Looking for a job is a pain in the arse. Period. So you put your CV out there and try to sell yourself the best you can. But you CV stays there floating in cyberspace and even after you’ve found a decent job, you’ve forgotten about your CV.

And then sometimes you get the phone call. “Hi, I’m blah blah blah from some recruitment agency and we’ve come across your CV. We believe you’re the perfect candidate for this job we have open”. So curiousity takes over and you ask what it entails, only to find the criteria they are after is nothing what you have put on your CV. Certainly with IT jobs, they see you have used an email once, and all of a sudden you’re an SQL programmer. It’s like they’re so desperate to find the “perfect” candidate that they’ll get one sniff of the industry you work in and think you’re some kind of Messiah. It’s flattering yeah, but it never goes anywhere.

What is worse is when you NEED them for something. You see a job you feel you are really suited for, they do all their blurb of sending your CV etc and then say they’ll call you back. So you wait, and wait, wait. Days, weeks go by and still nothing. So you chase them up yeah? And they always tell you the same thing of “they’re still waiting on a decision”. Eventually you’ll get an email, never a phone call, saying that you’ve been unsuccessful. My point is that a) why should you have to chase them? and b) why do they think that if you’ll get ignored, you can automatically assume that you didn’t get the job? All that is needed is a camiseratory call out of courtesy and that is that. It’s frustrating that if you’re excited about it, you’re forced to wait lingering by the phone like a scorned lover. And sometimes you don’t get anything back at all! This is very frustrating.

I appreciate that at the end of the day, it’s business, and they owe no loyalty to you and you to them, it’s just common courtesy which I feel shouldn’t go missing. But that’s just me. Not all recruitment agencies behave this way I agree, I’ve dealt with some very good ones with diligent staff, but the majority I’ve had dealings with are a bit fleet footed and insincere.