Newbie in an awkard position with 2 agents

[Eventar]

Hi,

I'm currently trying to get in to contracting and would greatly appreciate advice for my situation.

Agent A contacted me about a role, and I said I was happy to be put forward for it.

Agent B contacts me several days later about a similar sounding role at the same company. I said he can put me forward if he can confirm that the client doesn't already have an application from me from anyone else, to which he agreed before submission.
Agent B told me they were the preferred agency, and it was unlikely agent A's agency would be supplying the role. This was potentially true as agent B sent me a proper job spec document, whereas agent A sent me a few bullet points and a few sentences.

Agent B gets back to me before agent A with a phone interview, so I assumed agent A was messing me about or it was for a different role at the company.

Agent A contacts me a few days later saying he has been trying to schedule a phone interview and has found I have been represented by another agency.

So now I'm not sure what to do about this, as I didn't intend 2 applications for the same role to happen.

Agent B has by far been more on the ball for me, so I'd rather stick with him to represent me. However I am concerned agent A will cause trouble for me by claiming he is 'first', and wondering if he has any grounds for legal action against me or the client.

Appreciate any advice you can offer.

[NotAllThere]

Stick with your agency B. There's little agency A can do. Some people here will say that your CV will now be immediately binned by the client. It's a possibility, but in my view unlikely, especially if you're a good fit for the role and stand out from the crowd.

It happened to me once as a hiring manager. My criteria was whichever agency got the CV under my nose first. (In my case, agency "A" had sent the CV not to me, rather another manager who got cold called about any vacancies he knew about). Agency "A" then threatened the candidate. I got wind of this and called them and told them they were now on our most definitely unpreferred suppliers list.

[LondonManc]

Stick with Agency B and ask their advice on how to deal with Agency A. If they're both on the PSL for the same ClientCo, then there may be an issue. If Agency A isn't on the PSL then you're in the clear as they cannot offer you the same service as Agency B.

[northernladuk]

IMO you are on a wish and prayer here now. It's up to the agents now as to how much trouble they cause. I've been screwed over and lost an interview in exactly the same position so you just have to cross your fingers and hope. It'll be a bit of a bumpy ride though.

It is an extremely common question though and there are 100's of threads on the same topic. You might find more advice from these than a new thread on a topic we've done over and over...

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=tw...MqXP7QabgbW4Dw

[BrilloPad]

Did you agree anything by email or just by phone with either agency?

[sal]

Stick with Agency B and ask their advice on how to deal with Agency A. If they're both on the PSL for the same ClientCo, then there may be an issue. If Agency A isn't on the PSL then you're in the clear as they cannot offer you the same service as Agency B.

^This, the cat is out of the bag. the only think you can do is to pick a side (Agency B looks more professional) and let the 2 agents duke it out, hoping it's not going to annoy the Client. Either way welcome to the word of contracting, where agency greed is king.

[psychocandy]

Unlucky Agency A I'd say and crack on with B.... And hope Agency A don't kick off...

But as NAT said, if I was a hirer, I would not be happy if Agency A started causing a scene just because they lost out and tried to sabotage what could be a good fit for me.