To be wary of recruitment consultants?

[keepAgitated]

I applied for a job with a publicly funded institution by filling in a very detailed application form on their website (it took me most of a day!). A few days later I got a call from a recruitment consultant working for a well known agency, who said she'd received my application and wanted a chat about it. I expressed surprise because I had applied directly, and she explained that they had an exclusive contract, and the role shouldn't have really been advertised directly.

Since then the agent has asked me for a lot of additional information - another form to fill in, a cv, and another phonecall scheduled. I'm shortlisted for the role, but it feels like there's always another hoop to jump through before it's confirmed that I will be invited for interview. It's the first time I've dealt with an agent and it seems much less transparent than the process I'm used to where it's clear that all applicants are being asked the same questions. Am I right to be cautious? Any tips for dealing with her?

You could resaerch the recruitment consultant, or check with the company if the job was advertised. Lots of companies do use them now

Is she also trying to get you signed up to her agency by stealth?

Quite often they sneak that in so if you find a role via another agency they can claim commission.

Always be wary of recruitment consultants OP - I've ended up married to mine!

I've worked in recruitment for a long time now and the actual process itself is determined by the employer rather than the agency. Some clients are happy for you to do an initial interview and pass the candidate straight over, others give you a huge detailed process to follow. In my experience public services always fall into the latter. It sounds like your consultant isnt being very informative tho, maybe ask her to put the process in writing so you know what to expect.

Where I work, we used to have direct applications through our website. The details were picked up then by an agency who had an exclusive contract with us. So this aspect isn’t that unusual.

I would be concerned by the need to give the same information again though. Although they must have gotten your number from somewhere?

May be worth calling the potential employer directly, just to make sure what is happening is correct?

Unless it was explicitly made clear on the application form or website that your application would be passed to a third party recruitment agency for processing, and that by submitting your application you agreed to this, the employer has committed a serious breach of Data Protection laws.

I was a recruiter for 12 years working with the public sector. What's happened sounds quite normal we used to have to deal with applications that went directly to the employer and usually the format of the application was different to what we needed so unfortunately that usually meant extra faff for the candidate. Ideal you would have just gone through the agency though how you're supposed to do that if not told to do so is obviously unclear. There are loads of very professional recruiters out there so don't be put off.

What I don’t understand is why recruiters, when given all the information on, say, a CV, can’t fill in their bloody paperwork and forms themselves. I quite sympathise, OP, about all the hoop jumping.

I actively avoided applying jobs where the recruitment process included recruitment agents because they are almost always a pain in the arse to deal with.

I’ve applied for a job which looked direct but actually via a recruitment agency and it was a good experience. (I hadn’t spotted it until retrospectively).

But it was actually good. I had a go between with me and the prospective employer and could have good frank conversations about hours and salary.

I also had a pre interview to be screened. All fine.

So double check. Are you sure it wasn’t obvious? And the company is allowed to use a third party if they want, they just need to be clear about it.

Be careful with some of them. Last time I was contacted (wasn't even looking for a job) I was told about a job and then they wanted to know the name and contact number of my line manager "just for a chat". On your bike matey, I'm too long in the tooth for those tricks.

Some are good, some are bad. The ones I have worked with to get my last two jobs were spot on. Most of the chancers who cold call are exactly that, chancers.