gardenpeas

Hi,

Two and half weeks ago the recruitment agency presented my CV to an company and they they told the recruitment agency to process the application further and the agency then requested details of referees contact numbers etc....

I have not heard anything back from either the agency or the company, so this mean that they are not interested, or do they contact referees prior to interview? Or is it still too soon to expect anything?


Thanks

The Bloke

Usually referees can be contacted after the interview to verify or give opinion of your work. Were your referee contact details on your CV and have you contacted agency to find out what is happening?

gardenpeas

Hi,

Yes the referees were on my CV, but the agency still ask me for them and to tell him abit about the family etc... as I put down married and two children on the CV.

I haven't had an interview yet, so don't really know what is happening, but I emailed the agency yesterday at 8.30 am as I haven't heard anything from them, but no email or phone call yet.

Thanks

Dorothy

Why did you put married with children on your CV? It is not relevant to the position you are applying for, so it should not be there.

Your CV should be professional and not include personal details other than your name, address and contact details. It is not the employer's or the agency's business how old you are, your marital status or whether you have children, your hobbies or any of that other stuff. Keep it professional and relevant to the positions you are applying for.

gardenpeas

ok thanks

BAY

Steady on there Dorothy.

Its perfectly acceptable and normal to put personal details such as dob, marital status or whether you have children, your hobbies or any of that other stuff. It helps the employer to build up a positive image of the candidate.

What is your problem ?

SunshineGirl

I submitted my resume to an agency and had details such as age, married etc on it. Agency said I should take it off as it was not relevant.

At interview I was asked my age and I gave it happily. Not asked about marital status.

Got the job - in my case, I think being 'mature' and having bags of experience actually helped.

Dorothy

My "problem" is that none of those personal details are relevant to any job, unless you're applying to be a live-in of some sort. It's also illegal in Australia to discriminate on the basis of age, marital status, sex, etc. So, what would be the point of having irrelevant information on your CV?

Any potential employer should not need nor ask for personal information nor should they have to build up a positive image of a candidate based on it.

Zambia

I filled out an application for a job today no such questions where asked and I would be shocked if they where.

jellab

I work in a recruitment agency in Ireland and these are questions you don't ask. It is a no no. So I am sure it would the same would apply in most countries.

gardenpeas

Hi Thanks for all your replies, I personally think that it is upto the individual if they want to include personal details or not, but I can understand Dorothy point of view that leaving the personal details off makes the CV more professional even though I did included the personal details on mine, it was an old english one, that I updated and changed to the australian version as agreed by an agency last year.

Anyway my point of this thread, was is it normal for agencies to ask for referees before you have even got an interview. The referees were written on the CV, but they had to ask for my permission before contacting the referees and I put this down on my CV, so maybe that was why.

I didn't want just any agency phoning the referees just to ask if they have any vacancies etc.. which has been happening to some companies lately.

I haven't heard anything back from the agency or the company yet, so I am kind of guess that they are not interested.

Thanks

Dorothy

Yes, agencies sometimes phone and check references before you get to the interview stage. There is no sense in an agent sending you forward for an interview with the prospective employer if your references don't pan out.

Sorry, we all got a bit off topic here.

BAY

I don't know why people are getting so touchy about personal details being on a CV. If you want to include them , then do, if not, then don't.

Its certainly not going to count against you or be seen as unprofessional

I designed my CV in the UK using a consultancy company. I've always had positive comments/feedback from companies/agencies about it.

... and as for there being a UK style and an Oz style. From my experience of applying for jobs in OZ there is no such thing. A good CV is a good CV, whether it be in the UK or Oz. All the agencies in Perth have said the same thing: you do not have to rewrite or change the style for Oz.

comet555

In an ideal world that might not be the case. However would you put the details if:

-you were a 58 year old looking for a long term professional job. I can guarantee that employers would think twice about hiring that person unless their skills or experience were desperately needed

-were a 20 year old woman with a 6 week old baby at home, particularly if applying for a time intensive stressful job

-a 25 year old single mom with 6 children

On the otherhand if you were a 25 year old single man or woman there's not much for the employer to view negatively, except for lack of experience or perhaps thinking the woman might leave work soon.

I would say that it is a no no to put such personal details on the resume, it's really none of their business since it doesn't relate to how you will perform on the job. This is the exact reason that in most places it is illegal to ask these questions.

If someone wants to provide those details willingly it's there choice, but you should realize that most employers will at least give some thought to your personal details.

I personally keep those details off the resume. However I will shortly be applying for relief teachers aide positions. I do have on my cover letter that my daughter attends that school and that I am looking for work that will fit in with her school schedule. In my case I'm being up front about it because I want the situation to work for both of us. However, I don't need to go back to work so I don't really care if it hurts my chances. If I really needed a job then there's no chance I would have put those details in. For the record though, I did talk to the school last year and they were very interested, probably more because I'm actually a qualified teacher though.

BAY

'-were a 20 year old woman with a 6 week old baby at home, particularly if applying for a time intensive stressful job

-a 25 year old single mom with 6 children'

If you were an an employer would you want to employ these 2 ?

More importantly these 2 shouldn't be applying for jobs in the 1st place, they should be at home looking after their children !