Job Block

So I've been job hunting for a while now and I gotta say; it's pretty shit. You go on the job websites and go through the listings, find the ones that apply to you and then send off your CV/Résumé. You could go through websites for each company and look that way, but a lot of the time the sites not up to date and they outsource their job hunt anyway.
Hopefully at this point in your career you're in touch with quite a few games industry peeps who can point you in the direction of jobs but more than likely they aren't all anteing up jobs on a daily basis (let’s be honest the economy is still shit, so there just aren't that many jobs), the only other option you have is to go through an Agency, you know them, Reed and Office angels for temp work, that sort of thing.
For the Games industry we have a wide choice of recruitment agencies that we can go to (and have to go to). I don't have a choice but to go to these companies if I actually want to find work, yet for the most part they are the ones stopping me from getting it.
Nine times out of ten when I apply for a job it goes to a Job Agency, they look at your CV/Résumé and they will only send the CV/Résumé on to the company in question if you are exactly what they're asking for. If you have every one of the qualifications, if you have all of the experience required and all of the skills that are written as 'being a plus'.
They do this because it makes them look bad if they send too many people, or if too many of the people they send don't get the job.
However this stops people like me who have worked in the industry for years as a tester with experience as a Senior from ever getting a Senior or Lead position. I have the relevant experience and skills to take a lead position, I've done it in two of my previous jobs for extended periods of time, but because none of my previous job titles have been 'Lead Tester' the agencies refuse to put me forward, not only that but they refuse to tell me who the company is so that I can put my own name forward in case I knock their applicant out of the running.
Yes it's good business practice for them but it makes it harder for other people to get jobs. It shrinks the pool of applicants down and the Company might not get exactly what they wanted because the Agency didn't send all the applications.

But we have no choice but to keep using them and keep being used by them.

It. Sucks.

Video-of-Ricky-Gervais-Defending-his-atheism-with-dignity-and-respect.

- James