Job vacancies and recruitment agencies

Quickfire questions

How often do you do an online job search?

What's the job market like in the city that you live in right now?

Do you ever look at jobs that are available in other cities / countries?

Do you ever look at jobs that are not directly connected to your qualifications / previous experience?

What sites do you use to look for vacancies?

When were you last actively looking for a job?

How did you feel about the process? Was anything particularly frustrating?

Job vacancy standards

In the UK, we have a government department called The Department for Work and Pensions.

Part of this department is Jobcentreplus, a place where companies can post job openings and jobseekers can look for work and get additional help and advice for finding a job.

Jobcentreplus used to have their own database of available jobs, and advertising a vacancy with there was absolutely free. The vacancies were, however, supposed to meet a particular standard.

Nowadays, things have changed and the Jocentreplus website just posts external links to the vacancies.

Now work with a partner and make a list of what rules you think Jobcentreplus used to have about vacancies posted on their system.

Your list

Jobcentreplus quality standards

- you must include a salary or salary range. Putting 'negotiable' or 'competitive rates of pay' is not allowed, but 'meets national minimum wage' and 'exceeds national minimum wage' are allowed

- a description of the ideal candidate must not be discriminatory. You cannot ask for male / female only applicants or say how old candidates should be. You are not even allowed to state how many years' experience a candidate must have. (Exceptions can be made for drivers [for insurance purposes] and people working with vulnerable groups [carers, nurses etc]).

- personality characteristics like, 'must have a good sense of humour' and adjectives like 'self-motivated / reliable / professional / enthusiastic' should not be used.

- a description of the job is required and should be unambiguous.

- a minumum number of hours must be stated. 0-hour jobs cannot be posted.

- if the job is 48 hours or more per week, a legal disclaimer about the working time directive must be included

- the register should be neutral and be descriptive. It should not ask personal questions to the reader, e.g. "Are you looking for a new opportunity in sales?"

- spelling and grammar must be accurate

Let's take a look at a vacancy posted on the Jobcentreplus site

Are you passionate about working in an environment where you feel like you are making a difference? Do you thrive in a fast-paced and challenging roles? We have an exciting opportunity working for a local authority as a Customer Service Advisor, starting in October 2026.

Tate are working with a local authority in their search for Customer Service Advisors on a full-time basis. As a Customer Service Advisor, you would be based at their Citizen Service Point, a busy area, where people across Bristol come who are in crisis and require urgent support, which can be related to homelessness, abuse, benefits etc.

This is an extremely busy and high-pressured service, where you would be on your feet for the majority of the day. Main responsibilities include

• Providing face-to-face support around 3-10 customers per day in person depending on the complexity of the request.

• Offering support and advice on challenging queries.

• Working efficiently alongside other departments to find the best resolution for the customer.

• Answering telephone calls.

• Administration support - working on complex databases and ensuring confidential information is accurate and up to date.

If you are looking for a challenging, but rewarding role, with excellent training and opportunities for long term career development, please apply today with your CV to be considered.

Tate is committed to promoting equal opportunities. To ensure that every candidate has the best experience with us, we encourage you to let us know if there are any adjustments we can make during the application or interview process.

Reaction and discussion

• How many of the old Jobcentreplus rules were broken in this ad?

• Based on the job description, does this sound like a good job?

• Brits usually talk about their salary either in terms of per annum or per hour. Older generations think about it in terms of the weekly salary. Is it the same in your country?

• A 3-month probationary period is fairly standard. Why do employers insist on this?

• What does 'committed to promoting equal opportunities' and 'adjustments' mean at the end of the ad?

• How similar / different are job ads in your country?

• What do you think of the idea of regulating what employers can / can't post in their job ads?

recruitment agencies

This job was posted by Tate, a recruitment agency. The actual end employer is a local authority (public sector).

For some, recruitment agencies are a blessing - companies don't need to waste their time and money looking for and vetting candidates, and jobseekers can sign up with one agency once and then be notified when a suitable position comes along.

For others, they are a huge pain in the neck - many companies complain about the quality of the candidates they receive, and jobseekers are offered unsuitable work (low-paid, temporary work).

• How popular are recruitment agencies in your country?

• Are they usually associated with particular industries?

• Do they have a positivie, negative or mixed reputation?

• Have you ever used a recruitment agency?

In recent times, a new category of recruitment agency has appeared - reverse recruiting.

What do you think this means?

What might a reverse recruiter do?

Reverse Recruiting

Reverse recruiting flips the traditional model. Normally a recruiter works for a company, filling its vacancies. A reverse recruiter works for you, the job seeker: they find roles, apply on your behalf, contact hiring managers and prepare you for interviews. You pay them, not the employer.

The idea existed earlier as executive career management, but it became a recognised consumer service around 2020 and grew sharply from 2024 onwards. The reason is arithmetic. The average job seeker now needs roughly 162 applications to land one offer, and only about 0.1% to 2% of cold online applications convert. More than half of US job seekers spend six months or more applying before they find work. By 2026 the practice had become mainstream enough for The Wall Street Journal to run the headline "Job Hunters Are So Desperate That They're Paying to Get Recruited."

Career Lander

Career Lander is one of the larger providers. It was founded in 2020 by Neil Bhatt under the name Resume Wizard 101 and rebranded as it expanded beyond CV writing. The company says it has helped more than 20,000 clients across over 80 industries.

The service is full-service rather than advisory. A dedicated reverse recruiter identifies suitable openings, writes a customised CV for each one, submits the applications, and networks with hiring managers and recruiters on the client's behalf. The package also covers LinkedIn development, career coaching, interview preparation and salary negotiation.

Cost

Career Lander sells three packages. Career Launch costs $1,500 a month and covers 100 applications, a CV rebuild and LinkedIn optimisation. The 90-Day Placement Accelerator costs $10,000 and runs the whole search for people targeting $100,000 or more, with a former recruiter as search manager. Executive Landing, at $15,000, adds leadership branding and salary negotiation, and guarantees five interviews within ninety days.

discussion

Are you surprised that it takes 162 applications to get one offer in the US? A similar problem is being reported in the UK. Does your country have this problem?

Do you know if your country has any reverse recruiting agencies? (hint: you do!)

Many of the agencies offer you a money-back guarantee if they don't find you a job within a certain amount of time. Does that make using such agencies a good investment?

"All middle-men (mediator) jobs are essentially useless and exploitative." To what extent do you agree or disagree?

notes