More About Agencies

So today I ended up leaving another voicemail with the agency asking them to call me back. Anytime would do I said. Clearly, that time has yet to arrive.

Now I remember a time when I was on the other side of the table, talking to agencies with a view to hiring. I politely asked one guy to leave the office when he stated that his agency's starting fees were about 30% for permanent placements for vacancies with salaries starting at €24k. Well, those figures are an approximation but you get the idea. The fees increased in line with higher salaries. What a joke! I pay you 30% of a graduate's annual salary for you passing on his practically empty CV to me?!? PFO.

"And do you do any screening of candidates, like credit checking or a criminal history check" I asked, seeing if that's how they justified their fees.

"We leave each client the freedom to perform their appropriate background analysis commensurate with the seniority and any security aspects associated with the role" he said.

"That'd be a 'no' then?"

"We find it's easier for our clients that way. We have a large database of candidates you see" he touted, feebly trying to support the high rates.

Wow. Maybe they hacked into the Social Welfare and FÁS dBs. It didn't strike me as a point to leverage on tho': we know lots of unemployed and/or dissatisfied professionals and we can pass them onto you. Ah I know, I'm being a smart ass but that's what I thought.

Anyhow, some time later, one of the guys came to me with a problem. I'd asked him to screen some CVs for technical suitability for a vacancy we had. I was spending far too much time doing it 'cos we had no HR section and it seemed like a clear opportunity to delegate and make him feel important at the same time. So, he showed me this CV he got from an agency. It was obviously heavily edited, presumably by the agency and didn't give a clear and comprehensive history of the candidate. He said he asked the agency for the full CV but they wouldn't give it unless we agreed to their T&Cs first. So, I contacted them and got the same answer. Eventually, we agreed that they could send out someone with more authority to discuss it with me. And sure enough, when the guy walked thro' the door, it was the same bloke I ushered out before. He started the discussions brilliantly...

"So, am I right in saying that you've brought me in 'cos you realise that we offer a better service than our competitors and are now willing to agree to our rates?" he smugly stated.

A thousand expletives rushed thro' my brain and, no kidding, I actually visualised a painful, physical reply.

"No" I said, ever the diplomat, "I just want to see the full CV of candidates so I can decide whether they're suitable to progress to phone interview or a face-to-face".

"Ah well, you'll have to agree to our rates first" he said and grinned.

What is this, some sort of lucky dip? So I basically got him to agree to send the full unedited CV and that we'd tell him what rate we thought it was worth. And then we got back to the agency and said we'd pay 14%, which was still high but I knew they'd refuse. Which they did.

Now initially I laughed cos I knew they were pissed at me but then I thought about the poor sod of a candidate. Did they know that this agency wasn't allowing them to progress for positions that they were suited to because their rates were so high? I wonder how many times that's happened to me in the past. You know, you apply for a position that an agency is advertising and they might've scalped the advert from somewhere without having an agreement with the company. Then when they approach the company, they're told their rates are too high or that they're not dealing with agencies at this point. And you application goes nowhere, even tho' you might be a great match for the role.

Bastards I say. I've even caught several of them blatantly advertising for my company's vacancy on the same recruitment site on which I've directly posted the advert! And you think I'm gonna pay you fees for advertising the same role I posted in the same location that I posted it? PFO.

I'll have to start swearing more in these posts. It'll help.