Underhand Agency Tactics
There are many underhand agency tactics.
Contractors are always complaining about the ‘tricks‘ that agents get up to. They do that in order to ‘rip them off‘ and to find out who‘s recruiting.
They also try to get contractors to sign contracts before they go to other interviews etc. etc. etc.
It‘s a constant refrain of the contractor Discussion Boards. Whenever contractor get together, they discuss the latest wheezes that agents and agencies get up to.
It‘s better to think of it as a game of Chess though. It is like a cricketing batsman facing a tricky spin bowler. You won‘t get annoyed so much then. You should learn, though, how to counteract those agency tactics. It‘s not all that difficult if you know how.
Here we will show you how to counteract those underhand agency tactics. Some of what I say will be merely pointing out what COULD be done.
Exclusive Rights
When you first join up, the agent may tell you that you shouldn‘t send out your CV to other agencies. That’s because they have the market covered they say. They tell you that if your CV was to appear at the same company twice from two separate agents, it would cause great embarrassment. It woul probably cause the CV to be rejected.
This is complete baloney. It is the right of small companies (as contractors are) to advertise and market their skills and services to as wide an audience as possible. That’s in order to give themselves the best chance of getting business and at the highest rate.
Freedom to Market
First of all, as someone who has hired many contractors in the past (and having spoken to others that have also), I can say that it never bothers an employer if the same person‘s CV appears more than once from different agencies.
In fact if there is a lot of CVs that have been sent through, you are more likely to stick out and be remembered if you‘re CV has been received more than once.
In fact if it appears multiple times, then the employer is likely to conclude that you are quite thorough in your job search. That will do you no harm, as employers certainly have nothing against thorough people.
Employers normally do one of two things. They either choose the first CV from you that has been sent through or they choose the cheapest. Ssome agents take a lesser cut than others.
They never throw them away for that reason.
It is important for you to get your CV out to as many agencies as possible. That’s because there are certain agencies that have ‘ins‘ at certain sites. You won‘t have them covered if you don‘t have your CV with them.
There is no down side to getting your CV to as many agencies as possible.
Information Trawling
One of the oldest tricks or tactics (depending on what side of the fence that you are sitting) is when the agency calls to say that they want to put your CV forward to some companies, but they would like you to tell you which companies your CV has been forwarded to already. That’s so there is not the embarrassment of your CV appearing at the same company twice. They say this might cause the company to reject you immediately.
The reason that the agent is asking this question is purely to find out which other companies are hiring. That’s so that they can put someone on their books up against you.
You can say that your not keen to tell them as a matter of confidentiality which jobs you have been put forward to. However, they will be like a ferreting animal that has sniffed a grub buried deep. So, they will start digging furiously.
You might be tempted to give them some abuse for this obvious tactic. However, the best things is just to say that you have not been put forward for any other interviews. What can they do then?
Say that they don‘t believe you and infer that you are lying.
Fight back against their underhand agency tactics.
That‘s this one hit out of the park then.
