Revealing Leads
An agency tricked me into revealing leads recently.
I thought I was smart to it but the recruitment agency conned me into it and then wouldn’t take my calls.
This was sent to us by a reader.
Contract Job and Agency Tricks
I thought I would add this to the growing list of articles covering dirty tricks
played by IT agencies.
I have been contracting for about 4 1/2 years now and have dealt with many
agencies over that time.
This happened to me recently.
I saw a contract job advertised on Jobserve for a build engineer which I applied
for.
Four or Five days go by with no response from the agency, so I just assumed
they were not interested in my CV.
Contract Applied For
About a week later I get a phone call from the IT agency in question asking me if I would be interested in a position they had got on the go for a build engineer, the very same job I had applied for.
I said that I was available and would be interested, and after 5 minutes general
discussion with the agent he agreed that I would be good for the role and he
would put me forward.
He then stated that this was an urgent requirement and they would want someone
to start immediately and he would probably be contacting me the same afternoon
or next morning with feedback.
Spamming References
He then went on to say that as it was an urgent requirement he would have to move on it very quickly so he would need to take references straight away.
This obviously got the alarm bells ringing as I had read articles about agents
pumping IT contractors for leads under the guise of requesting references and it
had happened to me before, but I thought I would give them the benefit of the
doubt as it was only fair because they had to immediately fill the contract.
He tricked me into revealing leads. Obtaining leads was the only reason for doing this.
Decent agencies with Reputations
So here I am, 2 days later feeling like a right chump having had no further
contact from the agency. I did phone a couple of times, but after giving my
name was told that Mr X was unavailable, or in a meeting, or out at lunch.
In any dealings I have with people I always try to show a little common decency,
is it too much to expect agencies to show the same.
I do know there are decent recruitment agencies out there, but their reputation has been
tarnished by the rest of them. I feel a fool for revealing leads to this guy.
Gest some more advice on Dealing With Agencies
Keep 85% or more of your money. Check out Offshore Umbrella Companies
I have seen many tricks over the past 20 years, however, its a fact of life and a form of selling for the business they work for. The key is to spot them, however if you are out of work or not so clued up, of course you will do what you have to do.
I have had:
1) References asap .
2) Reference names.
I always say, I would need to seek permission, besides you are not allowed to contact them, they do not want to be hassled. I have a paper or linked in reference which is enough. That or nothing. I also say, I am happy to provide the references or names on the day of the interview to the client, but not until the interview has been confirmed.
3) Receiving more than one call about the same job from different agents. Two agents fighting over me, both sending CV. One sent without my consent. I now say, not interested or not looking.
4) They charge 35% margin. The reasons why were amazing.
Basically always show you are confident, needed, aware and not stupid.