Agency Proved Wrong
A reader whose agency proved wrong posted thisĀ as comments.
I proved to one agent that they were not working in their client’s best interests by sending off CVs before reading those they had.
They advertised this particular occasion a role on the Thursday being an exact match for role and industry. Even if I was not THE best person for the role, I should certainly have been on the short list.
I fired off my CV and then followed up with a phone call. On this occasion the agent actually spoke to me. I spent 10 minutes explaining exactly why they should considered me for the role. She seemed to agree but claimed my CV had not come through, so I mailed it again.

Recruiter Unavailable
The following day (Friday) I called again to check on progress and she was “unavailable”. Needless to say the promised return of call didn’t happen.
On the Monday I called again, managed to talk to her only to be told she still hadn’t read my CV and would call me back.
She did do so and agreed that I seemed a good match (just like she had last Thursday). However, then told me that CVs had been forwarded to the client on Friday!
Strung Along by Agency
I got strung along for a week or two before her senior consultant finally spoke to me.
He told me they couldn’t possibly read all the CVs sent through as many were irrelevant. They had to draw the line somewhere.
He couldn’t see that a candidate who by their own admission seemed to be a good match should at least have the courtesy of being considered. They weren’t acting in the client’s best interests.
Apology from Agency Proved Wrong
Finally after a heated discussion, in which he told me “I have been in this business for 5 years, I know what I’m doing”. Of course, having been a contractor for only 18 years I am not qualified to question this. I emailed an account as to why I believed he hadn’t done his job and that I had proved the agency wrong.
A couple of hours later I got an apology by telephone – but too late to help me with this role but I did prove the agency wrong.