And now I’m being hounded by companies that I never applied to. Do recruiters nick your CV and apply on your behalf or something, to get money for successfully connecting you to a job?

Lucky you.
A recruiter gets paid when they fill a vacancy. The collect CV’s and try and match you to a job they have to fill. You have said you’re in the market, they are trying to place you. By uploading a lot of the T&C’s will probably make it searchable too.

You’ve given away your info, now agencies are trying to get you a job and cash in.

Although I always thought that was the exact point of those websites, to get your info out there and have people come to you ?

Well bugger me, this makes my life easier. 😀 *facepalm* I thought it was just spam or something.

which website have you used? I should also do this

cv-library.co.uk

I’m now spamming every recruiter I can possibly find…

Recruiters are like estate agents and double glazing salesmen. Roaches the lot of them 😛

Tonnes of tricks you’ll they go through, but placing you in a job may not be the highest priority. Placements are the way they make money but filling existing places is less profitable than finding new vacancies with new clients. That can also include your own existing job! It’s not unknown for some bad ones to take your CV knowing you’re looking for a new job and then put the word out amongst your existing company that you’re looking to leave and try to find someone to shove in there 😉

Many CV sites distribute your CV to many agencies. What you will get also is tonnes of recruiters contacting you, telling you they have a job for you, maybe even a potential interview, they’ll query all your details and probably want your references up front, then you’ll hear nothing. Meanwhile they’ve got your contacts and are chasing them up for potential vacancies.

I’ve had some who will submit your CV to a job without permission and then you get calls from people saying they’ve just received your CV and you’ve never heard of them. Most agents will modify your CV to suit them and you can come unstuck in an interview. Always take your own CV with you to an interview and insist they read that in preference, possibly forward it upfront if you can manage to get contact details in advance though agents don’t like you doing that obviously. Had a number where I was submitted for things I had the wrong skills for. Utter waste of time and money.

Personally I avoid blanket submitting CVs to these sites. 90% time wasting. CV only gets submitted when I personally apply for a job I am are interested in and I try to make sure it’s actually going to the end company, not just into an agents database.

Tricky thing is if you avoid signing up to agents but try to browse jobs, a lot of the advertised jobs aren’t genuine or are long gone. Advertised jobs on agent sites are mainly there to get you to submit a CV.

Best thing is to apply direct, but it’s hard work.

I was made redundant in feb and naturally (stupidly) uploaded my CV onto various websites and since then I have been getting loads of spam. I’m usually pretty guarded with handing out details/info but on this occasion acted a bit dim. I will probably cancel the email address and start all over.

Key question to always ask, is if the agency contacting you is a preferred supplier of the company they’re trying to place you with.

If they are, then it’s more likely you’ll get somewhere. If they’re not, then they’re just responding to an ad that company has placed, or even submitting on-spec, and you’re less likely to get anywhere, and are better off going direct.

Never, ever load you CV onto any intent site …
The recruiters will tout it around to any man and dog …
And you will become an entry in the trash ….

Take it down. Now.

I was made redundant in feb and naturally (stupidly) uploaded my CV onto various websites

that’s normally what you do when you need/want a job…

Maybe it’s just me, but I look on spam in the same way I see adverts in the paper and on billboards etc, I don’t and it doesn’t bother me one iota.

just ‘invest’ in a decent spam filter etc.

I don’t get all the negativity on this thread. I uploaded my CV to CV library last year when I was looking for a change of job. Got some good interviews from it, including the role I took, which is one I was after. Yes I’ve had a few calls since but all from perfectly polite recruiters who have found my cv and matched me to openings they have, including a current vacancy for the same job as one of the guys from the office recently left! I can’t complain at them as I haven’t taken my cv down and as soon as I say I’m not currently looking they apologies and we end the call. I personally think its a great service as many recruiters know of jobs that haven’t been publicly advertised yet and it saves you having to trawl hundreds of companies websites if they only advertise on their own site.

I suspect the moaners and sceptics have never actually used such a service, or are just generally scared of the internet ….!

I don’t get all the negativity on this thread.

Me neither. You don;t even have to look for a job. It’s all done for you. I ended up with a load of good quality interviews (and finally a job) purely by uploading my CV and waiting for people to come to me.

I think if you use a bit of common sense when speaking to recruiters, you can figure out which ones to bother with….then approach them with your guard up… I ended up regularly speaking to a select bunch of recruiters, who I made clear to my exact requirements, and they quickly knew they were getting nowhere if they couldn’t at least get close to them. They were pretty helpful most of the time.

It’s not unknown for some bad ones to take your CV knowing you’re looking for a new job and then put the word out amongst your existing company that you’re looking to leave and try to find someone to shove in there

Did have one that approached me with a job. Said, OK, what’s the details, sounds kinda interesting… Very next day, I answer the phone at work (small company), and it’s the very same guy! But….difficult to find a job these days without going through recruiters. It’s an evil you have to deal with.

Arghh, conflicting info.

Meh, not worried about my current employer finding out that I’m job hunting. It’s monkey work for peanuts to get me by.

Always, always upload your CV to the job boards. Every Sunday evening to catch the Monday morning downloads.

Yes, you will have to sift through a lot of rubbish and field a lot of calls (if your CV and skill set is any good) but hey, you would rather say no than miss out, wouldn’t you?

If you want another job, that is…

Uploaded my cv to reed got loads of calls from recuitement agencies asking if id like them to put me forward for varrious rolls. I picked 6 i liked the sound of got interviews with all 6 and in the end had the choice of 6 jobs. Accepted 1 thanked the rest for theyre time and offers removed cv from reed and thats it job done.

Just a lot of cynicism 😉 having had much experience of being messed about a hell of a lot in the world of recruitment. Long since learnt the classic old “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. Last 10 years or so jobs and interviews have largely been through contacts I know, not via agents. Agents meanwhile seemed to be purely fishing for contacts.

I get spam daily from CVs I submitted 5 or more years ago and long since stopped using those services, yet they still claim I’ve just submitted my CV to them.

Another classic one where I get a job ad sent to me for somewhere I actually know, and I contacted a friend I know used to work there, a few enquiries and result comes back from the CEO of said company saying there’s no such job. Then there are the ones I see repeatedly advertised and clearly a cut’n’paste from other non-existent jobs (having seen so many adverts) for companies that don’t actually exist in the location they state.