Let’s get this out of the way first. Yes, it is my wife written about in this feature, she now has a job and I was there throughout her month-long experience; I believe this unprecedented access to my interviewee gives a more three-dimensional perspective.
I shared some of the less pleasant experiences with her as well as the eventual joy of achieving gainful employment – especially during these rather sparse times.
So which agencies did she think were the tops and which were the pits? While I am happy to let you know which ones treated her fairly, you will have to buy me a drink during awards season to prize out the name of the agency employing the seemingly bitter and rather rude consultant.
I know you all love gossip – so I look forward to a rather fruitful awards season!

The jobseeker
Kate is 32 and was made redundant from the City as a PA to the IT department of UBS in April of this year following seven years there. She is mother to our boys Oscar (6) and Jude (4) and lives in Essex.
Kate was looking for flexible work, as childcare has become increasingly more expensive over the past few years – and there are only so many favours we could pull in from the boys` grandparents.
So why did Kate decide to go back to the City?
“The lure of the City is obvious,” says Kate, “as well as the remuneration, the structure of corporate businesses in London mans there is more of a chance to seek a job share or part-time work and still take home a good wage.”
“Businesses around here (rural Essex) are a touch more bucolic, particularly in the recession – they are not looking at spending for the right talent and skills which I have developed over the years; my skills are definitely geared more towards work in the finance sector.”
So what was Kate’s first move?
First stop, as we don’t live near any agencies dealing with the City, was online.
Kate searched through the job boards of agencies she had used previously, reputable companies in her opinion. They were known quantities, of course, but the recruitment process has changed considerably over the past few years.
“I went to several agencies by sending them a copy of my CV and made appointments to sign-up with them. They were all in London.
“I heard back from all the agencies at the point of sending them my details, which I wasn’t really expecting as there appears to be so many jobseekers out there.
“I hadn`t looked for a job for a while, so it was extremely daunting to be honest, because the situation was quite alien to me and I didn’t really know what kind of questions they would ask.
“I knew I could do the job but I didn’t really know how to sell myself to firstly the consultant and then to the prospective employer – I`m not sure my expectations included the consultant helping me in this area.”

Into the City
Kate’s first interview was with JP Morgan through Hays – which she found on the Secs in the City website; it was for a job share maternity leave cover, which entailed one week on and one week off.
So before we find out about her experience with this recruiter, what is Hays’ own take on how they deal with candidates?
Sharron Pamplin, HR Director at Hays, says: “New consultants receive a full induction to Hays, in recruitment techniques and the specialist niche that they will be recruiting for. This includes on-the-job training, coaching and more theoretical classroom-based activities.
“Training and development continues throughout a consultants’ career to ensure that they continue to progress, understand the latest techniques, have the most up-to-date expertise and can continue to deliver the best service possible.
“They are encouraged to immerse themselves in the specific industry they recruit for, for example, by attending industry events. Consultants recognise the important role they play in shaping not just people’s careers, but their lives. The culture at Hays supports this and we are constantly innovating and improving our training and development activities to ensure our consultants truly are experts.”
“I liked the sound of the job. Hays sent me through an information pack straight away with interviewing techniques. I found that a bit overwhelming - there was an awful lot in there to take in and a lot to learn – at first I thought the help offered was a bit over the top. But after I had read it I realised it was genuinely useful. It gave me advice on questions that I could ask during the interview which I hadn’t thought about at all – I did stop short of going online to do a mock interview but it was definitely food for thought.
It gave me different situations that could arise in the job and gave an example of situations I could potentially face.
“The pack surprisingly helped my nerves after my initial reaction – so did meeting up with the consultant. I still of course felt anxious about the whole thing, but it did alleviate some of my nerves.
“The information pack, proved invaluable during that first interview – I felt more confident about asking them questions, it made me appear more interested and actually made me more interested in the company as the questions were incredibly pertinent.
“It took five days before I found out that I hadn`t got the job – I felt very flat after not getting it, because it made me realise that finding a new job wasn’t going to be a walk in the park.”

Careless talk
In the meantime Kate went to register with further agencies. One particular agent, in London she says, was not a pleasant experience.
“The girls on reception were more interested in talking to each other rather than acknowledging me, it put me on edge and even though this was a big thing for me, the impact they could have was passing them by entirely.
“I filled in the forms after they handed them over as if they really didn`t care – Hays on the other hand was such a different atmosphere because the receptionist was really chirpy and nice and put me at ease, showed me to a quiet room and kept me informed about what would be happening.
Not so with the West End agent. “I first met up with the perms consultant at this particular agency and she could only be described as unfriendly, harsh and blunt and asked questions that I thought were completely irrelevant – things I had done 15 years ago which were not connected to my eventual career path.
“She told me I was not very enthusiastic – it made me feel very uncomfortable – it was more like an interrogation than meeting with a consultant.
“I actually thought ‘I don’t want you to get me a job because you will make money out of me’. I was extremely uncomfortable in her presence and was glad when I met the temps consultant who was the complete opposite and a breath of fresh air in comparison.”
“I didn’t hear back a single thing from them – considering there are jobs out there on daily alerts – whereas Hays were constantly keeping me up-to-date and were constantly in touch and keeping my confidence up that I would eventually find something.”
Tay Associates got in touch and asked me what an ideal job would be – it didn`t take me long to think of that answer! They told me they had got a job which fitted in with my answer and asked ‘would you like to go for it’. They told me a bit about the company and got me really interested.
“They were really, really good, and boosted my confidence about an interview no end. If I had any questions for Tay, I would email and hear back in 30 minutes.
“The first interview was with an HR partner and she also made me feel at ease and ran through my history; she also filled me in on the business.
“Tay phoned me back the next day to tell me I had a second interview. I went in to meet the two men I would be working for and the other job share employee.”
“As the job is Monday to Wednesday it really gave me a buzz – I really wanted it. When I got offered it I was completely chuffed because it was so perfect. There was no way I could have done it without recruitment agencies.
“Generally I was impressed with the agencies – except that one – that I went to see.”

One in a million
Kate us of course simply one in a million people looking for work through recruitment agencies; and with the financial districts being so hard hit, it is a wonder there are any jobs at all.
But recruitment is a hugely influential part in our lives – our job is part of what shapes us.
To feel welcomed and given confidence is all part of that process, as the candidate is the recruiter’s number one asset.
To forget this, and to forget the true role of a consultant – as we have seen here – could be seriously damaging. After all, the candidate can always say no thanks!