When I first decided to move into management consulatncy, I approached recruitment consultants and most didnt even bother to reply to emails, etc...I applied directly and "walked" into a job with a company with high expectations...Every now and again I see an advertisment on this site and make the effort to respond...and dont even get a response...and that is for somone who works for a very well respected brand, 8 years industry experience and an MBA from a top ranked school!!If I conducted my working life in this way I'd be out on my a£se in no time-imagine not bothering to resond to a client email or worse still-to a potential revenue earner...what is wrong with these guys-are they inhrently lazy and have hence been attracted by the "earn £100k" sales jobs advertised in the Metro..

I bet recruiters don't act this way with the companies they are recruiting for. You are their product, not their client.

Believe me, from a recruiters' perspective, they are just as bad. I will regularly send a spec out for candidates, and either get nothing, or a load of dross back. Often the reformatted CVs they send forward are full of spelling and gramatical errors too.I've had lunch with one of them recently, who told me his prior job was as an estate agent. Quelle surprise !!

Hello, Since you are a recruiter, can I ask you a favour?Could I send you my resume for a critique? I would like to know what I could improve, so I could get better chances at interviews.Thank you for your time

Yes! This sums up my experience as well.. I have found the recruitment agencies to be absolutely appalling... how do these people still have jobs??

They still have jobs because idiots surround themselves with idiots to ensure they survive. The industry is full of them...

You'll have your chance to highlight the most professional and mark the cards of the most incompetent in just a couple of weeks' time. We'll be collecting readers votes for our 2006 recruitment channel survey starting mid-December and in this you're able to vote for both the best and the worst recruitment firms - and add commentary on why they're good or bad.This report is VERY widely read each year within the consulting industry, so if you've had great service or poor service, now you can share that experience with others and influence which recruitment firms consultancies choose to engage.Watch our newsletters later in December for details of how to take part...Tony (Top-Consultant.com)

You are very brave running such a review. The worst I have found are the ones advertising on this site! Hope it doesnt affect your brand too much. I would suggest that you form some sort of SLA with advertisers (or perhaps a code of good practice) which at minimum should be that the jobs actually exist and they are dirctly employed by companies looking. There should be an automated acknowlegement within 2 hours of receipt of a CV and a proper human respnse within 48 hours.

Could you drop me an email with some pointers as to which firms have not responded once you've submitted an application. This is behaviour that we would like to stamp out. My email is tony.restell@top-consultant.com. Thanks, Tony

Tony, your serious approach to this is highly appreciated. What about to create a specific mailbox for user feedback that could easily be used for your survey? Also, an interactive survey, categorization and usability assessment of recruiting offered would be interesting and user friendly. I am offering volunteering work, if interested. And, I am sure that other users will do the same. Just thinking about the intellectual capital of top-consultan:). This site proves itself as the most reliable source of information and services in consulting and, improvement actions would be definitely welcomed by your global audience and who knows it may triggers something else. In any case, looking forward for this survey. cheers

I used CMC a few times for financial consulting jobs, and found them very unprofessional. No feedback after interviews, calling me up to put me forward for jobs and then not sending the job spec, not returning phone calls. A very poor firm.

Hi TonyI have not had a very good response from Woodhurst, in fact I have not had ANY response from them despite severeal emails to the manageing director and applications for several roles. Not only incredibly rude, but also very unprofessional.