Recruitment agencies - do they advertise fake jobs? And WWYD

[ImSoNotTelling]

OK so I am bored at home and missing work and feeling frustrated that I sacked my decent career for part-time local work, same old story. In a moment of madness I applied for a really great sounding job, very well paid etc etc. It was advertised on a news website for that sector and through a well known recruitment agency.

First sent an "interested" email through the contact us thing. Didn't hear for a day or 2 and then realised that I was going to be on hols and not available on the number I'd given so I called her.

I asked about the role and she said to send my CV and when she got it she'd send me the job spec. So I rejigged my CV and sent it off.

Few days no reply. Called her and she said it was being processed and she'd get back to me "and tell me about suitable jobs".

Few days no reply, i called and she was "on the phone" so I left a message to call back.

Still nothing so called and left a message saying that she had not sent me the job spec as promised, that she was not returning my calls, that I needed to speak to her to explain that it was that particular job I was interested in, I wasn't looking generally.

Nothing.

So anyway I am concerned as I have heard that they sometimes put good jobs up to get people's CVs and then they bandy them around the market to show what sort of candidates they have on their books. I do not want my CV used in this way as it's a very small world where I worked and I just don't. Do they do that?

And anyway, I'm generally pissed off, what kind of person says they will send you stuff then doesn't, and doesn't return your calls? In the last call I also said "please can you ask her to call me even if she feels my experience is not right for this role, to let me know"... Nothing. It's really unprofessional isn't it?

So

Do I contact them and insist on speaking to someone and get my details taken off their system

Do I insist on speaking to someone and complain about this person?

Do I simply leave it and put it down to experience?

DH says that some of them get paid for getting CVs on their books - have I been had?

Oh whoops that's an essay sorry I'm obvioously more worked up about this than I thought...

Yes they do. I'd probably request your details are removed from their database if I were you so that they don't benefit from having your CV at their disposal.

Well, some do, we don't.

It is bad form not to contact you/return calls, not good practice at all.

FWIW I had a break from Recruitment and came back to it in last 18mths, it has completely changed, loads of candidates putting CVs on job boards and agencies just sending these CVs to jobs/firms without even speaking with the candidate first. It is causing mayhem for those of us who do things properly.

Hope you can get it sorted.

They are supposed to have written permission to add your cv to their database, although in theory some dont.

Some agencies do advertise "fake" jobs to get a sweep of cvs, dont get me started on recruitment agencies. I hate with a passion.

I would email them, tell that due to their severe lack of communication and care you would like them to destroy your cv, and that they do not have permission to forward it on to anyone, or store it. Ask for written confirmation of this.

If there was a job, then they would be beating your door down(assuming you have suitable qualifcations/experience), as they obviously get a big chunk for every position they fill. Wankers.

Should I ring the switchboard and ask for name of manager/who to compain to?

Obviously if i call the original contact she will completely ignore me as per usual.

It was such a nice job and so well paid they will have had a load of people I reckon.

Twats.

Yes they do - you are not properly on their books until you've gone in to see them either. They could be just showing off your c

Very annoying - they also lift info off cv boards and send them to employers - we had an issue with one agency doing that to us - ie we approached a candidate through a board and then the next day and agency rang us saying the candidate was on their books and demanding a fee! Watch out for that too!

I found agencie OK for temping but I prefer direct recruitment for perment jobs. I also don't like using agencies to recruit people.

It's very variable isn't it. I have always found large generic agencies to be poor, while specialist recruiters are usually much better.

Going to call them this morning after the nursery drop and find out who I need to talk to.

ISNT, I am not very experienced on the subject but DH is currently looking for a job too and does a fair bit from gencies on the net. Each of these agencies (so far) have a choice of

-do you want your CV to be forewarded to potential employers?

-do you want us to call you before forewarding your CV to potential employers?

Try to contact them ans ask for the second option, maybe it was not clear on their site that you had options?

I didn't upload my CV, I sent it to her after i spoke to her on the phone. She said to send the CV and then she would send the job spec. This was about a month ago. Or more?

She doesn't even know what salary I'm after - I just don't understand why she would gather up CVs and then not return calls, contact at all, send the job spec etc. I certainly haven't given her permission to use it for anything. It is bizarre.

I am going to call later I think and try to actually talk to someone else.

Well it all seems very odd.

I rang and spoke to the person who answered the phone, on the switchboard number.

I told her what had happend and that i wanted my details removed and she said she had set my status to inactive. I said I wanted my CV deleted and she said she would do that for me.

Without talking to the consultant or tipping them off they are about to lose a client? It seems very peculiar.

I asked if it showed on her screen what had happened about that role and she said "it doesn't say anything here".

The whole thing is fishy IMO.

Last year between jobs I temped for a Recruitment Consultant (a large agency, in the Sunday Times top 10 employers list, very well know etc).

There were no jobs about, so the consultants invented jobs to get CVs sent in.

They also took CVs directly from Monster, Jobsite whatever and sent it directly to the clients without contacting the candidate.

For a joke, one of the consultants rang up a rival agency pretending to be company x, said that she had a requirement for 10 workers to start Minday morning, and let the rival agency ring round candidates and get them ready for Monday. So all these candidates got excited that there may be a job opportunity and it was all a practical joke.

People were screened - if they had a foreign sounding name their CVs would not be out forward - 'ooh client x would not want a paki working for them'.

It was the most demoralising time of my working life. Awful, shoddy practices. There are good recruiters out there (Lizzy you are bound to be one of them ) but the industry is a pretty odd one, imo.

ISNT, we'd never tell someone who the role was with without seeing a CV (they could send it themselves or it could be another agent trying to get info).
Could be that it was an old job, it had been filled and they wanted your CV to see if they had anything else. They may not fully understand what it is you do.
It is odd, but if you really do want to move roles find an independent recruiter specialising in your area of work.
They will meet with you, discuss your requirements and not send your CV or details anywhere without your express permission.

Yep. I'm forever grateful for recruitment agencies as when an employer royally screwed me over, a fab one found me an amazing job within a week. But I registered at every agency in town and what people don't realise is that recruitment agencies are sales people, and what they are selling is you. Many times all the agencies wanted to send me to the same job interview. It's more a case of lucking out and registering with an agency with good contacts. I was surprised that the job I ended up getting wasn't advertised elsewhere, they trusted the agency to send them the right person, as even the fee for 'buying me out' from them was cheaper than advertising the job in the first place

I don;t really want to move roles, I was only tempted by this lovely job with a fabulous salary. Which I suspect was the point of the exercise.

They ought to understand what I do as they are a specialised arm of a large company, dealing solely with my speciality.

I just think the whole thing is shonky, sorry.

I am sure you do it properly lizzy, but equally I am sure many don't.

ISNT, I do do it properly, but keep losing out to those who don't!
But it all comes around to bite them on the bum, so hey ho.

Yes it does, I have been involved recruiting people in the past and I'm sure will be again in the future, and I will be steering well clear of this bunch.

Whether it was all a fishing thing, or she was just utterly incompetent, either way I now think their organisation is shite and will be telling all my friends

On the flipside, my SIL is a brancnh manager of a large recruitment agency - when she heard what howlers were going on at the agency I worked at she was horrified.

She is very good at her job, and has done it for years, however she is looking at getting out of it as the competition is so tough at the mo.

I keep thinking that I have been rude to them

And maybe there was a job.

But there wasn't was there.
And she was rude to me not vice versa.

I'm too bloody polite.

Bet it was either a made up role or an old job.
You haven't been rude, she had your CV, an outline of your career to date, that is a lot of trust to put in someone. Least she could do was to acknowledge you/call you back tell you what was going on.

Gawd I should prob just start phishing for CVs on jobsites and plastering them everywhere without even contacting the candidates, like my competitors do!

Or even, do some work......

You know and so do I that decent recruitment agencies who know their onions are worth their weight in gold and the rest are a bunch of shysters. Reputation is everything and I'm sure yours is fab

It bothers me as my old work was so small and specialised, everyone knows each other, and I just don't want my CV "out there" IYKWIM

Still no harm done. I suppose if it has been touted it will remind people I exist!

Hi

I have worked in recruitment for 11 years and its getting harder and harder. I have always prided myself on being one of the good / professional ones and will not compromise my standards and ethics whatever our competitors are doing . That said the problem we have at the moment is too many people looking for work. I put an advert on last week and have had 670 responses. It's just so tough even getting the time to look at everyone's CVs let alone call the people who look good but not quite right for that role. It's not an excuse - just how it is. I would go back to the days when we received all CVs on fax's and post... We were able to give candidates a much better and more personalised service. Sorry to hear about your experience. Its sounds like they just must have been bombarded for that role. It could be that they advertised the role - it got filled quickly and the jobs don't always come down off the boards as quickly as they should...

Thing is, when I called about the role initially, when it had been on the board for at least a week, she took my call immediately. Didn't say the role had gone or she had too many CVs and it would take ages or anything like that. She asked about my experience and she sounded keen. The she asks for my CV and not a peep since - about 6 weeks and I've left about 4 phone messages.

i totally understand what you are saying lookingahead, and I'm sure you are very good, but this situation seems fishy to me IYSWIM.

The person who said she'd delete my Cv didn';t seem surprised or fussed at all, that says it all really.