Applying for jobs via agencies

[FirePhoenixCtk]

I've applied for a job via an agency in the past I've normally applied direct to the company/department. How does it work via and agency? They've invited me in for an interview on Wednesday, do I treat this as an Interview for the job itself or as a chat about myself? Would I normally be interviewed by the company itself once more if they really like me?

[petercook7]

I've applied for a job via an agency in the past I've normally applied direct to the company/department. How does it work via and agency? They've invited me in for an interview on Wednesday, do I treat this as an Interview for the job itself or as a chat about myself? Would I normally be interviewed by the company itself once more if they really like me?

They are a waste of time.

[Lucio]

Treat it like the job interview, because they're the ones who decide who goes forward for the 2nd interviews

[badass]

They are a waste of time.

Appallingly bad advice. Par for the course from this poster.

In answer to the OP's question, the interview could be anything you've mentioned, though IME it's to see what you're like and see what roles they can put you forward for. You will more than likely also need to have an interview at the potential employer as well.

[chrestomanci]

Treat it like the job interview, because they're the ones who decide who goes forward for the 2nd interviews

Definitely treat it as a job interview, but you may find it is more of an exam than a normal interview.

What has happened is that the employer is asking the agency to filter the applicants, and only send the "better" ones for interview.

I have had first interviews with agencies before, but they have always been telephone technical interviews, where the agency has been given a list of technical questions. (and the answers), and has been told to only send candidates who get enough technical questions right.

In the current jobs market, if an employers advertises a job vacancy they tend to get bombarded with applicants, many of which are totally useless, and agencies are often the worst for exaggerating the qualifications of the people they are putting forward, so for any technical job it is necessary to put together some sort of test as a first filter. As an employer, once you have put together such a test, you may as well get the agency to administer it to the applicants over the phone rather than spending your own time listening to the latest applicant try to bluff his way through a question on double entry book keeping or whatever.

Face to face interviews with agencies with agencies are probably unusual, as I would have thought that most employers would want to come to their own judgement about how the feel about a candidate. Also a lot of agencies are not well set up to interview in person, as they will try to cover the entire country from a small two room office in a business park in Slough.

[Jay]

I have always found my jobs via agencys and I have only once ever been asked to go for an interview with an agency once, I went as I would to any interview but to be honest it was more about the person getting to know you, to see how you would deal with a real interview.

My last agency even sent me a cup with their logo for my desk and took me and my new boss out for a meal after we had signed the contracts. Very nice

[peterb]

They are a waste of time.

Since you haven't defined who "they" are - this is a pretty pointless post, more so as you have not backed up a sweeping generalisation with any comment to support it. Any avenue that gets a job interview is worth pursuing.

Back to the OP's question. If the the interviw is with the agency, then they will probably be acting as a prefilter for their client. If the interview is with the actua[ potential employer but organised by the agency, then it is "the real deal". Either way, take it seriously...


and Good Luck!

[blueball]

I used to use agencies to find engineering staff for me to interview; I would interview about 50 people a year! In effect, the agency "should be" filtering out the people that are entirely unsuited to a post so as to not waste my time (as an interviewer).

In practice I found there are good agencies and bad agencies and, even worse, good ones become bad and bad ones become good. In short, it is really down to the attitude of the people at the agency. If the person you are dealing with is good and has any interest in you then things may go well. If you get the feeling that the person at the agency is a complete waste of space then find another agency.

[FirePhoenixCtk]

Thanks for the advice guys. I treat it as an interview and hopefully I will get a real interview the company, I'll keep you posted.

[FirePhoenixCtk]

So I went in and pretty much treated it like an Interview, the girl there seemed ok. She says she was going to edit my CV a bit send a copy to me and a copy to the company, she was happy my answers but I needed to sell myself a bit more hopefully I will get a response from the company though. Not had any emails from her since though.

[Jay]

most agencies will change your CV, nothing new there. I hope they get back to you.

[Zak33]

So I went in and pretty much treated it like an Interview, the girl there seemed ok. She says she was going to edit my CV a bit send a copy to me and a copy to the company, she was happy my answers but I needed to sell myself a bit more hopefully I will get a response from the company though. Not had any emails from her since though.

nowt wrong with following it up with a call

[TheAnimus]

most agencies will change your CV, nothing new there. I hope they get back to you.

Oh yeah as they stick their logo on the top!

One agent once changed a candidates so much that when I brought my print out (he had one of his original) he started to get rather irate, pointing out he actually had no experiance in x despite what the agent had done to his CV.

Moral of the story, always insist that they send you a copy of the modified CV BEFORE they send it to anyone, and also require that they seek permission first before sending your CV to anyone.

[Phage]

Oh yeah as they stick their logo on the top!

One agent once changed a candidates so much that when I brought my print out (he had one of his original) he started to get rather irate, pointing out he actually had no experiance in x despite what the agent had done to his CV.

Moral of the story, always insist that they send you a copy of the modified CV BEFORE they send it to anyone, and also require that they seek permission first before sending your CV to anyone.

And delete your contact details to stop the client going direct.
I've only ever had my CV 'updated' by an agent once, and they have always asked me before forwarding my details anywhere.

[oolon]

I think of agencies as door trolls, sadly they skim your CV for key words, if you have the right ones for the job they send your CV on, they don't care how good you could be, or how much you would like the role. They generally have no understanding of the subjects so someone with 20 years Unix experience would be assumed to know nothing about Linux. So be careful what you right and cover as many words as possible. Personally I always take a copy of my CV to the interview, this give my hopefully new employer to things, a copy of my CV before modification (so I know it contains only the truth), and also gives them a direct means of contacting me. I have had call a year later because of this. Pay attention to the age of things, if you know the latest generation of something its great to show your right up to date if the only thing you have used is a couple of generations old, leave it more generic.

[Jay]

Personally I always take a copy of my CV to the interview, this give my hopefully new employer to things, a copy of my CV before modification (so I know it contains only the truth), and also gives them a direct means of contacting me.

Yes, this is also what I do. Good advice.