recruitment agencies: blacklist?

Question

Hi there,

Does anyone know of a "blacklist" maintained by recruitment agencies. Say, if I screwed up a job badly (nothing illegal) that my name gets flagged?

Thanks.

Answer 1

legally i don't think they can but i wouldn't be surprised if one manager calls a Friend who he knows and says don't employ this guy. its unfair but i bet it does happen in a small number of cases.

Answer 2

I was recruited on contract by a recruitment agency at a construction site. The site manager was an awful fellow and blasted people with foul language if he was simply in a bad mood. When he did it to me one morning for no reason at all I walked out. The recruitment agency phoned and said they'd blacklisted me. Registered with another agency unconnected with the old one and applied for a job and they said sorry but you're blacklisted. So, there you go, they do blacklist and they do share their blacklist, fact! It's always done verbally though so non-provable.

Answer 3

I worked for a recruitment agency and yes they do have software systems that can flag you as blacklisted. I don't think they can officially use the info on you but you know the way everyone knows someone in the same industry and the word can get out. I wouldn't let that stop me applying for a position though, especially if it's nothing illegal. You could restrict yourself unnecessarily and miss out on a good opportunity.

Answer 4

Like another answer said, maybe people in the same business have a verbal exchange about a difficult person. However, there is no common blacklist shared by agencies.

Answer 5

When you say screw up, what type of screw up?



I've never heard of such a thing, I temped for several years for several agencies & in my experience even within branches of the same company they barely communicate with one another let alone get together to blackball an individual. They're all competing with one another, even branches of the same company. A client may decide they don't want you back again, which is a completely different issue.



I've worked in jobs where I've been told about temps who behaved badly, I've also worked with temps who've behaved very badly, cheated on their timesheets & put in a poor all round performance, I know they went on to other jobs. Expectations of temps tend to be quite low because it's perceived they'll only be there temporarily, screw ups happen because nobody takes the time to train temps properly.

Answer 6

There is a Blacklist for Companies that do not match upto the Recruitment OR Consultancy Organizations.

Employees are also blacklisted by the Employers when they do not perform well

Answer 7

temp agencies have a tendancy not to have contact with other agencies as other agencies are competitors. i had to work with a fella who was also a temp and i know for a fact was turned away from other agencies (he has a severe drink problem, he drinks in the morning before going to work and always stinks of booze) he still managed to get taken on by the same agency as me so obviously they werent warned about him by other agencies they should have informed the Health and safety executive about him, but they didnt. not only that but hes also a complete incompetant moron! i've complained to my agency about him and to the HSE they still send him out to sites i'm on. so i guess there is no red flag procedure within temp agencies.

Answer 8

No, there is no such thing. That is why employers will check references prior to offering you a job. There would be no need for references if such a blacklist existed.

Answer 9

Yes - there is - there was a documentary on BBC I believe following a big investigation by the Guardian newspaper - The lists are held.