Only been put through by a female agent once

[Cenobite]

As things have turned out, most agents I've dealt with have been male but recently I applied for a contract and the agent was female. Then it struck me that this is the first time a female agent has ever put me through for a contract and it got me thinking. I don't intend this discussion to turn sexist and perhaps it should have gone in General.

Personally I'm pretty bad at chatting up women. Fortunately I get approached pretty often by attractive women. So much so, that other blokes don't know how I do it. But if I ever have to approach a women to chat her up, I know I've already failed because nothing's going to happen. They either like me and approach me or they don't.

However, if I get a face-to-face interview, and I'm interviewed by a woman, I always get the job. Perhaps this relates to another thread I started about telephone interviews. I must come across like a social reject in this post but up until late last year, I'd won every job I'd been interviewed for eight years and gone in on high rates.

Anyone else overcome this? I'm expecting some abuse!

[Cenobite]

Oh yeah, I'm not trying to chat up the agents.

[captainham]

Fortunately I get approached pretty often by attractive women. So much so, that other blokes don't know how I do it.

However, if I get a face-to-face interview, and I'm interviewed by a woman, I always get the job.

Yeah, should've gone in General where your ego could've got the abuse it definitely deserves.

I must come across like a social reject in this post

Surely not.

[Cenobite]

Yeah, should've gone in General where your ego could've got the abuse it definitely deserves.

They're just facts.

[Gym beast]

As things have turned out, most agents I've dealt with have been male but recently I applied for a contract and the agent was female. Then it struck me that this is the first time a female agent has ever put me through for a contract and it got me thinking. I don't intend this discussion to turn sexist and perhaps it should have gone in General.

Personally I'm pretty bad at chatting up women. Fortunately I get approached pretty often by attractive women. So much so, that other blokes don't know how I do it. But if I ever have to approach a women to chat her up, I know I've already failed because nothing's going to happen. They either like me and approach me or they don't.

However, if I get a face-to-face interview, and I'm interviewed by a woman, I always get the job. Perhaps this relates to another thread I started about telephone interviews. I must come across like a social reject in this post but up until late last year, I'd won every job I'd been interviewed for eight years and gone in on high rates.

Anyone else overcome this? I'm expecting some abuse!

No abuse intended. Now, if you don't want this conversation to turn sexist, you should have picked a "career" in HR, PR or whatever non-technical arena. Your situation stands the test of reason, the vast majority of people who work in IT are male, and therefore are much more apt to trust the competence of a man, not some bint, in hiring more of them. The facts are what they are, and no amount of this 'gender equality' poppycock is going to make the slightest dent in that. Oddly enough I am currently liaising to a female agent about a role, she has a plummy voice and is obviously well-educated, now frankly I still think the whole thing is probably hogwash, BUT she called at 9pm last time, so I get the feeling something could be afoot.


I salute your initial success with women, but really, would you WANT to pull some spiv-ette who sits there and dreams of one day mooching off a hard-working man the rest of his days while she sits at home spending your money on Lambrini and running up huge bills with ASOS? I think not. Put those dashing good looks to profit in cleaner playing fields.

[Zero Liability]

Recruitment, particularly in the contracting market (and also others like headhunting for senior roles), is very sales driven, and say what you like, men tend to be more competitive and out to close a sale. I find most recruiters I deal with are overwhelmingly male, whether it is in banking, finance or accountancy. Although people tend to assume any people-facing role will be something females are better at or more likely to consider, that isn't true. Even when I was fresh out of uni and applying for recruitment roles, again the agencies I was looking at tended to predominantly be staffed by young men on the recruitment side. It may just be the image that the agency wants to convey and what it thinks will work best with the people it wants to place.

That said, with the agency I am currently dealing, I was placed by a female, and when I have dealt with females from the agencies I usually deal with, they have been professional. I don't mind as I tend to have better rapport with male than female interviewers. It's a function of the expertise of the particular agency you're dealing with. I've seen quite a few with offices predominantly driven by female recruiters, but they do focus more on secretarial or PA roles.

[Cenobite]

Put those dashing good looks to profit in cleaner playing fields.

Haha, cheers!

I find that female agents always want to pin me down on rate. Then they get a bit "well that's a lot of money to be asking isn't it?"

I've wondered if this is evidence of the glass ceiling effect.

[Gym beast]

Haha, cheers!

I find that female agents always want to pin me down on rate. Then they get a bit "well that's a lot of money to be asking isn't it?"

I've wondered if this is evidence of the glass ceiling effect.

Female hypocrisy at its finest. Those same gals will be boasting over Stoli+Orange that Friday night about how much their boyfriends earn. But it's ok for YOU to take £120 poxy quid for a day's graft, because you serve a purpose. Just as their boyfriends do, in the other direction.

[northernladuk]

Yeah, should've gone in General where crap like this belongs

FTFY

[BjornMorg]

I've always had female agents