Hey AskUK!
I was sent a job posting by a recruitment agency pre-Christmas that they felt I’d be a good fit for. I’ve followed up with them several times and it’s been radio silence. UNTIL the company with the open position posted the job advert directly on LinkedIn today. I emailed the agency saying that I was considering applying directly given the length of time with no communication from them and miraculously heard back from them almost immediately telling me absolutely not to do that.
Is their advice coming from them being asked to recruit to the position and therefore applying directly would harm my application, or is it more a case of they don’t want me applying directly as they won’t receive commission?
Worth mentioning I meet every point in the hiring criteria based on the application info posted on LinkedIn and its a position I’m well qualified for based on my experience.
I’m a bit confused, not having really used hiring agencies before so turning to Reddit for advice. TIA 🙂
6 comments
Your mistake was contacting the agent at all.
In a future situation, go direct to the company and let them sort it out with the agency.
Almost certainly because they won’t get the commission. If the employer didn’t want direct applicants, they wouldn’t have posted the role on a job board like LinkedIn.
I would have contacted the company directly and explained at the interview stage that I’d already heard about the role and expressed interest with a recruiter who I hadn’t yet heard back from.
It doesn’t matter how you apply.
They’ve approached you, you’ve indicated interest, they’re going to claim your hire with the company if you do get hired.
There was a niche contract job in my small town I was perfectly suited for, and I knew due to the location there couldn’t be more than a couple of possible candidates in the area.
I applied through the agency, asking about days. They replied and clearly didn’t read the quetsion in terms of their answer do I politely asked them to clarify. I hear nothing for a week so followed up.
They said the vacancy had been filled – but it was still online.
I worked out who the company was and contacted them directly. It came to nothing but fuck it – there can’t be that many people with my particular background, skillset, software knowledge and other factors around here so to not even get a interview at least was ridiculous.
So yeah, if I can ever work out who the client is I go straight to them. The agencies I’d use would be quite specialised so it’s obvious they have their favourite candidates they roll out for jobs.
They don’t give a fuck about you. i always go direct.
The employer is clearly as fed up with a commission based recruiter as you are, so apply to the employer and screw the agency.
Some recruiters do little more than receive CVs and screen out the obvious losers and send the rest on the the hiring manager, so bypass this useless agency.
You might even be a higher pick because there’s no commission to pay if they hire you.