To think 'ya cheeky mare'...

[SanitysSake]

I made an enquiry about a specific job with a recruitment agency. A mid-high level job (or so it was described). They replied, said that based on my career history, I was most certainly the type of person they wanted applying for said job. I asked for a better job spec. More granularity on T&C and pay. They said what they had in their possession was it, but they were waiting for additional information from the employer.

They were very keen for my to immediately apply (which would have required filling out a plethora of forms, resubmitting a full CV and lots of other agency gumpf to their website) and hounded me a bit about it. Time consuming and dull and not something I wanted to do (all my information on their website is not something I'm comfortable with) unless I could fully evaluate the position beforehand.

Rather than waste anyones time, I said I'd hold fire on the application until I got more information. She said she'd get the information before I was due to fly to the Middle East and that she'd appreciate my coming back to her as soon as possible. As it transpired, she didn't get the information to me until I was two thirds through my business trip. With the time in the evenings available, I reviewed the information and concluded, politely, that the position wasn't entirely right for me - but that if there were other positions within the new set-up of the company - I might. After all that hounding, I got nil response. I subsequently removed my abbreviated CV from the recruitment website as I wasn't interested in being approached for jobs that were clearly inappropriate and asked their wider agency to remove any reference to me. This they confirmed they'd do.

Fast forward 4 months and I get an email from said recruiter. Asking me if I'd know anyone who would have the skill set to fulfil this new job she had within the same company. A technical, but a fairly subordinate job role.

AIBU to think it's a bit cheeky that she couldn't be bothered to reply to me before - and now she asks me to help - clearly indicating that i'm still on file somewhere? After I'd specifically asked to be removed entirely from the system?

I can appreciate the initiative and the drive, but can't help but think it's more than a bit cheeky!

I'm currently wondering how to respond... or not...

I don't get why you felt you needed a response. You declined the opportunity, so what was the big deal?

Don't bother.

Agencies are only interested in putting bums on seats and their commission. They will hound you by phone and email relentlessly for days, they have no appreciation for the fact that most people looking for new roles are working during the day and cannot keep taking calls or replying to emails.

They try to tempt you with all sorts of bullshit and spill and then refuse to disclose the employers name and additional info on the role.

And when you don't allow your CV to be sent to all and sundry because you haven't been adequately informed of the role they drop you like a stone never to be heard from again!

Trifleorbust Because I took the time to respond properly to her, ask her for greater details regarding the wider organisation and what they were trying to achieve within this new set up and enquire whether there were other jobs which might be more befitting coming up - whether we might all benefit in her talking to the employer about these very issues, just to see if I might fit better in a different role.

So I took the time for her, but she couldn't be arsed to respond to me.

SanitysSake:

Oh right. You didn't say you asked specific questions.

Hopefullyoneday1 - Ahh, thanks for that, Hopefully. This was my first experience with a 'mainstream' recruitment agency and I can't say it was entirely positive!

I guess I was hoping they'd drop me like a stone - because I'd asked them to! Just thought it was cheeky!

Hopefullyoneday1:

I used to do this job and can honestly say, no, I didn't. Occasionally I didn't reveal the company name but that was because we had so much experience of potential candidates for jobs being contacted by us, hearing all about a position, mining us for details and advice and then approaching the business directly. Quite often they didn't realise we were on a retainer and were simply referred back to us, but we did sometimes lose out in this way.

No, this is quite standard, recruiters are busy and really focus all their efforts on people who ARE interested in the role, this will be due to time pressures as multiple agencies will be competing to fill the same role. Not really worth a second thought.

Are you sure it's a personalised email to you rather than a generic email to everyone on their books that is listed as working in x industry/position?

I still receive these 'please help us/refer someone' emails from recruiters for an industry I haven't worked in for a decade...

Waddlelikeapenguin - Yes, it most definitely was. Full name and then my familiar, shortened moniker in brackets afterwards.

I guess that was one of the things that made me smart a bit. Because they couldn't be arsed to respond to my considered response, which would actually have helped them in their role and then they want me to help them out and drop the personalisation in as a way to show familiarity?

Pah!

sounds like standard recruitment agency stuff to me - they'll have you on their list of contacts even if they've not got your CV. I used to get called at least a couple of times a month by recruiters pretending to be interested in me and mining me for information about whether my company was hiring. I stopped picking up the calls!

Yes, it most definitely was. Full name and then my familiar, shortened moniker in brackets afterwards.

Doesn't mean it isn't a template email with automerged fields

appearing like they've got the personal touch is their bread and butter - I agree with piglet I still don't think this was a 'personal' email

Sleepsleepnomore - ahh.. so 'cheeky' is the norm. Thank god they've clearly lost my phone number!!!

Ladies, you could be right. I mean, I could imagine that a couple of people on their books would have a similar experience/exposure of the industry - so why wouldn't they pro-forma it?! But I am glad there have been no calls yet!

I shall ignore entirely!

yes, i'm glad i only have to deal with them every so often. I once got sent on an interview where I had to pay £200 for the train etc, where I'd said up front I could only do 60% travel per week, arrived, within 5 mins it was clear the company expected 100% and wouldn't compromise. Total waste of time and money. Still bitter!

I work in a small open-plan office that is technically the base for a couple dozen colleagues who are on the road or wfh 99% of the time.

We have one phone line answered by one person. She will often get 5-10 calls in succession from the same "no name, no message, personal matter" caller asking for Jim, Betty, George, Claire, the cat's mother blah blah. Sometimes they manage to get people in the same team, but mostly its completely random.

They are so blatantly recruiters trying their luck from a list of names. I like it when they get to me because I can then ask them why I was only 14th on their list and why exactly they think I am suitable for

YANBU.

There are agencies I've mailed 5 or 6 times to be removed from, because they send through jobs that it's very clear are nothing to do with my skillset.

Some of them even allege that they're members of regulatory bodies - who I've also mailed - and it's all roundly ignored.

I used to use some shared office space with a recruitment agency, and frankly, their attitudes and conversations with each other were appalling.

I've only met one or two agents that I rate - both of which took the time to understand what my skills are and what I'm good at before recommending me for any jobs. ie. they were actually doing what an agency should do.

I get around 8-10 of these emails per week. Unless I'm actively looking for something new, I just delete and ignore.

FWIW, I doubt the 'sender' even sends the emails. I reckon some lowly administrator / data analyst does a search of their database for skills matches, copies and pastes the relevant bits in the template and sends out an automated email with the To: / Dear... bit filled in from their database. It's annoying, but everyone's trying to make a living.

A lot of recruiters will advertise jobs that they have not been instructed on. Sometimes I have seen them advertising jobs where the employer is handling the recruitment directly. They are such pests that often firms will specify no agencies, but you still get some twat calling to say that they have a perfect candidate for you.

Oh, and 'I took the time for her, but she couldn't be arsed to respond to me.'

She probably sends dozens of emails a day, if not more. She won't remember who you are after 4 months

HumpMeBogart well, she clearly didn't remember who I was within a couple of days of her sending the full job spec and my considered reply! Despite the fact she'd hounded me for it!

Pah! She can jog-on!

Another one saying don't bother. YANBU to think she's been cheeky but unfortunately it's par for the course. I get loads of messages via LinkedIn which ask that I recommend someone to them if I don't think it's suitable for me.

Yes, it most definitely was. Full name and then my familiar, shortened moniker in brackets afterwards

Definitely mail merge! The name you prefer in brackets nails it as that's a note made in the database to remind them when speaking to you.

You are however absolutely within your rights to destroy them repeatedly in your mind for the cheek

I think this is par for the course with recruiters. When I was changing field I applied for a job (I actually realised in advanced although the advert was deliberately misleading that it was an advert for a recruiter rather than a specific job). After than I had recruiters calling me daily. One in particular was so persistent - whenever I enquired about a particular type of role I was interested he repeatedly said I' have no chance with my background. Once I got accepted via another recruiter for exactly this role he started hounding me for contacts within the new company. That's just how they operate. Fortunately when I changed my phone number all the calls obviously stopped. Now we occasionally get calls via reception at work saying "X is returning a call" If you call X back it's a recruiter you've never spoken to before.

I got my current job through an agency who called me just as I was thinking of leaving my previous role. I was told salary was one figure when I applied, when I was offered it was actually less but 'would go up to X figure on completion of training'. When I completed my training and asked about my pay rise my boss had no idea what I was going on about much to his embarrassment, the agency had essentially lied to get me to take the job. I queried this with the recruiter and he told me I 'must have got confused about the figures'
I am currently recruiting for a hard to fill role and having little success so we have had to resort to a recruitment agency. Yesterday I interviewed someone whose current salary was £45k , we were offering MUCH less and when I reiterated the salary he said he'd been told there was room for negotiation. We distinctly said there was no room for negotiation on salary when we met the recruiter to discuss the role.

I'm aware that has just turned in to a rant on recruitment agencies and I'm well aware they are not all bad, but I feel a bit better now