Applying when you don't know who the employer is?

[Silverclocks]

I've seen an interesting sounding job advertised but it's through an agency and they don't say who the employer is.

This makes a big difference, both to whether I want the job and the application I write. Is it usual to apply without knowing who you'd be working for?

That’s very odd, have you spoken to someone at the agency and they’ve specifically said they can’t tell you the employer?

No, I've only just seen the add. It's on Guardian jobs and there are lots advertised as "major charity" or "leading manufacturer" without naming the employer.

I've always applied directly to the employer I the past, never through an agency, so I don't know what's normal.

Speak to the agency, they’ll tell you the employer

It’s fairly standard not to know who the employer is when it’s posted by an agency but then when you speak to them direct they’ll tell you

Either that or it’s MI5 or something exciting!

It does sometimes happen when it would be very sensitive knowledge that the former roleholder was leaving or similar, but that would normally go through a headhunter. It might well be that they'd tell you if you contacted the agency, they just don't want it to be totally public. I can see why a charity might be cagey about it on a public website, for instance, because so many people expect charities to have a skeleton staff that work for free, but they'd surely want applications from people who knew and cared about what the charity does.

yes, that's standard practice for jobs advertised through agencies/recruiters/headhunters - if you knew the name of the underlying company, you could just apply directly, and then the recruitment consultant will miss out on the commission.

Like someone said further up in the thread - apply for the job, and if you fit the basic screening criteria, the agency will call you and tell you more about the employer/disclose who the employer is.

Sometimes the employer doesn't exist.

Sorry guardian jobs via a recuitment small-time London agent kept advertising for a south Suffolk Employer who pretty much didn't exist. (they did as a small company soon to be taken over in about 2019) this was in 2017 if you couldn't attend the job interview by employer one evening, you would never the chance again. Very weird for Guardian jobs..... but I sat outside the offices were the rare credit control/customer service job was going.....

Agencies also withhold the company name so that rival agencies don’t try and compete. I bloody hate recruitment agencies for this reason. I don’t know how anyone could know if they’d want to work for a company without knowing who the company are. Also withholding the salary. See if you can Google the job title or anything else relevant to see if the company have also listed the role directly.

It's common for agencies not to advertise their clients' names. But when you talk to them, if they think you're a suitable candidate 99.9% of the time they'll tell you who the client is. I did have one instance last year when I was contacted by a headhunter about the role they were recruiting for and I actually had to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement before they were allowed (by the client) to reveal who their client was. Unnecessary drama but the client's fault rather than the recruiter.

Just call the agency and have a chat with the consultant handling that role,they should telly you the company and all the relevant information. A good recruiter will get to know you and be able to recomend any othe suitable positions they have for you, sometimes these aren't advertised. They like good candidates they can place and earn £££ on.

Standard in my industry, it's to stop you just applying directly. Though I tend to avoid agencies after they nearly submitted me for a job at my current employer ( although knowing that was quite useful as they were offering a higher salary!)