Speaking as a contractor since 2017, I have given up using recruitment agencies in the UK to find work.
I am likely the number one expert, in my field, globally. I apply for roles which specifically ask for an SME in my field. There is no question here of skills, and it is as certain as it can be without actually knowing that I am a light year ahead of all other applicants (because there is practically no one else actually qualified in my field). I'm not flapping my ego, this is how things look to actually be.
I find now I never get even contacted by agencies.
I think they are not reading my CV/application, and I think this is happening because they are flooded - hundreds of applications in the first hour. They take the first person who looks good enough (and they're not good - there are practically no people in this field who actually have skills and experience, as opposed to just "I've worked with") and run with that, and then turn to filling the next contract.
The upshot of this is that it doesn't matter how good you are, because your CV isn't going to be seen, not unless you apply in the first ten minutes or so.
You have to play that game, and automate your applications, to be seen.
So the question is, if you don't want to play that game, how now do you find companies who need skills?
I got made redundant back in March, applied for a bunch of stuff I matched profile for and maybe got 5-6 interviews off the back of it.
The worst was the agency that lined me up for a contract role, got me to fill out all the paperwork only for the job to fall through because the client apparently never got budget signed off for the position.
> The worst was the agency that lined me up for a contract role, got me to fill out all the paperwork only for the job to fall through because the client apparently never got budget signed off for the position.
I could be wrong, but I think that might have been a lie.
I've heard it before, too, and I've come to doubt it; I think it too unlikely to be heard with such frequency as I do hear it.
I've also had on three occasions agents call up after a day or two and tell "something about the budget, so the rate is now less than expected".
In two cases I came to know the agency was simply lying, and was keeping the difference for itself, and I expect it to be true also in the third.
> I could be wrong, but I think that might have been a lie.
> I've heard it before, too, and I've come to doubt it; I think it too unlikely to be heard with such frequency as I do hear it.
Maybe but it sounded plausible, this would have been a 3 month contract with Moodys in Canary Wharf so not some rinkydink outfit. I could just be gullible but they gained nothing from stringing me along
I am likely the number one expert, in my field, globally. I apply for roles which specifically ask for an SME in my field. There is no question here of skills, and it is as certain as it can be without actually knowing that I am a light year ahead of all other applicants (because there is practically no one else actually qualified in my field). I'm not flapping my ego, this is how things look to actually be.
I find now I never get even contacted by agencies.
I think they are not reading my CV/application, and I think this is happening because they are flooded - hundreds of applications in the first hour. They take the first person who looks good enough (and they're not good - there are practically no people in this field who actually have skills and experience, as opposed to just "I've worked with") and run with that, and then turn to filling the next contract.
The upshot of this is that it doesn't matter how good you are, because your CV isn't going to be seen, not unless you apply in the first ten minutes or so.
You have to play that game, and automate your applications, to be seen.
So the question is, if you don't want to play that game, how now do you find companies who need skills?