Ok, this is not a micro, but i wanted to give some perspective on what im doing. mods can move this if its not in the right place (sorry)
I applied to a common traditional agency which i had never heard of till i started looking around a few months ago. We just say some of you can guess im sure, but im not going to say.
So, they have a dedicated portal for uploading your test submission. You upload five images in total. They ask you for a range of styles. This makes it a little tougher to decide how to test them.
I select five images, one of which i know will pass, and three i know may, and one i know wont.
I also note that one of the micros is owned by this company via emails back and forth during my submissions they have listed their company names at the footers.
Coming from the background i'm in, which is mostly working with journalists, i am not surprised by the results, and can make some obvious conclusions.
This agency likes the "handshake", models sell very well in photos, so having model releases and the like, having fresh models with big smiles is where advertising is at.
Again as with SS brighter, snappier images that pop are key, ala naturale seems to be left for editorial work.
I wasnt criticised for my work, but key points to my rejection were,
firstly they dont take editorial work, for which many of my photos show that style, but i know thats my style. you can see that here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drexxle/secondly, they didnt see any commercial value in my images. which is a fair description given the agency and the styles of work that seem to be most popular in general searches.
and lastly, just to have a digg, which i didnt think necessary, was they hit me with poor quality. I agree with the first two statements, but this is the just like a nail in that coffin. They were right on the money, respectful and just, then they through this one in. I had touched some images after SS would have passed but were underexposed.
So, all in all, fair, correct, and turn around of about 72 hours from submission to reply, and as with SS they give you another 30 days to reapply. Obviously i wont be, this is not my "style", so i know i wont fit in. If anyone can suggest a busy agency that takes the stuff in my flickr, then shoot me a PM, i have thousands of photos like that.
Cheers