# Employment agencies



## Deano (Jul 7, 2006)

what's the deal with these? I've applied for a couple of jobs with agencies and both times I have an email back saying my skills do not match those that the client is looking for. Fair enough but the last one I applied for, the skills listed on the ad where almost identical to those on my CV? do they not read them or something?


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

I get these kind of emails from a few agencies but they're generally useless anyway, I applied for one and my skill set and qualifications matched the profile exactly and got the standard "we've had strong response and feel someone else fits the bill better".


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## Deano (Jul 7, 2006)

phew. not just me then.


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

No not just you, I do find in general though that the recruitment consultants you end up talking to are as much use as **** on a bull, they rarely have any industry specific experience and are reading from a crib sheet when they ask questions.


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## Rob_Quads (Jul 17, 2006)

While you think you might match up well to the advert, chances are they have had 100 applications for the job and with them having spoken to the client they may have picked up on something no in the advert about the sort of person they are looking for and you don't match that criteria.
Agencies are massively over subscribed with people on their books at the moment with no where near enough jobs.


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

They can't judge what sort of person you are by your CV though.


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## Rob_Quads (Jul 17, 2006)

No but they could have said stuff like. We are looking for someone who doesn't change jobs often, or someone who has worked shifts. They might not put that in the advert but will be looking over the CVs with that in mind.


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

That's where they fall flat on their faces though, many pepople who've never worked shifts are willing to if they'd ask and people who've changed jobs often aren't uncommon anymore as there's no such thing as a job for life in todays market.


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## Deano (Jul 7, 2006)

Rob_Quads said:


> No but they could have said stuff like. We are looking for someone who doesn't change jobs often, or someone who has worked shifts. They might not put that in the advert but will be looking over the CVs with that in mind.


2 jobs in 15 years i've had and done all shifts in that time. its all in the CV. This last one was almost cherry picked for me as i met all criteria and then some! oh well. best just keep trying.


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

Three words darling "waste of space"


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## Deano (Jul 7, 2006)

I havent joined one but jobs for big companies are mostly through them. If they mentioned what company it was i'd approach them directly.


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

You can usually decipher the company from the spiel they give you.


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## Deano (Jul 7, 2006)

yeah I've been racking my brains but for some reason they list the location as several towns around here.


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## centenary (Sep 5, 2010)

Deano said:


> what's the deal with these? I've applied for a couple of jobs with agencies and both times I have an email back saying my skills do not match those that the client is looking for. Fair enough but the last one I applied for, the skills listed on the ad where almost identical to those on my CV? do they not read them or something?


It means the agent has too many apps for the job that matched the skills exactly. You say your skills were almost identical but almost isnt good enough when there are so many other people applying for the job.

Happens all the time Im afraid.


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## Deano (Jul 7, 2006)

centenary said:


> It means the agent has too many apps for the job that matched the skills exactly. You say your skills were almost identical but almost isnt good enough when there are so many other people applying for the job.
> 
> Happens all the time Im afraid.


but when i say almost identical, I mean exactly the same just worded slightly differently. for example, the job said "must have experience dealing with couriers/freight forwarders and knowledge of pricing an advantage". My cv reads- 
"an in depth knowledge of the UKs leading couriers and hauliers with an intricate knowledge of their pricing structure and service limitations." This was the same for all the other things they where looking for.

I dont mind if they find out i'm not the right candidate but it just seems i'm getting automated responses.


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## centenary (Sep 5, 2010)

Deano said:


> but when i say almost identical, I mean exactly the same just worded slightly differently. for example, the job said "must have experience dealing with couriers/freight forwarders and knowledge of pricing an advantage". My cv reads-
> "an in depth knowledge of the UKs leading couriers and hauliers with an intricate knowledge of their pricing structure and service limitations." This was the same for all the other things they where looking for.
> 
> I dont mind if they find out i'm not the right candidate but it just seems i'm getting automated responses.


I work on a contract basis and use agencies to source work. I sometimes fall foul of the same thing.

It really is a combination of an employer's wish list of employees skills, your cv being an exact match and not too many people applying for the role.

You've got to remember an agent will take 30 seconds to skim read your cv and decide if they want to consider you further for the role. They frequently use word searches in your cv too.

As I said, I think you just fell foul of too many people applying for the role and missed the cut.


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## Deano (Jul 7, 2006)

well they arent all bad. just heard back from one I applied for a job through and they are "very interested". Fingers crossed.


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## Mr_Mephistophel (Feb 28, 2011)

After going through this last year I may be able to explain.

A lot of times they do not state the exact requirements in order to weed out those who might "tell a few porkies" on their application.

Say I am looking for someone who has experience in machines A, B, C, and F.
If I state this then someone may be tempted to claim experience in m/c F in order to secure an interview.

If instead I say "must be experienced in machines A, B, and C" then the agency can look for those who also have F.

Or for a real example.....I was turned down for an interview that I believed I was an exact match for. The job spec could have been lifted straight from my cv.

I later found out they were looking for someone who also had fabrication experience (I dont). 
If they had written that on the job spec and I had claimed to have that experience how would they have been able to check at the interview? They could hardly say "okay, make me something"


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## ivor (Sep 24, 2008)

I pick up a fair bit of work through agency's but also find agencys i've never used before will phone me up with a "job that I'm perfect for" just so they can put me on their books it's annoying I prefer they just be honest and asked if they can put me in for any future work.

Getting out of an agency who the company is they are representing is not generally possible as they work on commission for example some of the jobs I've had they pay me one rate and then charge the company I'm doing the job for 3 times that and this is an accepted policy.

If your trying to pick up work I use cv-library.co.uk when ever I update my cv I usually get a call within 48hrs asking If I'm available and I find that employers like the variety of someone who has different jobs behind them as you can bring more to the table i.e a better way of doing things


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