Ok, so how do I play this?

[wahwahwah]

I applied for 2 part time jobs on the same day (via 2 agencies). hey were advertised onthe same day. One for an Executive level role, the other for Manager level role. Obviously, the salary difference between the 2 is reasonably large.

Both agencies came back and said that the employed didn't have a full job spec, but they (the agency) loved my CV, thought I was what they wanted, etc etc...

Now, I am quite suspicious by nature...

Agent A: described the type of business and what they wanted (but not the company name - she will tell me when she sees me, aparently). wants to meet me to discuss the role.

Agent B: told me the company name... (a-hah!)

Can you guess where I am going with this?

A little collation of the facts she gave me, plus the company name, and yes, it is the same business, advertising 2 jobs.

So I have applied for 2 jobs - one, both or neither of which may exist. Should I come clean with the agencies? Also, it makes the potential employer seem a bit... uncertain. There can't be 2 positions as the company is quite small.

I like it.

You could end up reporting to yourself. Hopefully you would manage to form a good working relationship with yourself.

Seriously - you are going to have to come clean.

As it is it will appear that you are not confident of your chances of getting the higher position so have also applied for the lower. It also looks desperate which would be off-putting for the company.

Coming clean will also give the company (and the agencies) an opportunity to explain themselves if there is anything underhand going on.

They should come clean to me - grumble grrrr. Feck. Best call Agency B...

Yes, I agree.

It is possible that they are branching out and are forming a new division or something so both jobs do really exist.

No they are not! They are small. Tiny in fact.

Could very well be down to the agencies advertising them differently. Agencies are not always the most reliable of companies as they want the money for placement... DH once had two guys from the same agency put him in for the same position in one company tho they each said they had a specific role -but didn't.
Verify the roles are the same. Then take your name out of the pool for the lower position if they are truly for the same company.

Just make sure you go for the higher paid job interview before the other one.

If the company have seen your CV twice, surely they realise they have been rumbled?

It could be an attempt to get you on the cheap do make sure yopu make it clear you are confident of your ability for the higher role.

I have emailed Agency A and said 'errrr, wouldn't be Company XYZ, would it?' with a link to the job ad. Lets see...

This could only happen to me!

Welcome to the world of recruitment agencies!

In my experience they can be very underhand. If they even get a whiff that a job is going they will advertise for it without knowing what the exact role entails and even if they havn't been commissioned to advertise for it (which unfortunately you will not be aware of). Sounds to me like this is the case here as it is highly unlikely that there are indeed two different jobs available at the same (very small) company.

Usually when a job is advertised similar jobs also appear with other recruitment agencies - maybe with a slightly different location, salary, job title etc. but basically it is the same job and recruitment companies will scrap about who sent your CV in first. I've been caught in the middle of recruitment agencies before and it wasn't pleasant. When you've been looking for a job for a while you get wise to the tricks they play. They even advertise fake jobs to harvest clients so when a position does arise they've got you on their books.

To sum up recruitment companies can be b***ds. Try to look for positions advertised by the employers directly and if possible avoid recrutiment consultants at all costs.

Most jobs with the word 'agent' in the title are on my shit list!