Agency twoubles

bringitdown

I recently applied for a job via an agency. They submitted my CV and I got a interview ... anwyay after this my current HR manager asked me for a chat. He said he had obtained my CV from the same agency/agent and asked me the story.

I am pretty pissed, now in fairness our HR manager is on contract and is a big player in this industry so it may not have been known he is working with my current company. Regardless I was of the opinion that he could not forward my CV ANYWHERE without my explicit consent?

Opinions / advice welcome.

Beano

They should never give your CV to a company without asking you first. Name and shame.

Our man in Havana

Is it not the point that you apply thru an agency they are bound to forward your CV to whoever is looking for staff?

Granted one would assume the stupid agency would not forward it to ones current employer. Name and shame.

bringitdown

Well my experience with agencies has been they discuss the roles/companies with you and ask your permission before sending in your CV for a particular role.

The Hill Billy

The agency in this case was completely inept.

That said, as a contractor I've dealt with quite a number of agencies over the years & I've learned a few things in this regard:

1. Never submit your CV until the agency gives you the name & location of the employer. If they are not willing to give you this information they are most likely harvesting CVs. They may say, "We can't give that info out before you've sent us your CV." Bull. You say, "I'm not giving you my personal details until you let me know who you will be sending it to."

2. If you give an agency your CV, always stipulate that they may not send your details to a prospective employer without prior approval from you. This is particularly important if your CV is out there with a number of agencies who may be pitching to fill the same roles. No recruiter wants to see the same CV popping up a number of times from different agencies. It will either appear that (a) the agency was lax or (b) you are spamming for a job.

3. When you land a job - inform any agencies that you've been dealing with that you are no longer seeking work.

C'mon - name & shame!

maggz

Agencies get people by saying are you happy for me to market your cv. They word things in a way that you give them permission to send the cv to anyone without realising you have done this. Always make it clear to an agency that you do not want your cv sent anywhere without your permission. Its an absolute disgrace that agencies do this. You should report them to the recruitment federation

bringitdown

I am awaiting a response from them ... if none is forthcoming or I find it unsatisfactory I will name and shame....

maggz

Name a shame for sure

seamus

I think it's a bit of a grey area.

If you place your CV on the big sites, like monster, recruitireland, etc, you specifically tell them "I wish people to be able to see my CV and contact me". This means that your existing employer may find the CV on the site, and you have no comeback, since you told the site this was OK.

If you submit your CV to an agency in a general capacity, then it would reasonable to assume that you're giving permission for the agency to match you to jobs, and send your CV to employers without your permission.

If you submit your CV for a specific job, then it's reasonable to assume that the agency must ask you permission before passing your info onto anyone other than that specific employer, that is by default it is assumed that the information is private between you, the agency and that one employer.

I have in the past, received both kinds of calls - the one where "I have an employer who has seen your CV and who's very interested in you", and, "I have a job which I think you'd be suited for, will I send your CV on?"

That said, a bit of professional common sense woudl dictate that an employer would disclose the details of any position before the agent gave him/her any CVs, and the agency would never send your CV to your current employer.

bringitdown

Hmmm

Wellity, wellity, wellity. They forwarded my CV to my current HR/recruiter dude (as I mentioned he works on contract) in relation to a role in another company. I cannot honestly remember whether I gave him permission to do so (I was away on holiday for three weeks just after this happened so memory is shady). Given the other company and the role involved it is possible I DID give permission.

They claim they were unaware that the HR dude now works for us / also works for us.

As such I ain't naming and shaming as given shakey memory I want to give them the benefit of the doubt.

seamus

The thick plottens...

If this HR guy is a contractor, and working on two jobs for companies who have no relation to eachother, then he is obliged to remain independent between the jobs. That is, any information from one job may not be passed on or otherwise used in the other. It's a professional, ethical matter of confidentiality, and at no point should he allow information gained in the course of his duties in the other company to affect or otherwise be used in his duties for your company.

This would remain in effect after he has left any other company - e.g. if the agency sent on the info, thinking he was still with the other company, he should have deleted/returned the information to the agency.

As a HR "guy" he should know this well enough. If he's making an issue out of this, point out his error to him, and report the matter to the other company.

bringitdown

Good point seamus ... the HR dude in question brought up the fact he received the CV and asked / advised me to speak with my immediate manager before making any decisions. He assured me that it was a confidential matter between myself and him. I hope that is the case.

Regardless : the agency acted (it seems) appropriately.... case closed for the time being.

Thanks for all questions / opinions.