# Why are agencies advertising jobs that do not exist?



## MandaC (16 Oct 2008)

My friend has been out of work since June.  She is trying every avenue (even being prepared to take v. low money) and even temp short time.

I was speaking to her Tuesday and she was very disheartened.  She had phoned at least 10 agencies and not one of them had anything, some had very junior jobs and others had nothing.  Yet these same places are advertising jobs as current on all the websites?  Why would they do that?

A couple of them told her there was absolutely nothing going (well thats obvious) and others just said "oh that job is old" when she questioned them on it.

It is very unfair on people who are already stressed and had their confidence rocked out by not having work, by misleading them to believe there are jobs when clearly there are not.  One agency actually told her that they had only filled one temp job in the past month @ €12 per hour!!


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## redsuperted (16 Oct 2008)

Agencies make up most of the jobs that appear on their own websites and job search websites. This is because agencies need a constant source of quality candidates - so they make up very good sounding jobs to entice good candidates in. They then try to tout these good candidates to companies, who rarely want to see them. 

Agencies also put lots of jobs up on their sites to make it look like they are busier. If they had no jobs advertised, you wouldn't think they were very good!

Pick different agencies. Or use objective and unbiased job search websites, like wikijob.


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## Black Sheep (16 Oct 2008)

Do the words "misleading advertising" spring to mind. Maybe its time Consumer Authority had a look at some of the advertisments


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## papervalue (16 Oct 2008)

I agree it is extremely misleading- You could see a Job you really like and find out later it is made up. I find this a lot. I would support an inspector doing spot checks on all agencies and fineing them 5K plus for every Job that does not exist. For each job on website the inspector should get a list of contacts and actual contact each one to see if it is current vacant job. Spot check each agency twice a year.


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## MandaC (16 Oct 2008)

I also think it would also go back to the fact that if the agencies removed every job that was false(or filled months ago) they would have nothing to put up.


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## papervalue (16 Oct 2008)

At least them it would be *honest* and fair equal playing field. They would not be wasting client time on Job they already knew is not their. The best agency would survive.


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## FutureProof (16 Oct 2008)

has anyone actually successfully got a job threw agency site?


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## MandaC (16 Oct 2008)

Well my friend is registered with every and any agency and not one of them has come up with anything for her despite her having an excellent CV.

They are also very devious and try to find out where (if anywhere) else she is interviewing and it would appear that the motive behind this is to contact the client directly and push a different candidate for which they are getting a fee.

There was also one position on the jobs boards which advertised by at least 8 different agencies as well as by the client directly.  I would not think that the client has agreed for all these agencies to fill the job and again, it is building up candidates hopes and not to mention wasting time going to register when they dont even have an agreement to fill the position.

I will say that some of the agencies are better than others and I do know people who have got jobs though agencies, though there is an awful lot of "fillers" lately.

I think it will be like Estate Agents, only the better ones will keep heads above water.


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## Smashbox (16 Oct 2008)

Manda where does your friend live?

Has she thought about retail work ie. shops, bars, resturants, etc?

I'm looking for the same type of thing, although working at the moment would love a new job. However, couldnt take a cut in income due to loans, etc.


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## papervalue (16 Oct 2008)

I dealt with Job agency in past- Gave them my CV to a few of them- Never even got as much as a phone call. Move on in time i got a Job myself direct from employer. In last few months got a call from 2 agents to update details etc. My feeling was they did not help me when i was desparate for help and ringing recently i felt to myself what goes around comes around. I ask any agent would now rings me to delete me from their database. I have absolutely no fate what so ever in agencies. I dont think i would ever approach one again unless the industry is cleaned up and regulated. i do not knew if it is regulated but if it is please do some thing about false advertising . It also distorts cso figures as they are counting jobs advertised on websites that dont exist.


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## MandaC (16 Oct 2008)

Papervalue, that is the exact way my friend feels at the moment.  I phoned her the other evening and she was in tears because someone in one of the agencies had spoken to her like an imbecile during the day. That, along with the constant ringing/emailing/chasing jobs that possibly do not exist had worn her right down.   

The next step for her is to try retail, even just temporarily for Christmas, it is hard when she has years of valuable experience that she cant get anything in her chosen field.  She is in the Dublin area, so can commute to city centre if necessary.  She is lucky, in that she can take a pay cut, as she has a very low mortgage with not that long left on it.  

I don't really feel people realise just how bad it is out there at the moment.  The attitude of the agencies is not helping.  Thanks for all the feedback.


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## amgd28 (16 Oct 2008)

What is her field?


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## aircobra19 (16 Oct 2008)

I use to get contract work through agencies. You need to develop a thick skin in dealing with them. 

The first thing is not to take it personally. Using agencies is very impersonal and for most of them you are just a number, you need to get over that. If they have something for you, they'll get back to you. If they don't they won't its that simple. Most of the time you never get a reply. In return I don't waste my time replying to agencies generic emails, unless its specifically targeted to me, and has a job that is close to what I'm looking for. Most are just cold calling, and its waste of your time replying. 

The second thing is theres a lot of fake, old, and duplicate jobs on these websites. From experience, real ads with have weird requirements, something different about them, not just a standard spec, and there won't be 20 jobs, with almost the same spec. After a while you learn to filter these copies. Also jobs can be duplicated across difference agencies. I don't know why companies do this, but again learn to recognise very similar ads, even if they are different websites, its probably the same generic ad. If you go to company websites, and places like FAS, they generally have no or very few agencies, and jobs have salaries listed, or quirky details which also is a sign of a genuine jobs. 

Put more effort into researching companies that have jobs that match your skill set, and asking around everyone you know, and traditional paper adverts. As these are as as successful if not more, as using agencies, or the internet and people forget and just stick to using the internet. The old job hunting methods are still very valid. A book like what colour is your parachute is useful. You can get it in your library. 

I'd advise against dumbing down your CV, and also against talking it up, embelishing stuff. Instead,  keep it as simple, and concise and brutally honest. That worked best for me. 

Finally don't spend all day job hunting. That wrecks your head. Dedicate a specific amount time, and after that go do something else, take your mind off it.


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## Nutso (16 Oct 2008)

Tell you friend to try searching by 'Employer Only' on sites like IrishJobs.ie ore recruitireland.com - this will give details of actual companies recruiting and from my own experience are far more likely to be 'live' job ads than any put up by recruitment agencies.  I'm refusing to deal with any more agencies for the reasons already mentioned above.


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## MandaC (16 Oct 2008)

Is now trying the websites by employer only.  I totally agree about the real jobs having little tweaks and not being so straighforward.

She has over 25 years PA experience at Snr. level and excellent secretarial skills.  Maybe it is her age going against her.

I feel bad, because we were both made redundant at the same time and whilst I am not mad about my new job, at least I was lucky enough to get something straight away that is keeping me sane.  A couple of weeks ago I was going to give it up without another job but her experience and indeed others has made me wake up and smell the coffee big time.


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## wheels (16 Oct 2008)

I work freelance in media and when things are quiet I often temp. When I registered with a very well known agency a few months ago they asked me a lot of questions about where I worked etc. They said they had a girl on the books who wanted to get into media but was stuggling. I gave them the name of some companies for her to approach but pointed out these people would never hire someone at her level from an agency. 

A few months later I was in a position to hire someone for a role that person was suited to. I emailed them and told them to get in touch with me. The client refused to put her in contact with me. I pointed out the agency didn't deal with media companies at all, and reiterated that my company would never dream of paying a free to an agency for someone at that level. She still refused to even help the girl. It was very disheartening from my point of view because its a hard enough industry to get into without a company doing crap like that. I totally understand they need to make money, but this is peoples careers and livelyhoods they are playing with.


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## Calico (16 Oct 2008)

They post those ads to get CV's in then they use these details to try and place people in in related,  but different jobs. 

Recruitment agencies are the lowest of the low in my opinion.

If you come across jobs you think are fake report them to the website as their business is also compromised by that scurrilous behaviour.


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## aircobra19 (16 Oct 2008)

I think people forget who they are dealing with. Agencies don't provide a service. They exist only to make money. You were basically asking them to do something for free. No profit in that. At the end of the day they are just sales people, and most have that "sales" mentality.


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## aircobra19 (16 Oct 2008)

Calico said:


> T...
> If you come across jobs you think are fake report them to the website as their business is also compromised by that scurrilous behaviour.



To what website?


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## MandaC (16 Oct 2008)

The same jobs are repeats on many of the websites.  I just find it strange that when my friend phoned on Monday or Tuesday, despite all of the jobs having current dates on them, there was an excuse for all of them.  One or two you might say, ok, but 10 or 12 jobs all still live on a system and not one available?  

I also do not think the websites update the information and leave the jobs live for months.

I have noticed too that there are a fair number of employers now posting "we do not need the assistance of agencies at this time" or even more blunt "calls from agencies will not be entertained".  I hope this is a trend that continues.


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## aircobra19 (17 Oct 2008)

The whole agency thing has been going on for many many years. It is what it is. Use them, and don't lose sleep over it.


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## papervalue (17 Oct 2008)

I used the Fas website which has Jobs that do exist. In a time where a person is doing everything possible to get a job , they dont need their time wasted by the added frustration of employment agency messing them around. I have never found a job that was advertised on their websites that actual existed when i went to apply. I really think is absolute disgrace. I have nothing against employment agency making a living but do it in a honest manner where a Job actual exist's.


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## alana (17 Oct 2008)

I got a new job nearly a year ago. Approx 7/8 months later, I found out that my job was still being advertised by some recruitment companies. I rang them up and asked them was the position still open. They all told me "absolutely"! I then told them that I had taken up this position months ago and what the hell they were playing at. They told me that in keeping the job "live" on the website, they would recieve other applicants details that they could use if a similar position arose. Criminal!


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## krissovo (17 Oct 2008)

As bad as they are for keeping jobs live and gathering CV's when there is no opportunities all my roles have come from agencies.

Lets look at the positive with them being so greedy and their payments are a percentage of the salary gained they do try and get you the maximum available.  My last role I would say they bumped up my salary on offer by 10k per annum without me going through the stress of negotiating a salary. 

I think you need to put into perspective your net worth to them.  If you are looking for a 20k role you are only worth 2k or so to them.  Now if you are looking for a 100k plus role then dollar signs light up and they will do their best to place you.  How much effort they put in for you is based on a sliding scale  of your value.


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## Jack2008 (17 Oct 2008)

I would think that they are advertising jobs that don't exist because there are no/very few jobs out there!

Another industry that is likely to suffer because of the downturn. Friend works for one of the well known agenices and they are in trouble.


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## Visha (18 Oct 2008)

hi!

yes. I got my last job through an agency.  lots of my friends got jobs through agencies.


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## Visha (18 Oct 2008)

try charityjob.co.uk website. they only post real jobs, but in not for profit organisations.


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## steve7028 (20 Oct 2008)

I have registered with 13 agencies since being made redunadant in July. 4 of which didnt advertise so didnt really expect to hear off the them. The rest did and yet I have heard nothing bar one whocan only get me 2 days work a week.

I have had experience of them all advertising false jobs. I even complained to head office of one. emails from them no answer was given why they did it [although i know the reason]. There was no conclusion but I am now not allowed to use that agency.

I HATE agencies and the only people who think they are good are the ones that get jobs. Those people are just lucky they made the call to them at the right time.

I have wasted alot of time and money travelling to these agencies, some up to 30 mile away advertising jobs in my area that dont exist. 

I got my own back a little on one of them though...

I applied for some temp work that i know i couldn't do but made up a CV for the purpose, got the work but didnt turn up, the agency lost the contract [so they say] but if not aleast i felt a little better for giving them a taste of there own medicine. AGENCIES ARE A WASTE OF TIME 

The problem is that there are too many agencies out there and they are stealing the recruitment market...There are some compnaies who wont use them but i wish more wouldnt. 9 out of 10 jobs are recruitment agencies and it winds me up


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## redstar (24 Oct 2008)

I also have noticed agencies advertising the same position multiple times. Usually the title is slightly reworded, but the job descriptions almost identical.

I applied for a position advertised by an agency, and when they contacted me they completely ignored the position I applied for but had a different job to offer instead. The original job was not even mentioned by them.

Chancers.


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## papervalue (24 Oct 2008)

redstar said:


> I also have noticed agencies advertising the same position multiple times. Usually the title is slightly reworded, but the job descriptions almost identical.
> 
> I applied for a position advertised by an agency, and when they contacted me they completely ignored the position I applied for but had a different job to offer instead. The original job was not even mentioned by them.
> 
> Chancers.


 
How do they get away with the above. It is totally false advertising. Please would some regulator clean up this practice. Be no harm in prime time did a investigation for a year or two to finally clean industry. Nothing against them making a living, but fair is fair- an person takes time to call to an agency them at least they should be able to apply for Job that attracted them to agency.


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## FutureProof (27 Oct 2008)

How are they getting away with this stuff. Has anyone got any experience of the other side of this argument, i.e has any worked for a company with jobs vacancy's that has used a agency to find them staff?


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## Snork Maiden (27 Oct 2008)

FutureProof said:


> How are they getting away with this stuff. Has anyone got any experience of the other side of this argument, i.e has any worked for a company with jobs vacancy's that has used a agency to find them staff?



We had a vacancy last year and I engaged a well known recruitment agency.  I had a job spec already written up and gave it to them to use as the advert for the job.  We also had a salary range (30-35k) based on experience.   We did get around ten CV's with only two/three potential interviewees.  However, the salary expectations during interview where a lot higher than the job spec and when I quizzed the interviewees they claimed that the agency had advised 40k salary expectation.   I checked the agency website and found our job which had indeed quoted 40plus salary.  I rang agency and she tried to convince me that this was a similar job vacancy and not our one, she even got snotty with it!  I informed her that I had written the job spec and that it was my words that were in the ad.......needless to say they never changed the salary and we changed agencies.....the job was still on site weeks later despite written requests that they remove it........AGENCIES never again!!!


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## tink (27 Oct 2008)

I totally sympathise with your friend's position. I would say it could be her age going against mixed with incompetent agencies, I personally look for jobs in the newspaper supplements as agencies have to pay to place ads and they will not pay for fictional job vacancies. It has always worked for me ! Otherwise she should think of a few big companies and go directly to their websites, in a lot of cases this will mean the company not having to pay a 5K finders fee to the agency.


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## NZ1 (27 Oct 2008)

This has happened to me too and it is blatant false advertising.  
One of the agencies actually told me that some others 'invented' jobs to keep folk signing in with them...its ridiculous.  Its soul destroying enough looking for work, and its costly travelling to each and every agency and wasting time filling out their forms and sitting tests only to find out they have no vacancies at all.  How do they sleep at night.

I think they should get the same stick as any company who's adverts are lies.


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## BobbyFowler (28 Oct 2008)

Many Recruitment Companies will have a range of bogus adverts on display. As a result they'll have a constant stream of CV's coming through for a variety of potential positions. You'll find that if a company has a particular role to fill, there'll be 20+ recruitment companies clambering to put their candidates forward for it. If for example a recruitment company get 30 CV's through for each of the roles they're advertising, there might be one or two that stand out as excellent candidates. They're going to try and get those candidates in front of the company. It mightn't be right, but it's the way the Recruitment Industry runs. I'm using them at the moment to try & get into a position. I've got my eyes open - at the end of the day I'm looking to get 1 job. Whether I get it myself or get an interview via an agency I don't care. At the end of the day I've got no alliegance with any agency - they'll use me & I'll use them. The problem appears to be that job seekers don't realise how a lot of these companies work.  Rather than depending on the agencies, surf the web & check out the careers pages of some companies - give them a call if there's roles there.  Just because they might not be advertising, throw a call in anyway.  What's the worst that can happen?


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## krissovo (28 Oct 2008)

You should never close any avenue of opportunity when looking for work.  Even if you think a recruitment agency is the devils spawn there are jobs there for the taking.  If these companies didnt place people then they would not exist.  If you are getting nowhere with agencies then I suggest you look at your CV and work on that.


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## ccbkd (28 Oct 2008)

These Recruitment Companys seem to have multiplied in the last few years of the Tiger particularly in Construction, this being the case I was wondering how on earth they are still surviving with the construction industry on its knees and foreign markets already well covered by established recruitment firms


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## buzybee (28 Oct 2008)

I inadvertently got revenge on an agency.  This agency had placed me in a 6 month contract job.  Towards the end of the contract I applied for a job nearer home.  This job was advertised by the company in a newspaper.  I didn't know that my agency also had that particular job on their website.  My contact from the agency went mad when he found out that I was leaving the contract job to go to Company X. He said I should have come to him if I wanted a job nearer home.  I didn't realise it at the time, but by applying to the Co. directly, I done him out of his finders fee.

At the same time I would keep on the right side of the agencies as you never know when you might need them.


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## Killter (3 Nov 2008)

I have contacted the national consumer agency about this and will post any replies from them.


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## Killter (4 Nov 2008)

I received a reply today from the National Consumer Agency:




Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank  you for contacting the National Consumer Agency (NCA) with your query regarding  Recruitment Agencies.

The National Consumer Agency is a statutory body  established by the Irish Government in May 2007. It aims to defend consumer  interests and to embed a robust consumer culture in Ireland.

The issue  you raise would not be covered by consumer law. We can only suggest that you  possibly raise the issue with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and  Employment. There contact details are as follows:

Department of  Enterprise, Trade & Employment, 23 Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Telephone:  +353 1 631 2121
LoCall: 1890 220 222
Fax: +353 1 631 2827
E-Mail: info@entemp.ie 

We trust you have found  this information useful and if you have any further consumer related queries  please do not hesitate to contact us on 1890 432 432.

Yours Sincerely

Sean  Conway


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## newone (5 Nov 2008)

This has happened to me too very recently. I've just lost my job, which I had had for many years. I thought I was doing really well the first fortnight, finding and applying for five local jobs that I had the right experience for (I'm a non driver). Turns out that I hadn't applied for any really though, and had also had to travel a fair distance (at cost) to register with them, before they would discuss my applications. One of the agencies didn't even seem to know that I'd applied for any of their jobs, although it was from my application that she had my CV in her hand!There's nothing wrong with registering with agencies to help you find work, but they should be upfront that that's all you're doing. If I'd have known, I could have registered with half a dozen local agencies by the time I'd travelled out to one of these, and it would have cost me a lot less in transport. The local ones would probably have come up with more local jobs than the ones further afield as well, which could have got me back into work sooner. When you're out of work and you've no money coming in, that's important.
Now that I know how agencies work, I'll concentrate more of my time on applying for jobs where the application is direct to the company - at least I'll know it's a real potential job then, that could result in my getting back to work quickly, and that my application will actually be considered.
I wish I'd known sooner though, as I feel I wasted a lot of important time that first fortnight. There's nothing worse than feeling you've been conned as well, I was fuming. 
Sometimes it could genuinely be that a position's just been filled to be fair, but on one of these agency's websites the exact same job was offered twice, word for word, very specific about the company's reason for wanting someone new etc, in two towns, even with exactly the same reference number. I cancelled my appointment with them (it was going to cost me about £15 to get there and back anyway), and if I sign up with any more agencies I'll make sure they're local. Although I won't be signing up with any more if I can help it - I don't like dealing with people who try to con you.
They should defintely be regulated, not just for our sake, but if there are any truthfull agencies out there, they'll be losing custom because of it too.


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## Rosinsky (7 Nov 2008)

My son is also looking for work at present and he is very well qualified.  He has been primarily interested in employment in the Financial Services.  One thing he did mention was that when he searches for jobs on Irishjobs under agency,loads appear and when he only opt for employer there is almost nothing.  The few jobs that he has been interested in have all been put on hold till after Christmas.  The current employment situation is absolutely shocking.  Crazy times ladies and gents and I fear it will get worse.  Wonder how many non-Irish will be stuck unemployed???  As a matter of interest how do foreigners find working with Irish recruiters???


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## aircobra19 (7 Nov 2008)

If you have the right status and documents, visa etc there shouldn't be any difference between a non national and anyone else. Same if your son went to work in another country. At least in theory. The reality might be a slightly different. If you go to France and can't speak french very well you're going to be at a disadvantage etc. Especially if its a technical area you're working in. 

It been like this many times in the past, most recently in the early 80's. The agencies were doing exactly the same tricks back then too. They've been doing it for decades. Learn how to filter the crud.


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