Chris James
Über Member
- Location
- Huddersfield
... no dimwit yokel Lancastrians ....Rigid Raider said:
Dealing with recruitment agencies.
- Thread starter MichaelM
- Start date
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Night Train
Maker of Things
- Location
- Greater Manchester
When I arrange to meet an agent I usually sort it for a lunch break. I then offer to get lunch and I am always met with the response of professional ethics wouldn't allow them to receive a gift from a contractor and so they pay for lunch and charge it to their expenses.domtyler said:I personally think it is more than acceptable to go one or two steps further than this and ask the agent if you can come over and buy them a sandwich at lunchtime to talk over your CV and any suitable roles they may have on their books in more detail.
Anything you do to put yourself in front of the pack is likely to pay very big dividends. Let's face it, its not hard when the most effort the majority of people do is to fire off standard, untailored CV's to anyone with an email address!
I also always ask what other jobs they have, even if the jobs don't suit me, on the basis I might know someone else who might be right. It allows me to check out what else is new in that hasn't been advertised yet but it also means that I can get £50 for an introduction.
Spoked Wheels
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bournemouth
I was a computer contractor for 10 years so I have lots of experience with agencies. Perhaps the best tip is to work with just one specialised agency but that it's not always possible.
Dealing with agents I got to know one or two quite well and I learnt some of the tricks of the trade. For example an agent has a position for an Oracle developer with experience in Oracle applications and he has 5 strong candidates but he wants to give the best chance to a particular candidate. The agent might call the other four candidates and say *I'm putting your name forward for this position, at this company, etc" Please, don't allow other agencies to put your name forward for the same position, companies don't like that. He would put his preferred candidate forward and hold back the other 4 CVs for a few days.
An agent that has found you work two or three times before might be your best friend
Dealing with agents I got to know one or two quite well and I learnt some of the tricks of the trade. For example an agent has a position for an Oracle developer with experience in Oracle applications and he has 5 strong candidates but he wants to give the best chance to a particular candidate. The agent might call the other four candidates and say *I'm putting your name forward for this position, at this company, etc" Please, don't allow other agencies to put your name forward for the same position, companies don't like that. He would put his preferred candidate forward and hold back the other 4 CVs for a few days.
An agent that has found you work two or three times before might be your best friend
