First post in here, I just wanted to moan about job agency's really. Are there any good ones out there that specialise in IT? I'm sick to death of the pathetic communication, completely inadequate jobs recommended to me and overall woeful customer service. I understand I'm not paying for their service but considering the money they make if I got one of their recommended jobs you'd think they'd try a bit harder.
An example of this was someone ringing me from an agency with a job in mind for me, sounded great, they asked me the usual questions regarding my current role, experience etc and off they went to send my details onto said company. A few days later the agency rang me to say the company "loved my CV" but want to to drop the wage, fair enough, I'd still go for it. A few days later, agency rings again, the company are dropping the wage again, am i still interested?? I was pretty put off by now but I said I'd still speak to the company.
Then...nothing...I can't get hold of three of the agency staff via email whereas before they communicated regularly. It's ridiculous. I'm not desperate for the job but I just find it really amateurish.
Sick and tired of using middle men!
Hehe this is the bane of agents.
The Agent is a commission based salesman. They have no interest in the company or the applicants - just the commission.
When you play Game Theory with an agent the following occurs:
* Do you have a text skills match? No = drop (this is funny - they have no idea about the words, so they cannot make a judgement call between things)
* Are you available immediately for the customer? No = drop
* Are there any dates for interviews you can't make? Yes = drop (even if your wife is in A&E - they don't believe you)
* You ask for the name of the company? Yes = drop
* Have you applied anywhere else? Yes = drop
* Have you had any failed interviews? Yes = drop
* Will you apply at the maximum the job advertised and sound like you'll get it? No = drop
* Does the company like your CV? No = drop
* Did the company like you interviewed? No = drop
* Did you not pick up the phone when they called? No = drop.
My favourite - does the job side allow tailored CVs? (i.e. one CV for each job application as applying for jobs needs this)
So when you do the maths, it turns out that not having the ability to apply with unique CVs to jobs actually removes a large number of potential applicants before the search starts (because they're applied somewhere else).
Now because there's a 200:1 ratio.. the applications will apply far and wide as an applicant there is no reason to risk everything - like your mortgage - on a single application (with a 200:1 the company also has a selection so the probability doubles make that 400:1).
In the end they're actually hurting their paying customer and wasting their time in finding a match!
Dropped? Usually because you're of no monetary interest, they will not even read your emails or respond to calls. With no feedback being the result.
The problem here is that the agent is told what criteria to seek and it is binary - all or nothing. Their days are literally time sliced to make X calls and matches, just like a cold calling centre.
In the past the CV was someone reading to make the decision to invite you to interview - that's the role of the CV. Now it's a computer - it takes the job spec and the CV and computes a match based on direct text matches but also on sentence structure and possibly (more advanced) what is missing - such as stating that the role but no demonstration of achievement with the skill.
The cover letter is just as bad. Most agents are looking for a prematch. Companies are looking for a personal statement why you stand out from the crowd - specific to the company and it's goals.
The problem, once again, is that both are mutually exclusive because of the middle man's perspective.
So realistically it is no longer viable to apply via agents on job boards. In-fact that only time I have had responses or progressed to interviews has really be via direct applications because the in-house recruiters have more of a clue.
however the out of office response email from the guy indicates he's in a 2 day meeting.. So I wonder if that's part of the process.. Anyways fingers crossed 