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From my personal experience, estate agents are angels compared to recruitment consultants. This is probably due to the fact that I've only had to deal with estate agents on a couple of occasions but regularly get contacted by recruiters.
Old habits die hard. There simply isn't that much need to use a recruitment agencies now that candidates can easily be searched on various internet based jobsites. Some companies are now waking up and smelling the coffee. My previous client hired two people specifically to manage talent i.e. source candidates on Linked-In etc. My current client also hired me directly and put me on their payroll.
So why do I hate recruiters so much? Well, first of all, they always ring you when you can't or don't want to take a call. They never ring you when you are actually looking for work!
Secondly, they always ring with this sense of urgency: 'My client really needs someone to start next week / asap / tomorrow'. In fact, in most cases recruitment process takes weeks, even months and most recruiters fail to understand their clients' needs. Their urgency is purely to avoid another recruiter sending a suitable candidate first.
Thirdly, they like patronising: 'I am trying to help you here to find a job, it's a great opportunity, don't be silly, so you're putting a temporary job before this interview. Just tell them you got a doctor's appointment or something...'.
Once you've actually got an interview, some recruiters can't even manage to get a time right. This has happened to me but - guess what - they blamed me even when I had an email to show them their mistake!
Ok, you go to your interview. Then you never here back even when the recruiter promised to let you know as soon as they had any news, even in case of a 'no'. I have now started a new practice, if a recruiter fails to pass me the news I simply email the person who interviewed me directly, pointing out the recruiter's ignorance!
If, however, you're successful then they are even worse than DCAs. I had one guy who rang literally every two hours until I accepted the offer. He got it all wrong. As the travelling would have taken five hours every day, I had to pull out at the last minute. I can only imagine how pissed off he must have been!
This is not to say that there aren't any good recruiters. A couple of them are excellent but unfortunately most are substandard and they tell porkies to their clients too.
Old habits die hard. There simply isn't that much need to use a recruitment agencies now that candidates can easily be searched on various internet based jobsites. Some companies are now waking up and smelling the coffee. My previous client hired two people specifically to manage talent i.e. source candidates on Linked-In etc. My current client also hired me directly and put me on their payroll.
So why do I hate recruiters so much? Well, first of all, they always ring you when you can't or don't want to take a call. They never ring you when you are actually looking for work!
Secondly, they always ring with this sense of urgency: 'My client really needs someone to start next week / asap / tomorrow'. In fact, in most cases recruitment process takes weeks, even months and most recruiters fail to understand their clients' needs. Their urgency is purely to avoid another recruiter sending a suitable candidate first.
Thirdly, they like patronising: 'I am trying to help you here to find a job, it's a great opportunity, don't be silly, so you're putting a temporary job before this interview. Just tell them you got a doctor's appointment or something...'.
Once you've actually got an interview, some recruiters can't even manage to get a time right. This has happened to me but - guess what - they blamed me even when I had an email to show them their mistake!
Ok, you go to your interview. Then you never here back even when the recruiter promised to let you know as soon as they had any news, even in case of a 'no'. I have now started a new practice, if a recruiter fails to pass me the news I simply email the person who interviewed me directly, pointing out the recruiter's ignorance!
If, however, you're successful then they are even worse than DCAs. I had one guy who rang literally every two hours until I accepted the offer. He got it all wrong. As the travelling would have taken five hours every day, I had to pull out at the last minute. I can only imagine how pissed off he must have been!
This is not to say that there aren't any good recruiters. A couple of them are excellent but unfortunately most are substandard and they tell porkies to their clients too.
You are quoted a rate, you have the option to accept or decline the booking.
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