Agencies changing CV

Glynis

I recently registered with another agency and sent them MY version of my CV on which I refer to myself as an accountant having got AAT. I was asked a ridiculous amount of questions by them and I went for an interview last week. I was horrified to see that the HR woman had another version of my CV on which they referred to me as a "general accounts assistant". Needless to say I didn't get the job. I am angry because the agencies have no right to change your CV and when I challenged them about it they just said that they felt the relationship had broken down just like that.
Can agencies really do this? There must be some ombudsman that we can go to because there actions have cost me a job.

blobbyh

Yes they can and no there isn't. Simples.

Londina

Maybe they found the title "general accounts assistant" more appropriate to your past work experience....accountant is more that just updating the accounts on SAGE

Bookworm55

Agencies often edit your CV to fit into their standard style, it's not something to be concerned about. I've seen an agency take one of mine and edit what my job titles were. On one hand I didn't think they should have altered it because it's explicitly what the title I had was, on the other I can see the point in altering it to give a more useful view of what the role was.

In your case, as "Accountant" can cover such a wide range of things, I'm not surprised they changed it. I think it's down to the agency to sell you any way they think will work! You can ask why they thought it was appropriate.

As long as they haven't seriously altered any facts - such as omitting past employment or getting qualification details wrong - I don't think there's much you can say.

Gem7321

The agency got you an interview with that CV. Your own actions in the interview cost you the job.

The MiP forum isn't really the place for a thread like this.

uknitty

A rose by any other name is still a rose.

I'm always really pleased when recruiters take time to tailor my CV. Although I do request they send me a copy of the CV that the client will be viewing if I am lucky enough to get to interview.

PGM

uknitty wrote: »

A rose by any other name is still a rose.

I'm always really pleased when recruiters take time to tailor my CV. Although I do request they send me a copy of the CV that the client will be viewing if I am lucky enough to get to interview.

As long as you see the revised cv before the interview, which is what must have happened?

Agencies are acting on your behalf so they can change details as needed, which they must do to maintain their credibility!

Rachel

The only thing that annoys me when they do change it is the spelling mistakes!

blobbyh

I wasn't going to reply to Glynis directly because I don't think she deserves it and wouldn't take any notice anyway, even if I were to offer her some excellent tips for interview techniques. So this is more a response to the other thread contributors...

Agencies will modify CV's for a number of reasons. They will make them as compliant with the Equality Act and other laws as they possibly can, often removing date of birth, many personal details and sometimes even education or other background info which can indicate age. Many CV's are anonymous and won't even have the candidates gender or nationality. Agencies will present CV's in the best format for the candidate to at least get to interview - you'd be surprised at how many are poorly laid out.

If you go to a niche finance agency, they will carefully consider whether you are actually an accountant or not, based not just on qualification but also on career experiences. Many finance recruiters will often be qualified accountants in their own right (they can earn more recruiting) and will decide using their own judgement what the candidate's job title should be appropriately called.

As Gem has accurately pointed out, the OP's CV actually got her to the interview stage in the first place, rather than hindering her. It was more likely the ranting attitude, lack of suitable skills or simply not being as good as other interviewees that didn't lead to her being employed and being dropped by yet another agency.

mini_schnauzer

Another recruitment agency that you cannot use ... do you see a pattern forming.

Or are you an internet troll?
Wikipedia definition: "In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion."

PGM

Not a troll... but it is important to learn from past mistakes instead of getting annoyed and blaming it on others, gets you knowhere.

Steve Collings

Glynis, at the end of the day you are asking the agencies to find you a job. You really cannot afford to keep biting these hands that are feeding you because soon you are going to be eating your own words in starvation.

I'd rethink your approach to the agencies and consider these people a lifeline rather than an obstacle.

Rinske

Hi Glynis,

I must admit I'm having great success with a certain agency at the moment. I've send in my CV and they lined up two different jobs and arranged the interviews with both.

They are very supportive and helpful and yes, they adjusted my CV for data protection and such, but I'm fine with that, the changes aren't huge, but helpful and if those changes will get me in the interviews, I'm all happy (as long as they don't lie on my CV of course).

They have been keeping me up to date on changes and have actually picked up jobs I would be interesting in, rather than suggesting anything that randomly comes up.

At the same time another agency gave me a random call to check if I was still looking for a job and maybe had a promotion since, as they would have a job for someone more experienced, so there is a huge difference in quality of service.

(Anyways, that's just my two recent experiences. Now I'll just have to hope my current employer isn't here reading stuff!)

If this is an agency you complained about before on here, it might just mean it's time to swap agency. As it might be you just haven't found the right one for you yet.

However if not, it might be time to look at yourself and decide what YOU want to do and maybe find a different way of getting there, away from agencies, as you don't seem to be getting along well with them.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but it might be time to look at yourself why the agencies don't work for you, rather than blaming it all on them. There might be something in the way you communicate to the agencies or maybe you need a more positive approach that might make the difference!! I know it's been said before, but they did get you the interview, so it was up to you to go into the interview, make a good first impression and find out enough about the new role to see if it would suit you, while at the same time selling yourself.

When the company invited you, they had the copy of the CV as the agency send it to you and at that point it doesn't really matter if they call you an assistant or accountant or just something completely random, the point is that you are there and you will have to sell yourself.

Monsoon

rinske wrote: »

when the company invited you, they had the copy of the cv as the agency send it to you and at that point it doesn't really matter if they call you an assistant or accountant or just something completely random, the point is that you are there and you will have to sell yourself.

steve collings wrote: »

glynis, at the end of the day you are asking the agencies to find you a job. You really cannot afford to keep biting these hands that are feeding you because soon you are going to be eating your own words in starvation.

I'd rethink your approach to the agencies and consider these people a lifeline rather than an obstacle.

QFT

(That's "quoted for truth" and not "quite flippin' true" in case anyone was wondering!)