This is important because it enables them to understand your unique skills and experiences and provides them with a rounded picture of you. It also offers you the opportunity to get a feel for the professionalism of the recruitment agency and find out how they work. If they treat you poorly at this stage it is likely to be a sign of things to come and it is worth ditching them at the earliest opportunity. I would advise you to attend any such interviews as it enables you to leave a lasting impression on the recruiter and they are more likely to remember you in amongst the thousands of CV’s that they receive when it comes to new job vacancies. This process also enables the recruiter to more accurately represent your skills and abilities to a potential employer, boosting your chances of securing an interview and ultimately a job offer.

Hot Tip: Beware of agencies, who do not want to meet you, I would ask the question what have they got to hide? From my own personal experience I have found that such agencies add little value to the recruitment process and will simply send your CV to any and every employer that has registered with them in a mail shot approach, even your own employer due to their lack of care!

Many professional agencies have tried and tested CV templates that you can make use of and they can help you represent your skills and experiences in the best possible way. A good recruiter will draw out additional skills and experiences that you had not previously considered as valuable and also provide you with invaluable insight into the key skills that their employers need. This enables you to provide a targeted CV that is responsive to the needs of the prospective employer and is likely to boost your chances of a job interview.

Feedback is crucial during the job search process and an employment agency should contact you with feedback on the outcome of the application even if you have been unsuccessful. As a minimum you should expect a brief telephone call from the recruitment agency outlining the feedback provided by the employer. It is important to note that some employers do not provide specific feedback following interview, so it is not always the case that the recruitment agencyis being evasive in response to your questions, but simply that they do not know the reasons themselves.

What Is The Recruitment Agency Process?

The recruitment agency process can vary from company to company however a good recruitment agency will generally follow the structure described below;

It is important to stress that at no point is there a cost to you as the job hunter. The recruitment agency will make its money from the fee that it charges the employer for finding suitable candidates.

Bad Recruitment Agency Practices To Be Aware Of

There are many excellent recruitment agencies based in the UK but there are also a number of unprofessional practices that employment agencies will engage in to get the best possible outcomes for themselves. It is important that you are aware of these practices so that you can get the most from an recruitment agency without compromising your own job search.

When you are invited in for an initial interview (or if it is conducted on the telephone) recruitment agency staff attempt to find out information from you about all the job vacancies that you have applied for. Whilst they may explain it as an attempt to ensure that they do not duplicate your application to an employer the real reason may make you think again about what you reveal to an recruitment agency about ongoing applications. In reality the reason that recruitment agencies ask this question is to aid them in their canvassing activities in order to find new job vacancies which they can find candidates for and earn commission. Job hunters are easy targets for recruitment agencies when it comes to finding out about the latest job vacancies, because why should recruitment staff spend hours on the phone canvassing organisations for potential job vacancies, when they can ask a simple question to current job hunters who are likely to have made numerous applications already.

Let me give you a real life example, as it is one thing that I refused to do. I spoke to a 63 year old IT expert "Joe" (an alias) who had been for an interview at an employer, a job which he had found through his own efforts. The employer had told him that he was the only candidate that they had considered and they were impressed with his CV. Subsequently “Joe” was contacted by a recruitment agency he had registered with and having been asked who else he had applied to innocently mentioned the name of the employer. One week later he was contacted by the employer to inform him that he had been unsuccessful in obtaining the job and that they had unexpectedly received a glut of CV's. "Joe" checked this out and discovered that the recruitment agency he had mentioned the position to had rung the company and sent ten CV's of other suitable people.

It is essential that you never discuss other job vacancies that you have applied for when you speak with an recruitment agency, no matter how genuine they may seem in wanting to find out this information as the only person who will lose out is you!

A question to beware of;

“Just so that we don't send your CV to one of the companies you have already applied directly to, can you let me know who else you have made application to”

In reality if your CV is accidentally sent to an employer to whom you have already applied directly yourself, then do not worry. This will not create any problems for you and may in actual fact be of benefit to you as they will have two copies rather than just one, providing a higher likelihood of it being reviewed. This has an additional benefit because any employer only has to pay an recruitment agency a fee if they receive your CV from them first. However if you have applied directly to the employer first then no fee is due and the organisation is likely to fast track your application having observed that you are in demand.

Another way in which recruitment agencies obtain information about job vacancies which they use for their own canvassing purposes are discussions with you about your current or previous employers.

Here is a question that you should be aware of during an initial telephone discussion with an recruitment agency or an initial screening interview with them.

“ Could you give me the name of your last boss for reference purposes.”

You need to ask yourself the question “Why do they need this information at this point in the process?” Politely inform the recruitment agency that you are happy to provide that information after you have been made an offer from a prospective employer and explain that for confidentiality reasons you would prefer to provide that information directly to the employer.

Choosing The Right Recruitment Agency

With so many recruitment agencies available to choose from it can sometimes be difficult choosing the right recruitment agency to meet your specific needs. I have written a few helpful pointers for you to consider when starting your job search.

Do not register with too many recruitment agencies at one time. Whilst it is tempting to spread the net as wide as possible when looking for a new job, adopting this approach with employment agencies is likely to result in you being inundated with hundreds of emails or telephone calls as they fight to contact you. This can be extremely inconvenient and potentially embarrassing especially if you have not informed your current employer that you are actively looking for a new job and yet keep receiving phone messages at work. Instead speak to friends, family or work colleagues and ask for a personal recommendation to two or three recruitment agencies. It is highly likely that your colleagues will have a similar skill set to that of your own and the recruitment agencies they have applied for are more likely to offer suitable vacancies. In addition employment agencies regularly chase the same job vacancies from employers in their locality and registering with dozens of agencies will just duplicate your applications.

This article aims to provide an insight into the common practices of recruitment agencies and also the value that they can add to your job search process. Whilst you should treat recruitment agencies with caution they offer a wealth of knowledge, experience and contacts which can help you secure employment with a prospective employer.

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