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So, I hear from this one recruiter for contract work from time to time. Good personality, always enthusiastic, always offers better hourly rate than many I work with, landed me a short gig once a few years ago. Recently submitted for a contract that was a perfect fit for me. Supposedly submitted my resume to the client. Never heard back from him for a week. Finally, after I email him, I get a reply like this, "Sorry, but they've identified a candidate." No other information. Is this the new catch phrase of the day? Should I bother to apply for work through this recruiter in the future or just a waste of time. I can count about 20 times I have gone through similar situations with him and it is trying my patience.
They've identified a candidate? Including you, haven't they identified two candidates?
That response was b.s. He's wasting your time. A short gig a few years ago means you're not anywhere near the top of any list he may have.
I know "identified" has me thinking entomology. Guess I'm the housefly and the other candidate is a Monarch Butterfly. I would chalk up these calls on a regular and consistent basis to the usual lead mining that these recruiters are famous for, although he never asks me to update my information with references or any of those tricks.
Sounds pretty standard to me. You aren't going to get every job you apply for.
I hear you. And I do roll with it pretty well. It's just this has happened to me about 20 times with this same recruiter. I can't help but wonder why he keeps presenting opportunities to me if nothing succeeds. I've actually turned down some of the opportunities he's presented to me that haven't aligned at all with my skill set.
Oh, the agency did get me into interviews for a few decent positions in good companies. One company, the manager and his right-hand man escorted me out the door in 20 minutes, after the recruiters assured me what a nice guy the manager was. They had placed the right-hand man there themselves. Second company, people loved me, but then supposedly lost requisition for hiring for the role and then got acquired.
So, I hear from this one recruiter for contract work from time to time. Good personality, always enthusiastic, always offers better hourly rate than many I work with, landed me a short gig once a few years ago. Recently submitted for a contract that was a perfect fit for me. Supposedly submitted my resume to the client. Never heard back from him for a week. Finally, after I email him, I get a reply like this, "Sorry, but they've identified a candidate." No other information. Is this the new catch phrase of the day? Should I bother to apply for work through this recruiter in the future or just a waste of time. I can count about 20 times I have gone through similar situations with him and it is trying my patience.
Why waste so much energy on this when you ought to be signed up/signing up with other contract agencies?
My question for the OP: how much time are you spending on these leads that fall through, and how much do you want/need a new job? The calculus on what you should do here depends on those two factors.
If each potential opportunity requires a great deal of effort on your part and you aren't particularly desperate for a new job, it sounds like you should tell this guy that you are withdrawing your candidacy with him across the board. If you are desperate for something new, then it's probably worth it to keep trying all angles even if this one seems somewhat unlikely to bear fruit. Simularly, if all it costs you is a few minutes to read through the job description to see if you might be interested in being put forward as a candidate then you might as well stick with it.
Oh, and it sounds like the recruiter is probably bad at his job and wasting his own time, but that's not really your concern.
As a headhunter, why would you continue a candidate you could barely place?
495,
Hi, I don't understand your question.
The only thing I said was that if this contract agency isn't helping you then you should be signed up with more agencies so you increase your chances of being called.
To answer your question specifically, the answer is that I do not "continue a candidate" I cannot ["barely"] place.
There is not enough information in your post or this thread to be able to make any kind of professional comment. You have not said what you do, you have not said anything about the agency so the only thing I can say is sign up with more agencies.
You seem to be spending too much energy about an agency that is not helping you.
The only thing I said was that if this contract agency isn't helping you then you should be signed up with more agencies so you increase your chances of being called.
To answer your question specifically, the answer is that I do not "continue a candidate" I cannot ["barely"] place.
There is not enough information in your post or this thread to be able to make any kind of professional comment. You have not said what you do, you have not said anything about the agency so the only thing I can say is sign up with more agencies.
You seem to be spending too much energy about an agency that is not helping you.
Paul.........
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Opps, left out a word. I meant "continue contacting a candidate."
I freelance independently as well as work through third party agencies. Not sure if I want to work with any agencies at this point. There just seems to be so much lost in translation, from job description, to matching what I have to offer to client needs. Not just this agency, but every agency I have worked with has this issues.
One of the experiences I frequently have had is that a recruiter gets me an interview and I go to the interview to find out from the client the project or work is nothing like the job description the agent provided to me.
Also, they don't find out enough about the client's needs to prepare me well for the interview.
I sometimes think they don't have enough candidates to send to clients and just need resumes.
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"Identified a Candidate"
