Resume Digest Blog

Do not approach the job market with a consumer mindset. If you believe recruitment agencies deserve the cut they take on your salary because they will do a fine job of finding you that perfect job - think again!

Recruitment Agencies like to take you for a blind date. They advertise jobs without mentioning the name of the hiring company. You only find out when an interview has been lined-up. Imagine the embarrassment if their client ends up being the place where you work now or a place where you worked in the past or a place where you'd rather not let people know you are looking for work..

Recruitment Agencies like to waste your references. Never give references until after a successful interview. Otherwise you run the risk of annoying your best advocates by letting unscrupulous recruiters quiz them about how to fill job opportunities at their company. With that sort of spam you wonder why you can't get a good word out of them anymore...

Recruitment Agencies like to profile candidates. No matter how much you would like to be considered for a role that would be a strategic move for you - you won't get a foot in the door. The issue? Agencies like to play it safe and are very conservative in whom they will present to a client for a shortlist. Any lateral move becomes impossible and trying to leverage transferrable skills becomes impossible.

Recruitment Agencies like bait and switch. This is the case where being too good works against you. Agencies will gladly parade a top candidate in from of their client and then show one or two recent migrants who will undercut your rate. Being slightly over qualified means you miss out because people will have to pay more for your skills.

Recruitment Agencies make it impossible to use a functional resume. They like to keep your resume on their database and scan it for keywords, calculate your average tenure in each role and tabulate your skill set. It makes it impossible to customise your cv for each position you are applying for - the very think that would give you an edge. Sometimes your last role may not be the most relevant for the position you are applying for. Only the guy who has the chance of getting out of a job which is identical to the role on offer will be considered.

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