A day in the life of a Middle Manager...

Agencies...

Still trying to get another contract to follow-up the one I've been working for a couple of months now. This one is definitely running down now and I reckon it'll end within the next couple of weeks.

So, with that in mind I've been frantically contacting agencies about roles (whether contract or permanent) for the last couple of weeks. The process generally involves emailing first (as the agencies normally only give email addresses on the adverts on the jobsites) then scrabbling round to find a phone number so you can actually attempt to talk to someone about the role.

Over the last couple of weeks I must have emailed concerning about five roles a day - simple math dictates that this is 50 roles I know I can do that I've enquired about in two weeks. Getting these 'people' (and I use the term loosely) at agencies to actually talk to you is another matter. Once you find their number they either don't answer the phone or palm you off... Typical responses once you've got hold of someone include...

• "Oh, we filled that position." -- (this was a position that had been advertised 2 hours earlier) - if it was filled why did you advertise it again?

• "Yes, we'll definitely put your CV forward for this role" -- then, of course, you never hear from them again. I now take this phrase to mean "I'll definitely file your CV under 'B' for BIN because I don't really understand the position and you didn't use any of the keywords my boss told me to listen for."

• "I think you're overqualified for this role" -- this one really gets me. Right now, I'm willing to do ANY role for which I apply. Just because I've got multiple years of management under my belt as well as various networking skills doesn't mean I won't be interested in a position which may be more junior!

Apart from the contract I'm currently working and a couple of months of working in a warehouse (again, temporary) I've now essentially been unemployed for nearly 12 months.

There is something massively wrong and almost crooked about a system in which all professional level jobs are passed through the hands of 'recruiters' and 'recruitment agencies'. I know from bitter experience that there doesn't appear to be any point approaching companies directly, they now generally seem to have outsourced the recruitment process to these third-party companies.

Most recruiters, in my experience, have no real understanding of the role they are recruiting for -- they simply have a list of buzzwords that they listen out for in conversation (if you can get them to have a conversation) or look for in your CV. That's not being a 'recruiter' - that's being a word matcher and nothing more. There's no skill involved in looking or listening for certain buzzwords!

Management skills are generally transferable across industries. I've tried applying for roles outside the IT industry and get the same response.

We need to go back to how it used to be; to a world where recruiters didn't have a virtual monopoly on job advertisements.

I've had a number of people email me who share my experience of recruitment in this country so this is by no means isolated. The monster jobboard has a forum where people regularly post saying they've been struggling to find anything for two years or more!

'Recruiters' appear to serve no-one but themselves. How on Earth have companies let themselves be taken in by this massive con? Surely the same system isn't prevalent in other countries? Perhaps if it is the 'recruiters' actually do a half-decent job?

IMHO the whole system is rotten and needs to be torn down...

What are your experiences of 'recruiters' and 'recruitment agencies'?