Lots of things they can't actually answer, because the truth is damning:
Q. Why do you insist on a 20-minute introductory call, rather than a 3-minute email thread (usually where you initiated the conversation), to give critical details like the name and acceptable rate/salary range of the client?
A. Because I'm hoping that a slick sales pitch will convince you that it's worth going through us rather than applying directly (a case I probably haven't actually made, though it shouldn't be hard at all to convince a busy person to let me do the legwork), and I want to ask invasive, irrelevant questions about your rate/salary ask like "is that in line with what you're currently making?" Also, I don't respect your time.
Q. Why do you need my references upfront, when the industry standard etiquette for decades has been to ask for them at the offer stage?
A. I don't, but I'm being pressured by my account manager to drum up new business leads, and quite frankly we don't care how much the exponential increase in exposure (due to multiple agencies calling references during each job search, sometimes before you even have an interview scheduled) will damage your relationships with these people you depend upon (making them reluctant to give you future references). We pitch these preemptive reference checks to you as setting you apart from other candidates, and to clients as setting us apart from other staffing firms, but neither is true when so many other firms have started doing the exact same thing over the last five years or so.
Q. Why don't you bother sending cover letters along with resumes?
A. LMAO because I think my write-up of you is better, even though you're the one who actually knows the technologies and how to speak to them.
Q. Why can't you send a real job description, or at least outline the technologies (again, before demanding a 20-minute phone conversation that could easily be a 3-minute email thread)?
A. Because my staffing firm and I see dollar signs, not a person. And again, as such, your time is irrelevant to me. Also: calls make me look busy, emails do not.
I could go on, but you get the gist. The staffing industry is broken for many stupid reasons, enough that I've long considered forming my own staffing firm out of spite, and to send a message of "See? It's not hard. You're making it hard."
Pay close attention to my second hypothetical answer. DO NOT EVER give your references to a staffing agency before the interview process has reached the offer stage. I've lost two really good references as a result of this, because they were being bombarded by account managers using the "reference check" as an excuse to pitch them on their staffing agency.
Your references should reasonably expect one call (maybe two at most) for every time you're looking for a job, not one regarding every other role you've been submitted for in a single job search. You depend on these people, so you need to shield them from overexposure and unscrupulous lead gen practices.
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Lots of things they can't actually answer, because the truth is damning:
Q. Why do you insist on a 20-minute introductory call, rather than a 3-minute email thread (usually where you initiated the conversation), to give critical details like the name and acceptable rate/salary range of the client?
A. Because I'm hoping that a slick sales pitch will convince you that it's worth going through us rather than applying directly (a case I probably haven't actually made, though it shouldn't be hard at all to convince a busy person to let me do the legwork), and I want to ask invasive, irrelevant questions about your rate/salary ask like "is that in line with what you're currently making?" Also, I don't respect your time.
Q. Why do you need my references upfront, when the industry standard etiquette for decades has been to ask for them at the offer stage?
A. I don't, but I'm being pressured by my account manager to drum up new business leads, and quite frankly we don't care how much the exponential increase in exposure (due to multiple agencies calling references during each job search, sometimes before you even have an interview scheduled) will damage your relationships with these people you depend upon (making them reluctant to give you future references). We pitch these preemptive reference checks to you as setting you apart from other candidates, and to clients as setting us apart from other staffing firms, but neither is true when so many other firms have started doing the exact same thing over the last five years or so.
Q. Why don't you bother sending cover letters along with resumes?
A. LMAO because I think my write-up of you is better, even though you're the one who actually knows the technologies and how to speak to them.
Q. Why can't you send a real job description, or at least outline the technologies (again, before demanding a 20-minute phone conversation that could easily be a 3-minute email thread)?
A. Because my staffing firm and I see dollar signs, not a person. And again, as such, your time is irrelevant to me. Also: calls make me look busy, emails do not.
I could go on, but you get the gist. The staffing industry is broken for many stupid reasons, enough that I've long considered forming my own staffing firm out of spite, and to send a message of "See? It's not hard. You're making it hard."
Pay close attention to my second hypothetical answer. DO NOT EVER give your references to a staffing agency before the interview process has reached the offer stage. I've lost two really good references as a result of this, because they were being bombarded by account managers using the "reference check" as an excuse to pitch them on their staffing agency.
Your references should reasonably expect one call (maybe two at most) for every time you're looking for a job, not one regarding every other role you've been submitted for in a single job search. You depend on these people, so you need to shield them from overexposure and unscrupulous lead gen practices.