When you send out your CV, don't expect a reply

Nothing is more depressing than enthusiastically sending off your curriculum vitae and getting no response. But this seems to be a frequent occurrence in the City of London.

In a survey by the market research firm JSA, the CVs of three bankers - based on real people but with fictitious identities - were emailed to 50 recruitment firms in the City.

Just 25% of the firms sent a response within a week. Only a further 25% responded when a follow-up email was sent.

JSA said it conducted the research on behalf of an investment bank, sending the CVs to headhunters that it used in real life to see how they responded to applications.

Those that did reply used varied styles of communication, with rejections ranging from verbose explanations to brusque one-liners. Sometimes a hint of tetchiness crept in, perhaps understandably:

'I have just received this email 12 times in 20 minutes. You will hear from one of our consultants when they have had a chance to look at your details.'

One headhunter responded with commendable integrity that he could not help one job seeker, who pretended to be working for a bulge bracket firm, because he was working on several searches for the same bank and was therefore barred from helping its staff to leave.

Some replies were positive, with the recruitment firm saying it knew of a suitable positiom.

Others reflected the weak job market. Told in a follow-up email that sending a reply was a simple courtesy, one headhunter responded: 'It isn't a matter of courtesy, it's a matter of time and resources, particularly when we receive hundreds of similar CVs/requests every day.'

Firms identified by JSA as responding to CVs swiftly, and giving clear reasons for whether they wanted to take matters further or not, included Napier Scott, The Rose Partnership, Glenn Irvine and Sheffield Haworth.

But the survey did not answer the question that really matters - which recruitment firms will find someone a job?