Recruitment Agencies, CVs and a waste of time?

Sala

I submitted my CV online to a number of recruitment agencies. I though I just did a general "submit CV here" - where they hold your CV on file and contact you if there is anything suitable? (i.e. not apply for a specific position). Anyway I got an email to say "Regrettably on this occasion, while you are clearly experienced, your details do not meet with the very specific requirements of the client’s position. "

I'm sure they reviewed it very carefully, so carefully in fact that they got my name wrong! (And in a different colour from the rest of the email ) I can't believe I just got rejected for a position I didn't even apply for and don't know what it was!

Anyway I thought maybe I clicked apply for something by a mistake, but I checked another agency site, where it specifically said "submit your cv and let us find the job for you." I got an email from them too saying pretty much the same "thank you for your interest in this position, we will contact you if successful"!

I know they are busy and I don't expect a personal reply, but I'm sure someone could set it up so a different and appropriate email comes from just submitting your CV. Is it just a waste of time doing this or has anyone had any success?

drunkmonkey

Had you the CV formatted correctly so it would appear the same across all types of office correctly. I think PDF is the only sure way to ensure that.
I bin most CV's because most people can't even put one together properly, it's in the wrong format or if I spot one spelling mistake it's dumped and not looked at again.

Sala

Yes it was pdf. No there were no mistakes and the format is good, but I all I wanted to do was register with an agency.
The second agency actually had my online submission there - specifically stating "Interested-in...: All Positions" and yet thanked me for my interest in this position, I will be contacted if successful.

Eoin

It's tough dealing with agencies. But if you don't, then you're potentially cutting out a lot of vacancies with companies who exclusively deal with agencies. There are loads of horror stories about them, but unfortunately, not all companies advertise or even receive applications directly.

If you're not applying for a specific role, then maybe you're best off identifying a few agencies that work in your industry and ring them and try and talk to an actual person rather than just getting a generic auto-response.

This is a separate discussion, but PDF is not the only format to use. In fact, it's very annoying for a lot of people. Keep the formatting to a minimum, and you can still have a .doc file that will be cross platform.

Sala

That's an interesting point. I hate the way a word document shows the spell check grammar lines under bullet points since some are not complete sentences. Why can a pdf annoy people?

Eoin

Well, agencies often take out contact details of candidates to stop companies from bypassing the agency and contacting the candidate directly (it does happen!). Or they might even copy & paste the CV into a template they use. That can be a bit more awkward to do.

I know people understandably balk at the idea that someone else is editing their CV, but it happens. Maybe giving them a version without your contact details as well could get around all that. Not saying that a PDF is a deal breaker by any means, but it doesn't seem to be the standard yet.

Anyway, I doubt the format was the issue in this case - just lazy work by the agency. Try and establish a connection with a real person in there and let them know what you're looking for.