobs.ie screen all job applications and reject a large number of job applications. The jobseeker is not told their job application was rejected.

Hey Loverman

How do you know this? Also WHY would they do that?

FH

panama

I have just been amde redundant and fancy doing something different career wise in my next position, I have years of management experience but in a niche sector.

Was wondering if anyone could recommened a recruitment agency who could help me in regard to what sort of roles I might be suited too etc as I would like some professiomal advice but don't really know what to do or who to consult.

thanks

Buck

flash harry wrote: »

Buck email them once more today and if they don't come back to you by, say, Wednesday, email the person who interviewed you saying "thanks for t opportunity to interview....unable to get feedback...."

Thanks for the advice and I'll e-mail the recruitment agency again, as the interview was organised by the agency I don't have the e-mail addresses for the people who interviewed me. I'll ring the company and maybe the receptionist will give me the address.

Mr. Loverman

flash harry wrote: »

Hey Loverman

How do you know this? Also WHY would they do that?

FH

I know people who work there.

They do it as a value added service for employers, e.g. we'll only send you high quality applications.

ABajaninCork

I've had very mixed experiences with recruitment agencies here. Certainly, the level of professionalism is very varied.

The 'bad guys'? Too many to mention, but right up there are Hays, La Creme (which starred in it's own thread!:D), Adecco and Kelly.

CPL. They were recommended to me by another poster on here. Called them up, we got off to a good start. No suitable roles at the moment, but they would keep in touch. They put me forward for a role this week. Had a telephone interview. I then e-mailed CPL a note of thanks on Tuesday, telling them about the interview. Since then - nothing. Not even a phone call asking me how the interview went!

The best agency I've dealt with are Morgan McKinley who used to be Brunel. At first I have to admit I was very dubious as they belong to the same group of companies (Premier) as La Creme. But I was very impressed. Very professional in their approach. Gave me loads of good tips about the role, interview and how to approach it. Lots of feedback, and good contact. I would definitely recommend them.

nocheerleader

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

I know for a fact (100% fact) that Jobs.ie screen all job applications and reject a large number of job applications. The jobseeker is not told their job application was rejected.

Thanks for the confirmation Mr. Loverman.
I guess I'll try apply direct to the companies going forward.

Mr. Loverman

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

I know for a fact (100% fact) that Jobs.ie screen all job applications and reject a large number of job applications. The jobseeker is not told their job application was rejected.

The "rejected" applications get stored online in the customer's account in a rejected folder, so in theory they can log into their account and go through the rejected applications.

They only receive an e-mail notification if they receive a non-rejected applications though.

nocheerleader

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

The "rejected" applications get stored online in the customer's account in a rejected folder, so in theory they can log into their account and go through the rejected applications.

They only receive an e-mail notification if they receive a non-rejected applications though.

I imagine though with the amount of applications an employer receives in the current climate that a lot of the time the rejected folder is just that - rejected! I think I'll hedge my bets and apply via jobs.ie and directly to the employer/hr dept (if I can get contact details).

TheDoc

Allen Recruitment Consulting

Dealt with Helen in here for a job with Information Mosaic based on Harcourt Street opposite Tripod.

Position was for client support on one of their software packages.

In short had a brilliant experience. Received a very accurate job specification that matched that of the employer when I went in.

Was given constant communication for things like directions, people I was meeting, their personalities and interviews tips and help.

Helen was also courtous to ring after each interview to check how I did and how I think it went.

In the end, according to herself the company want to hire me but are going through a restructure at the moment and they will call me in a few weeks to let me know where I will be slotting in

I was very apprahensive about recruitment agencies but had a great experience with the above,

Recommended.

They also seem to have a flurry of IT positions on file and I know Helen worked hard to narrow them down to opportunities that suited me

TheDoc

fitca wrote: »

i have been applying on jobs.ie for about two weeks and have only had one reply (which incidentally turned out to be bs)
i have years of experience in sales and management, i also hold a decent degree but still no word. its infuriating. does anyoone reccommend another site? please dont say monster, they're as bad as jobs.ie...

To be fair anytime I look at jobs.ie it looks a joke of a site and I wouldnt trust a job off them.

My partner has had 14 replies from initially searching jobs from jobs.ie advertised as one thing, that end up being door to door sales.

Jobs.ie is the breeding spot for false job advertisement and all the door to door sales places operate on their with fake job specs.

I avoid it like the plague, I've actually had alot of calls in the past two months from recruitment agencies who found my CV on monster.ie.

I'm currently in full time employment but got a flurry of random calls, went after a few of them and were all genuine and good opportunities and one of them seems to have returned gold

christeb

fitca wrote: »

i have been applying on jobs.ie for about two weeks and have only had one reply (which incidentally turned out to be bs)
i have years of experience in sales and management, i also hold a decent degree but still no word. its infuriating. does anyoone reccommend another site? please dont say monster, they're as bad as jobs.ie...

Each jobs board site is only a tool, they're used by companies and recruiters to get your CV. It therefore doesn't really matter which ones you use (Monster, jobs.ie etc), your CV ends up with neither of them as the end user in the process.

TheDoc

Got a call from Hays recruitment today for an IT job based in Citywest, meeting tomorrow for an interview.

Your man seemed sound and very informative over the phone about the position .

super_sweeney

Xelvin

not sure if someone has mentioned them already but stay clear, promised me the moon and the stars before i joined. told me after one year my company could buy me out of my contract after one year the company tried to buy one of the guys out and they would not let him. quoted the add and everything response he got was that the company would not pay enough. was also told that they were going to decrease his wage in the second year ????

hate them would advise everyone to stay clear. they are a dutch agency

jackiebaron

super_sweeney wrote: »

Xelvin

not sure if someone has mentioned them already but stay clear, promised me the moon and the stars before i joined. told me after one year my company could buy me out of my contract after one year the company tried to buy one of the guys out and they would not let him. quoted the add and everything response he got was that the company would not pay enough. was also told that they were going to decrease his wage in the second year ????

hate them would advise everyone to stay clear. they are a dutch agency

Is that the name of the agency? Xelvin? Elan IT are also ****. Promise the moon and get you peanut and take well over the odds as commission.

Otis Driftwood

Lost my job end of March and against my better judgement I applied for a few jobs through agancies.I used to work in the industry so know that there are alot of crooks out there.Heres my experience.

CPL
Sent in my cv,got a call back I reckon only because my friends boyfriend works for them and heard nothing after that.

Morgan McKinley
Applied for a job that I was a perfect fit for in terms of experience,qualifications etc.Not even an email to say they had got my CV.

Griffen Personnel
I applied for a job and literally the next morning I got a call back on it.The lady,Bernie Brady went through my CV,explained the role,told me the company etc and asked was I interested.She forwarded my application but unfortunatly she called me back the next day to advise it had been filled.She called me about 10 days later about a different job but unfortunatly it wasnt suitable location wise but at least she kept my cv on file.

I also specced in my cv to a couple of different agencies but surprise surprise nothing.

As it turns out I managed to get a job myself and Im starting Monday week anyway but with the exception of Griffen I found my short term dealings with agencies to be completly fruitless.

If Im ever looking for a job again though I would have no problem letting Griffen have my cv,the rest can blow it out their asses.

allibastor

hey guys,

one company i used to work with was o'neill and brennan.
they used to be very good at getting jobs but have recently started the old data mining lark, advertising jobs which no longer even exists, with companies that have gone to the wall.

i do have a friend who works there who said any genuine jobs there are nearly filled before they are advertised as they have such a huge list of clients with the required skills. at this stage it seems a lot of recruitment companies are just building a database of possible candidates so to have an exacting person ready when a job comes in.

hays though i have found to be good on more than one occasion.

super_sweeney

yeah xelvin is the name of the agency bunch of feckers

Mr Bob Dobalina

Recruitment agencies are useless these days...employers are not going to spend 1,500.00-2,000.00 recruiting somebody when they can do it themselves, especially in the hospitality industry which i am employed.
I went to N"£! recruitment who didn't have one job on the books to show me.
Except for some 'event work' which they have dropped the rates from 12 p/h to 9.50-10.00 euro.
One thing to watch out for also is, Bars and restaurant posting ads for staff, telling them they have to do trials for maybe one or two days, and telling them it didn't work out. They do this for at least 2 staff for maybe 3 days a week, and they get to save around 40 hours a week in which they don't pay the staff because they are on 'trial'.
I recently did this and the Googled the company and found the had debts of 455,000.00 this year alone.
Another job said to me after 2 days that they wanted to take me on but that they couldn't pay me for 3 weeks and even then the boss might not pay me because he's a bit slow with paper work?!
Dodgey! Be careful!

Mr Bob Dobalina

TheDoc wrote: »

To be fair anytime I look at jobs.ie it looks a joke of a site and I wouldnt trust a job off them.

My partner has had 14 replies from initially searching jobs from jobs.ie advertised as one thing, that end up being door to door sales.

Jobs.ie is the breeding spot for false job advertisement and all the door to door sales places operate on their with fake job specs.

I avoid it like the plague, I've actually had alot of calls in the past two months from recruitment agencies who found my CV on monster.ie.

I'm currently in full time employment but got a flurry of random calls, went after a few of them and were all genuine and good opportunities and one of them seems to have returned gold

i agree, you should go look at Gumtree too, ropey as f!"V.

jclally

Ive been helping my girlfriend look for a new job. We're in the same line of work; I moved approx 2 years ago and the agencies I used (CPL, Morgan McKinely and the IFSC Panel) still send me job specs from time to time. On numerous occasions they've sent me jobs that are perfect for her. Ive suggested her for the role on a few occasions, they have given positive feedback and taken her CV, then she doesnt hear a thing.
The agency that actually placed me sent me an email about the very job they put me in two years ago - if theyre to be believed, Im being seriously underpaid. In addition, I know for a fact we are not hiring.
There may be genuine reasons for lack of follow through of any kind from these companies, but **** service seems to be the rule rather than the exception.

Cin1586

Have to say I have been dealing with Vivienne in Hall recruitment for one job in particular and she has been so professional and helpful really one in a million. I have looked on various job sites and visited a number of recruitment agencies in Dublin only to find you are ignored, sent to interviews unprepared and generally not treated very well.

The complete opposite can be said for Vivienne she really was so nice to me and really helped me out and was extremely supportive. Not sure if I will end up getting the job but had to post to say it before I heard back. Would highly recommend anybody get in contact with her.

genericguy

Cin1586 wrote: »

Have to say I have been dealing with Vivienne in Hall recruitment for one job in particular and she has been so professional and helpful really one in a million. I have looked on various job sites and visited a number of recruitment agencies in Dublin only to find you are ignored, sent to interviews unprepared and generally not treated very well.

The complete opposite can be said for Vivienne she really was so nice to me and really helped me out and was extremely supportive. Not sure if I will end up getting the job but had to post to say it before I heard back. Would highly recommend anybody get in contact with her.

Thanks for that, Viviene.

Cin1586

genericguy wrote: »

Thanks for that, Viviene.

Is it so strange for you to believe that I am actually just a person looking for a job that got helped out by a recruitment agency. Believe me I have been through plenty of unhelpful ones were I have little or no response. So decided when I had one positive experience to post it up.

I hope other people can back up what I say because its genuine.

mickman

agencies are sales peoples, its as simple as that. they could what they can for the quick buck and would sell their mother in order to do so.

in cork its a lot different as its small so a bad recruiter would get no business, dublin is a different matter however.

most positions that a recruiter gets dont get advertised at all as they prefer to deal with their own existing clients so the trick is to get one you get on with and stick with them

and in all fairness the real reason that they dont call you is that your cv isnt good enough, do more industry certification and spruce up your cv

mickman

TheNewMee wrote: »

I think it very much depends what industry you're in. IT applicants seem to be in an awful lot of demand at the moment.

the next IT boom has begun, cloud computing

Alaska1

All action seem to point towards don't use CPL ! with good reason too. :rolleyes:

I myself have been looking around for a change of job the last year or so, I am happy enough where I am here, but feel very undervalued and know I am not being paid enough for the work I do so felt like looking around.

Sent my CV to CPL, got a call back the next day, saying a company had a position I would be perfect for so mt CV was sent over etc, got an email the next day saying the said company wouldn't be taking my application any further ''due to when my people who left my current company for this company not adapting to the working enviorment'' Little did CPL know I was a few days previous sent by another recruitment place for interview for the company !! in the end I turned the job down as the job spec sent to me was lies by both companies !

I emailed the person who I had dealt with in CPL saying you should really be telling people they wernt suited for jobs etc when clearly I was ! it was discrimination and all because they didnt like my current company. I told them and they panicked, promised me the earth moon and stars etc''oh I am so sorry will get you a job, bla bla, I said that I was going to sent the emails sent to me to the media etc etc.

Never heard anything back at all ever, and that was last December, still have the emails too.

Dave!

Have had nothing but good experiences with CPL myself. They got me several interviews and kept in touch the whole time. Got me some good feedback too. Didn't end up getting a job through them, but they can't exactly do the interview for me

Paddy Ti

Patrick Docherty (Enterprise People) is the best agent I've ever had and I been IT contracting for 17 years. Nice guy, very honest and upfront, will buy you lunch regularly, Christmas Presents etc. He put other agents to shame.

Know anybody hiring Senior .NET at the moment as I'd prefer not to use any other agents?

robo

Paddy Ti wrote: »

Patrick Docherty (Enterprise People) is the best agent I've ever had and I been IT contracting for 17 years. Nice guy, very honest and upfront, will buy you lunch regularly, Christmas Presents etc. He put other agents to shame.

Know anybody hiring Senior .NET at the moment as I'd prefer not to use any other agents?

Hey Paddy or Patrick, why don't you use Patrick Docherty? :rolleyes:

Mr. Loverman

Paddy Ti wrote: »

Patrick Docherty (Enterprise People) is the best agent I've ever had and I been IT contracting for 17 years. Nice guy, very honest and upfront, will buy you lunch regularly, Christmas Presents etc. He put other agents to shame.

Know anybody hiring Senior .NET at the moment as I'd prefer not to use any other agents?

Haha, so not only do you praise yourself, but you ask people to give you details of potential clients...!

Paddy Ti

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

Haha, so not only do you praise yourself, but you ask people to give you details of potential clients...!

God ye are a cynical lot, we do share the same 1st name, but I'm being totally genuine in my post.

Paddy Ti

robo wrote: »

Hey Paddy or Patrick, why don't you use Patrick Docherty? :rolleyes:

I would be glad to but he has nothing suitable, contract wise at the moment.

Pixie001

I would recommend Brightwater Recruitment - I dealt with 2 of the recruiters there, and found them to be very friendly and professional. They sent me forward for a number of interviews and on each occasion they spent approx half an hour the day before the interview going through the format of the interview, giving me background information on the interviewers etc, really put me at ease.

On the other hand, I also dealt with Morgan McKinley - I would avoid at all costs. As far as I could see, they are only interested in filling vacancies, regardless of whether the role is the correct role for the candidate. I had one recruiter try to convince me to turn down a permanent role in the sector that I wanted for a 6 month contract in a very specialized industry that she was trying to fill. She was also quite pushy about it - I really didn't appreciate her attitude.

Duq_

My experience with recruiters sofar:
They never call back. If you don't ring them every second day they forget about you and that's it, you're in the bottom drawer.
They don't read your cv. I'm working as a senior technical consultant with 13 years IT experience. I'm really not interested in first line technical support. Java is not in my list of computer languages. There's a reason for that. Yet they keep suggesting Java programming jobs.

Who can recommend a recruitment agency that understands IT and that actually cares about the people they place?

daigo75

Duq_ wrote: »

They don't read your cv.

This seems to be a classic! I remember dealing with a recruiter who got frustrated and, one day, asked me (with an angry tone) why did I reject all candidates without even interviewing them. Reason was that I was looking for people with strong "SQL Server" skills, and they kept sending me people who just happened to have "SQL" and/or "Server" written somewhere in the CV. I must say that the choice, by Microsoft, of using common technical words to name a product makes things a bit confusing, but I'd expect an "expert IT recruiter" to know the difference and to *read* a CV carefully. At the end, they wanted to give me their credentials to access job sites so I could look for candidates by myself... :rolleyes:

I also just remembered another funny episode: I once receive an offer to deliver first aid training to British Army soldiers in Middle East. It took me a while to figure out how could they have thought I could be a suitable candidate, then I put the pieces together: my CV contains my whole work experience from day one, not only in IT roles; any position I held more than 5 years ago is summarized in one line, and there they were:
- I've been in the army (long, long time ago).
- I worked in the IT department of a hospital.

Hospital + army = suitable to deliver first aid training to soldiers! This what I call "accurate candidate screening"!

ahal

I would have to agree that Brightwater are very good. I got an appraisal of my C.V. from them (lady with an English accent) and Christ, it was like getting a dressing down on X-factor: "What's this? Who cares?" etc. It was a good, blunt and honest critique though. The lady actually sounded surprised that I was so appreciative :pac: