Our commitment
Please note: If you have stored your CV in your CV area, please remember that this area is for YOU to use and NOT us.
You will need to send us your CV directly using one of the links to do so or by applying to a position AND sending your CV. YOu need only do this ONCE, unless you change your CV.
Our commitment to you the Candidate is very simple and straightforward.
Absolute honesty and confidentiality at all times.
Some of what follows is a demonstration of our honesty and integrity. There is quite a bit of information to read but it is all relevant to you the candidate and you should try to take the time to read through it fully.
Written here are some of the activities which can take place within the Recruitment industry and the consequences of theses activities. Many clients, candidates and agencies would not admit to being involved in such activities and would certainly not take the time to tell you about them.
Over the years one of the most common issues we have had voiced to us by candidates is that they have struggled to get “the real truth” out of some agencies. We have had candidates tell us, that even though they have requested an agency to remove their details from their register they do not and the candidates still receive calls from them. There are many more stories, some of which would genuinely make your toes curl. One particular tale from a good candidate we met was that an agency had told him not to worry about the offer letter, that the client was very well know to them and to hand his notice in and not to worry that he had not received his offer letter yet. They told him that they knew the client had posted his offer letter yesterday. Naively, he took their word for it. He was sat in front of me because he never received the offer letter and his boss happened to know an ex employee who was out of work and had committed to that person for the candidates position. The result was that he was out of work under threat of loosing his house if he did not find work very soon.
Frightening!
Total Confidentially.
We will NEVER divulge, to any other candidate or any clients that you are registered with us without your express permission to do so.
We will:
- Tell you where you stand in the market (even if that hurts).
- Advise you on the content and layout of your CV. (we have seen thousands and so know the difference between a good one and a bad one).
- Verbally test your industry knowledge.
No, not put you through a recruitment meat grinder. Just a friendly chat where we will discuss what you want and where you want to go and during that conversation we will ask you a few industry specific questions, ones our clients would expect you to know. If you are missing a few dots from the i’s and crosses from the T’s we will let you know where you could do with seeking slightly better industry skills so you can do exactly that and so significantly improve your chances when we do get you that interview you have been after. - Meet you, if you require or we feel that doing so will help us to better get to really know who you are and what we can do for you.
- Once we have placed you in a new position we will never contact you about another position while you are with our client. We are not here to fragment your career for our financial gain, but to develop it for you.
There are two factors here: One, the consistency of your career. It is all too easy for a consultancy to call a candidate they have placed. After all you are now “proven” material, "The cream of the register". You have gone out into the industry, passed interviews and got a job. If you have succeeded at interview once you can do it again. You are “the perfect candidate” a “walking fee”. You will have your ego stroked and feel flattered by that agency that calls you a second or even third time, but sadly all they are probably doing is fragmenting your career and getting another fee for placing you... again. You should question if that agency should be calling you at all? You think that they are trying to help you but sadly, they probably are not. We have seen some very good candidates; with previously stable careers have this ruined by taking 3 positions in the last 2 years. This causes concerns for a prospective new employer. Obviously, there are times where circumstance can cause you to have a fragmented recent career. That is when we can help the most. We get the opportunity to explain to our clients what has happened and why. We have a relationship with them and they trust us not to send them details of any candidate we do not genuinely feel is a real contender for the position they are looking to fill.
Point two: Our clients' belief that because we are representing you to them they know we will not be the cause of you leaving them in 8 months time.
We are here to be a solution to a recruitment need and not the cause of one.
We will: Send YOUR CV to our clients not "a profile sheet" we have produced.
We feel that candidates take a lot of time and put on a lot of effort creating a CV. We feel the least we can do is repay that time and effort by presenting it to our clients. This relies upon a high element of trust between us, our candidates and clients.
I have been called in the past by candidates who have been "contacted directly" by a client some months after we have sent the client the candidate's details.
That call causes three reactions.
- One: The candidate keeps very quiet and takes the position without telling us. We call the candidate about another position and have to say that in most instances the candidate will not make the connection between us and the fact that it was us who initially introduced him or her to the client he or she is now working for... We simply send in an invoice for the introduction.
- Two: Either we call a candidate about another new position and are told or the candidate calls us and tell us they have received a call from our client. At that point we stay well away from the interview processes to ensure that the candidate has the best possible chance of being offered the position as evidently the client has forgotten that the candidates details were sent to them by us and we would not want to complicate the recruitment process. We then only "come into the picture" once the candidate tell us that they have received a written job offer. We then call the client saying that we happened to call the candidate about another position at which time we were informed that he has just accepted a position with them and that we are very pleased we were able to help.
- Three: The candidate calls us to tell us he or she has been called and to inform us that they would not work for the client because by trying to bypass us in the recruitment process the client has demonstrated to the candidate that they are fundamentally untrustworthy.
Thankfully it has been a very rare occasion where any of the above has happened as our clients to date have operated in a very professional manner.
We will never send out your details (Curriculum Vitae) to any of our clients unless we have had your specific permission to do so.
Consider this. Sadly a situation we encounter too often.
You are at managerial, supervisory or operative level within a good franchised operation, Manufacturer or Consultancy but have just been made redundant or are currently unemployed, that is why you are sending your details out to agencies. You tell the consultant of your situation and that you are unemployed. He or she says (as we very well might) that there are a few of their clients in your area who might be interested in talking to you and is it OK with you for them to send your details to a few? Many candidates agree and feel the agency is doing all they can to help them find a new job. Some will be doing just that. What you don’t know is what may follow…
In this electronic age it is the simplest of actions to select a candidates post code and perform a 30-40 mile radius search from that point and then email that candidates CV to the resulting 237 (or whatever) dealerships or client contacts within that area. At first this sounds ok, until one or more agencies don’t ask you and do the same. Then what happens is we talk to you about a position. You have not been called by any another agencies about that position and you are indeed very interested in it. We send the client your details. The response we get is that they have had your details “from every man and his dog” (from 2, 3 or 4 other agencies) and that they are now concerned that if they take you on via one agency, us, several others will be trying to pull you out to take other positions. Generally they will not take that risk as possibly you would not in their position?
So you see, sadly you need to be very careful who you give your details to and know exactly who has been sent them… and why. DO NOT allow an agency to ”use it’s discretion” as some will see that as an invitation to mass mail you CV to everyone in an effort to "Block" any other agency (or even yourself) from putting your CV into that client for months to come. Some have 12 months in their Terms and Conditions!
We have spoken to many candidates about this type of situation (normally once it is too late) Unless you have been told this already by one of our Consultants I feel sure you will not have considered "blocking" tactics as an issue when dealing with agencies.
It is simple. When you register with any agency always ensure to give written (emailed) instructions that your details are not to be sent out to any clients unless you know exactly who they are about to send them to and why. At least then if you are called by us and we suggest sending you detail to “X” you will be in a position to refer to your records and tell us that your details have already been send by “X” and at what time. We can then offer you the best advice as to what to do next. Sadly it is not your decision as to who represents you once an agency has sent a client your details.
Now, with the internet offering lots of links into the employers direct what do you do, apply directly to them or let any agency apply for you?
Your first thought will be that if you apply directly the client will not get a bill if they employ you. Correct. Do you think that a recruitment bill will stop a client from taking the right candidate? As a percentage of departmental profit what do you think we charge? 0.00 what of a percent? The largest issue you have to consider is we will be trying our best to get you a position or interview with them because it is that that we are paid to do. What you will face if you apply directly is the person receiving your application will almost certainly be geared up to do exactly the opposite. They will be trying to find a reason why they should reject your application as they are only interested in the cream of the crop. You could be rejected from the look of your Curriculum Vitae not the colour of your eyes. I can honestly say that I have had HR personnel comment upon the fact that there was a full stop missing from a candidates CV and that there was a capital letter missing from one word. Yes attention to detail on such an important document is vital but, in our opinion, theses are absolutely not a reason for rejecting a candidate’s application. Another point is that if you apply directly you will almost certainly be one fish in a massive shoal. Will they find you when they need you? We can assure you that there are many clients where we know they have had the details of one of our Sales Executives or Parts Advisors, either from another agency or from the candidate directly, and the client has not been able to find that candidate to contact them about the position they are now looking to fill. Finding you is what we get paid for so we have to do so very efficiently!
We have the ability to find say, a Service Advisor with Kerridge experience who had worked for Audi and has been both a Workshop Controller and a Technician previously, who lives a two (ten) mile radius of a set post code (The dealerships). We can do that first stage search in minutes. We can find a Sales Manager with volume franchise experience who had used the Darts Ford system but has come up through from a Business Management position to gain his Sales Mangers experience.
I have yet to find a client who could say the same. What this means we can do is start with THE most suited contenders for the client. This might get you excluded. You know the benefits of us including you in the short list for a new job but how does being excluded from our search help you? Well if you are in the majority of our candidates, that is happily employed and just wanting to be kept informed of good opportunities as they arise, then this accuracy is a vital tool to ensure we do not keep calling you with vacancy details where you would not be interested. Likewise if the client has requested very specific skills are met by the candidates we present to them it is pointless us “sticking you in there” in the hope you will get away with it. That wastes yours and the client’s time. Our view is that if we have, what looks like the perfect contender for the position, we will not give false hope to other candidates when we know it is extremely unlikely that you would be offered the position even if we did manage to get you a meeting.
Our view is that if we have a much stronger looking candidate, dictated by the clients requirements, then we try not to waste other candidates time simply for the sake of “blocking” other agencies from sending in that candidates details to the client "just in case".
Please do not join too many agencies. It does not pay in the long run.
(We hope that bit of advice did not stop you applying to us though?!)
So how do you decide which Agency to join?
I feel the simplest way is to ask the person who is going to be sending out your details to his or her clients if they have worked within the Motor Industry, at what level, for how long and for whom.
In our experience clients respect Consultants who are time served industry Managers who really stand a chance of identifying the better contenders. Your consultant has to be respected. If they are, then they can do their job better for you. Their clients will almost always meet candidates they present because the client knows that the Consultant sending in your details has had to recruit into their own departments when they worked within the dealer network or manufacturer. A lot of you reading this will have recruited yourself. You will know who the good agencies were. They were the ones who did not chase you around your department trying to “convince” you to see a candidate who’s detail they have sent you and who obviously does not fit the spec you have outlined, and they will not take "no" for an answer.
We are here to be a solution to client and candidates recruitment problems not to add to them.
