If you apply for a job these days the chances are that you may be applying through a Recruitment Agency. What should you expect from an agency and more specifically from a Recruitment Consultant?
Let's assume that you have applied for an IT position on http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/. You should receive either an immediate automated response or a personal response within a few hours acknowledging that your application has been received. Alarm bells should start ringing if you don't receive any kind of acknowledgement.
How long should you wait before following up? I would suggest two working days, however if you feel that you are uniquely well qualified for the job then do call sooner.
Assuming that you have the right experience then a professional Consultant will want to interview you for the job. Treat this "agency interview" in exactly the same way as you would a "proper" interview. The Consultant may well have a long list of up to 10 candidates and will want to see who will be the best fit for his client. Do try to attend face-to-face as this will always give you an advantage over candidates who can only commit to a telephone interview. Make the effort to attend the agency interview and you will demonstrate your motivation and commitment. This may also make you think twice about which jobs to apply for. I suggest that, in the current job market, you only apply for jobs where you have all the skills required. If the advertisement says "in-depth experience of developing mobile phone software using J2ME" chances are that your C++ experience is not going to be right for that particular job!
This agency interview can serve a dual purpose as once you have convinced the Consultant that are right for the role he or she will be able to give you a thorough briefing on what to expect at the proper client interview. Remember that the Consultant may have had several candidates who have already attended interviews for similar roles with the same client. The Consultant can brief you in detail on the organisation, the working environment, the other people in the department and most especially the interviewer or interviewers. What sort of interview questions can you expect? Will this be a formal or informal interview? Will you need to make a presentation?
If the Consultant now confirms that you have been short-listed, make sure that you get his or her assurance that your CV will be sent to the client. Make a note of exactly when your CV was submitted together with the name of the client. Don't give your permission for your CV to be sent anywhere unless you know where it is being sent. This can lead to potentially embarrassing instances of your CV being received by the client from two different agencies. Keep a record and don't let this happen. I recommend that you maintain a simple spreadsheet of the jobs that you have applied for, when you applied, the name of the Agency and Contact and perhaps a note of the version of the CV that you submitted. Ask the Consultant when you can expect a decision regarding an interview and put a reminder in your schedule.
At this time the Consultant should also ask to see your passport or proof of identity. I know that many candidates are concerned about identity theft but this is a genuine requirement of the Employment Agencies Act. Check that the agency is a member of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) who will also be able to re-assure you and confirm what information you are expected to provide to a registered Recruitment Agency. Apart from checking your identity the Agency will want to see proof of your right to work in the UK if you are not a British or EU Citizen. They should also ask for copies of relevant qualifications and details of your references/referees.
Hopefully all of this should lead to a face-to-face interview (or interviews) with the client and eventually a job offer. Your Recruitment Consultant should then be able to guide you through the whole offer process. You should be completely open about your current earnings and be absolutely clear about your salary expectations in the new role. There is nothing worse than getting an offer and then finding that it is for much less than you had expected. Be up front about this and make sure that the Consultant understands exactly what salary and package you are looking for and there should be no confusion.
Your Consultant may want to stay in touch even after you start your new job. It's always useful to have a good contact in the recruitment industry, you never know when you might want to recruit some staff for your team or even look for another job!
