4 ms·

Headhunting is a strange field. 90% of the recruiters are less than garbage, while 10% are worth their weight in gold. The one comment I'll add is, like any c

Headhunting is a strange field. 90% of the recruiters are less than garbage, while 10% are worth their weight in gold. The one comment I'll add is, like any cold calling, it's a very tough job. At the very least, I try to be polite to everyone, because you never know how hard it is to be in their shoes. In addition, if they're remotely reputable, I'll give them names that fit their search. (In my field I tend to know who is looking) The key is to shut them down as soon as they start doing anything that smells of being unethical: - Asking for where else you are interviewing. - Asking for information not relevant to the position. - Not telling you which company the resume is getting sent to prior to their submission. - Pulling lines from Glengarry Glen Ross, Boiler Room, the Wolf of Wallstreet or similar. It is amazing that many of these folks can keep jobs, but I guess it's like being a gym membership salesperson. Only the best last.

Scuds 12y ago
> Glengarry Glen Ross I hadn't lived in Chicago for years, but I still get calls from the area from companies I've never submitted my resume to, and almost never in dribs and drabs, always several in a day. One disgruntled recruiter must have sold their entire database of resumes to a few other firms, and they put their respective B-teams on chewing through it. I mentioned an internship with Lotus Notes at the bottom of my resume, and I get calls: "Lotus Notes Administrator 8+ Years" spam spam spam spam spam
- mathattack 12y ago
  I get this too - I will get a few quiet months, then a couple calls at the same time. I attributed it to a network effect of a couple folks reaching through the same group of friends. Why would someone sell a list when you can get it for free on LinkedIn?
LanceH 12y ago
From the 90%: "Any interest in the below position, please contact me with updated resume. W2 Contract only. US Citizens, GC, or EADs ONLY! Pay rate depends on experience. Please don't reply to tell me you are not interested or asking the pay." I wonder how long you have to work there before they tell you your pay.
andrewjkerr 12y ago
> Asking for where else you are interviewing. Why exactly is this unethical? I've gotten that from pretty much every company I've interviewed with for internships.
- Scuds 12y ago
  You don't want to be submitted by two different recruiters for the same job. It's awkward for the job's HR and for everyone else involved, and could potentially invalidate your resume submission. But recruiting firms also use this mechanism to feel out their competition. Rec: "I have a position with AAA Airline you might be interested in." Me: :"Sorry I was already submitted to them via Firm B." Rec: "Oh, you should have gone with us instead. It's always amusing watching them try to work the AAA Airline jobs. Are you working with SoAndSo?" Me :"Yes..." Rec :"ha ha ha, best of luck to you guy"
  - andrewjkerr 12y ago
    Ah, ok that makes sense. I wasn't really thinking about it from a recruiting firm's standpoint, but, you're right, that could cause problems.
- mathattack 12y ago
  This is only an issue for headhunters, not corporate recruiters. It's well within the right of corporate recruiters to ask this.
frostmatthew 12y ago
> Asking for where else you are interviewing I think it's acceptable to ask where else you're interviewing, but not inquire as to how you got the interviews or what other recruiters you're working with. And I'm not sure it's fair to classify this as a dealbreaker. You can't blame them for trying and it's easy to bypass by simply saying "I'm sorry I'm not comfortable with sharing that information." If you're working with multiple recruiters and recruiter B tells you about an opportunity you're already pursuing through recruiter A you can then explain you're already pursuing it.
- mathattack 12y ago
  This is perfectly acceptable. Where it isn't acceptable is for them to say, "Just so I don't send your resume to the wrong place, where else are you interviewing?" This can be them trolling for new leads. The proper answer is, "How about you just let me know about companies first?" If they don't accept that, they're scamming.
  - markheadroom 12y ago
    I'm happy to share the list of the other places I'm considering with any recruiters who will also share their list of candidates they have under consideration. It's only fair.
mcwidget 12y ago
I'm an ex-recruiter. 13 years sober. - Asking for where else you are interviewing. This is important to a recruiter. If you are actively looking for work, it tells them how far down the road you are with other applications. If you're a good fit for the job they are asking about then this will push them to get things down as quickly as possible. They don't want you taking a different offer in the middle of the interviewing process. However, yes, this can also be fishing for leads. To me, it's acceptable to ask though. - Not telling you which company the resume is getting sent to prior to their submission. A recruiter is paid an "introduction fee". If they are not the one that introduces you to the client then they're not getting a fee. Imagine though, you're down to the last two at interview stage. You applied directly for the position and the other guy is through a recruiter. It's a very close decision for the job but taking the other guy would cost the client $8k. That may be enough to swing it in your favour and for the recruiter to lose out. When I was a recruiter, I can remember a time where I told somebody the client before submitting them and they got off the call then immediately went direct to the client for the above reason. For me, it's acceptable for the recruiter not to tell me the company if they tell me at least their size and market sector. They must tell me as soon as they have submitted my CV though. If I'm not happy, I'll cancel my application at that point.

Scuds 12y ago

> Glengarry Glen Ross I hadn't lived in Chicago for years, but I still get calls from the area from companies I've never submitted my resume to, and almost never in dribs and drabs, always several in a day. One disgruntled recruiter must have sold their entire database of resumes to a few other firms, and they put their respective B-teams on chewing through it. I mentioned an internship with Lotus Notes at the bottom of my resume, and I get calls: "Lotus Notes Administrator 8+ Years" spam spam spam spam spam

mathattack 12y ago
I get this too - I will get a few quiet months, then a couple calls at the same time. I attributed it to a network effect of a couple folks reaching through the same group of friends. Why would someone sell a list when you can get it for free on LinkedIn?

LanceH 12y ago

From the 90%: "Any interest in the below position, please contact me with updated resume. W2 Contract only. US Citizens, GC, or EADs ONLY! Pay rate depends on experience. Please don't reply to tell me you are not interested or asking the pay." I wonder how long you have to work there before they tell you your pay.

andrewjkerr 12y ago

> Asking for where else you are interviewing. Why exactly is this unethical? I've gotten that from pretty much every company I've interviewed with for internships.

Scuds 12y ago
You don't want to be submitted by two different recruiters for the same job. It's awkward for the job's HR and for everyone else involved, and could potentially invalidate your resume submission. But recruiting firms also use this mechanism to feel out their competition. Rec: "I have a position with AAA Airline you might be interested in." Me: :"Sorry I was already submitted to them via Firm B." Rec: "Oh, you should have gone with us instead. It's always amusing watching them try to work the AAA Airline jobs. Are you working with SoAndSo?" Me :"Yes..." Rec :"ha ha ha, best of luck to you guy"
- andrewjkerr 12y ago
  Ah, ok that makes sense. I wasn't really thinking about it from a recruiting firm's standpoint, but, you're right, that could cause problems.
mathattack 12y ago
This is only an issue for headhunters, not corporate recruiters. It's well within the right of corporate recruiters to ask this.

frostmatthew 12y ago

> Asking for where else you are interviewing I think it's acceptable to ask where else you're interviewing, but not inquire as to how you got the interviews or what other recruiters you're working with. And I'm not sure it's fair to classify this as a dealbreaker. You can't blame them for trying and it's easy to bypass by simply saying "I'm sorry I'm not comfortable with sharing that information." If you're working with multiple recruiters and recruiter B tells you about an opportunity you're already pursuing through recruiter A you can then explain you're already pursuing it.

mathattack 12y ago
This is perfectly acceptable. Where it isn't acceptable is for them to say, "Just so I don't send your resume to the wrong place, where else are you interviewing?" This can be them trolling for new leads. The proper answer is, "How about you just let me know about companies first?" If they don't accept that, they're scamming.
- markheadroom 12y ago
  I'm happy to share the list of the other places I'm considering with any recruiters who will also share their list of candidates they have under consideration. It's only fair.

mcwidget 12y ago

I'm an ex-recruiter. 13 years sober. - Asking for where else you are interviewing. This is important to a recruiter. If you are actively looking for work, it tells them how far down the road you are with other applications. If you're a good fit for the job they are asking about then this will push them to get things down as quickly as possible. They don't want you taking a different offer in the middle of the interviewing process. However, yes, this can also be fishing for leads. To me, it's acceptable to ask though. - Not telling you which company the resume is getting sent to prior to their submission. A recruiter is paid an "introduction fee". If they are not the one that introduces you to the client then they're not getting a fee. Imagine though, you're down to the last two at interview stage. You applied directly for the position and the other guy is through a recruiter. It's a very close decision for the job but taking the other guy would cost the client $8k. That may be enough to swing it in your favour and for the recruiter to lose out. When I was a recruiter, I can remember a time where I told somebody the client before submitting them and they got off the call then immediately went direct to the client for the above reason. For me, it's acceptable for the recruiter not to tell me the company if they tell me at least their size and market sector. They must tell me as soon as they have submitted my CV though. If I'm not happy, I'll cancel my application at that point.