Can't they read?

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As time has gone by as a job hunter, I'm starting to really hate recruitment agencies.
I clearly state on my CV and on job sites that I'm actively looking for IT work or to be more precise, 1st line type roles but still get asked if I want to do xyz job. Tired of answering the same questions every other day and as well as phoning them back (as they don't tell me what job it is in the voicemail). What am I doing? How long have I been here? etc.
The other day, I applied for a helpdesk role and got a voicemail from the recruiter saying he would not put me forward for the job but said he had a great opportunity that he has that I'd be suitable for. And that great opportunity was for........Data Entry . Besides I don't have any data entry experience and can't type that fast.

Don't even get me started with those who try get information. The classic " Have you had any interviews lately, if so with whom" ? please.

Just a pointless rant really

 

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Ha! u better get used to it. half the jobs advertised are out of date and or don't even exist, and they'll do anything to get your reference details. remember they r sales ppl, you'll gonly et the good ones through recommendations

 

they usually don't read, I suppose they do a bit for high profile jobs with less than 100s of applications. once I was called after submitting my cv:

lady - what kind of suitable experience do you have?
me - this and that
lady - where? i don't see it
me - it is on the second page
lady - ahhh, ok

I think they just have a quick glance, call you, and then read it while you tell them what's on it. it is a bit irritating, but i bet you wouldn't read a lot if you had to review loads of cv's.

 

I can relate to your frustration when dealing with recruitment agents and agencies. However, just see them as a sales person wanting to make more commissions as it's their means of making a living.

I'd be patient till I find something, that's the way agencies work, obviously there's a few good ones out there.

 

Funny that you mentioned it.

Yesterday, i called into a well known agency in Nottingham (their name rhymes with smelly) and I was taken over to a 'recruitment consultant' who looked very put out by my unreasonable request of 2 minutes of her time. I shouldn't have bothered as all this involved was her having a very quick glance of my CV and then telling me to email a copy to the generic email address-despite the fact she had a copy in her hands at that very moment. She quite clearly didn't want to make any work for herself (I’m not really sure what she was there for) and did everything she could to dissuade me from signing up to the agency (again, I’m not really sure what other purpose a employment agency has).

 

Unfortunately most jobs are been advertised by agency, would be nice to apply directly to the employers, most interview I've had in the past had no agency involvement at all. So I get the feeling my CV isn't been passed on because they think I'm not suitable. Also 99% of the time they phone asking questions already answered on my CV!

 

I've had similar issues with recruiters in the past but I've got to give a big shout out to Hays Recruitment, they phoned me about a job as an IT Support Analyst. They were extremely helpful and thanks to they're support (plus a weeks studying and preparing) I got the position.

 

haha it made me laugh reading your post because thats *exactly* how it was for me in the first couple months of my job search. I realised that it was because there were things in my CV which were matching me up with those kind of jobs, so I took them out and put in things that are relevant to IT support roles and voila..no more unwanted calls. All the cold calls I get now are about IT support jobs.

In regards to the recruitment people being sometimes a bit obnoxious, I also found that and at first it annoyed but now I just realise that they are essentially the gatekeepers so I try to build rapport with them on the phone and show really good communication skills, sometimes they will put me forward for a role even though Im not 100% suitable because I came across well on the phone.

 

I have had similar experiences, Ive found you get 2 kinds of calls from recruitment companies. Theyre either really co-operative because theyve already decided theyre going to forward your CV, they just call to get some extra details and to see if you can work shifts (if the job requires it) things like this.

The other type is when theyre not really sure about you so they give you a mini phone-interview where it honestly feels like they want you to mess up and fail. I think its because they probably make shortlist but can only forward x amount of candidates so they try and whittle out the ones who they feel wouldnt interview well.

I applied for a job in IT recruitment on a whim, not 100% serious about getting into it as a career but thought could be worth applying see if I get feedback. I get a call back from this dragon lady and she proceeds to cut me down for about 10 minutes, she was almost offended that I would dare to apply for a role in recruitment. Was pretty funny how rude she was being. It was a valuable experience getting practice in answering difficult questions and Im actually glad I went through because I felt its improved my interview skills.

 

What grates is that they are terribly communicative and responsive when you first contact them, which then tails off when they dont have anything immediately suitable for you. They dont return calls, they barely respond to emails and then, out of the blue, they ask you to " expand" on info thats already contained in your CV!

 

That doesnt surprise me. Just out of interest, what were they so rude about? why did she have the problem with you applying for it?

Only reason i ask is because I considered a similar thing myself a couple of times. But then i quickly talked myself out of it.

 

She was just very rude and uncooperative. She kept saying I dont sound focused enough to get into recruitment. I dont understand how hard they work and how busy they are (but yet she spoke to me on the phone for 11 minutes even though she had clearly made up her mind 30 seconds in, cant be that busy then!). Things like that.

She would ask me tough questions, and if I provided an unsatisfactory answer she would laugh. Just a real b!tch to be honest with you.

 

You did better than I would have done. I wouldn't have even made it to 11 minutes, I would have just slammed the phone down on her.