Don't Burn Your Bridges With Recruiters

Blood-sucking leeches, parasites or sharks? Knights in shining armor, saviors or saints? These are just some of the printable ‘terms of endearment’ used to describe recruiting firms. Which would be the right set of phrases? Well that depends upon your past experiences and which recruiting firm you deal with.

But sometimes it also comes down to your own behavior too.

We all work in mysterious ways.

One minute you could be the apple of your recruiter’s eye, receiving weekly or even daily phone calls and emails. At other times you could feel that the sun has gone behind a menacing storm cloud and you are standing in the shadows with no umbrella.

That’s because a lot of recruitment firms work on a contingency basis. And as the recruiter will only get paid if they fill the job, that is the foundation for a ‘hot & cold’ relationship from the get-go.

Because they work on a contingency basis, they need volume. And because they have so many clients, they may not have time to develop a real relationship with any of them.

And because of these two factors, they certainly won’t have the time to develop a real understanding of a candidate, their career goals, and what would be the right fit and why.

All they do is churn out resumes until one fits the bill. It’s a numbers game. Throw enough mud at the wall and some will stick. Most times they don’t even bother to interview their candidates or even ask permission before they forward your resume to a client.

They also have been known to send candidates to a client for interview, only for the candidate to learn –to her cost – that the firm moved offices four years earlier.

If you submit a resume to this kind of organization be forewarned, they won’t be working in your best interests. They have no qualms about your privacy or fitting a square peg into a round hole as long as it pays.

In fact, I have known firms that actively approach candidates from firms where they place people, bringing new talent in the front door, only to be dragging better people out, through the back.

It’s a great way to generate new work - create demand by luring a firm’s better people away - but it’s one of the golden rules in recruiting; you NEVER, EVER recruit from your clients.

It’s a bit of an ‘urban legend’ in our office now, but one of my long-time clients told me of a time when a recruiter called him really excited.

“I have this great new candidate for you” he enthused, “I’ll send his resume over right away.” Sounds great, but when my client started to read the resume, the ‘candidate’ was presently working at his firm!
Suffice to say that my client hasn’t called that search firm since then, and we’ve done some good business with him over the last five years.

When you’re ready to look for the next career move, the recruitment firm that you choose to work with should meet certain criteria and should treat you in a certain way.

Nine tips to know if you’re working with the right recruiter:

1. They will always interview you before presenting you to a client. This way they get to know what you are looking for in terms of short term goals and long term career planning.

2. They will always ask your permission before presenting your resume. Hey, we don’t know who your boss knows and you wouldn’t want word of your desire to leave to leak would you?

3. They will coach you on what to expect from the interview, what questions you should be prepared for and what the firm’s culture and work environment is like. There should be no surprises when you walk into that interview.

4. You will always get the straight goods about what the position entails. That means they will let you know the mix of business at the firm, the size, the potential for advancement and future earning as well as the tasks you would be doing every day, warts ‘n’ all.

5. They will always provide you with prompt, detailed and honest feedback from a client after a presentation or interview. They won’t pull any punches. You need to know what worked during the interview and what didn’t so you can prepare yourself for the next one. You’ll get the straight goods.

6. Your recruiter will always return your calls even if they don’t have an opportunity for you. It’s a matter of respect.

7. They will never charge you a fee. Let me say that again in bold, they will never charge you a fee. There are companies out there who represent themselves as recruitment firms but in fact only provide resume counseling and job search techniques. Buyers beware.

8. They operate with integrity. They say what they’ll do, and they do what they say. End of story.

9. Most importantly you should have a trusted relationship with your recruiter. They know who you are, what you want and will provide insight and advice on how you can best get there. You are not just another cog in the wheel of fee generation. You’ll want them to do well and you’ll offer referrals to them from time to time as a way of saying ‘thank you’.

On the flip side there are certain things your recruiters will expect from you as a candidate.

When the Vikings landed on foreign shores, their King would give them a little incentive to fight well by burning their boat on the shore to show everyone on their team that there was no going back.

It’s today’s equivalent of ‘burning your bridges’, except we have wisely decided that this isn’t the best approach and we always should leave an employer on the best terms possible, as you just don’t know what tomorrow might bring.

In another part of my business, the M & A field, I put a lot of accounting firms together and it has already happened that a firm I recruited a candidate from was later acquired by my client. Thankfully he didn’t burn his bridges when left, and it was seen as a big plus by the acquired firm that “Jimmy” (not his real name) was coming “home”.

It never ceases to amaze me that candidates who are so concerned about not ‘burning bridges’ when they leave a firm, don’t really seem to be worried about doing the same to their recruiter.

Remember a good recruitment firm knows a lot of people. I mean a lot of people. At MFA Group we have relationships with over 10,000 people across Ontario, and even more than that in our database.

Not only do we decide who to present for any given position but quite often we get calls from these firms about potential candidates they are independently interviewing asking us what we think. And believe me, we tell them.

I write this article having just returned from Ottawa to do just that for a CA firm in our nation’s glorious capital. On this occasion, even though I could be doing myself out of a $20,000 to $25,000 fee, this person was a gem and I told my client to hire him.

That’s the type of relationship a CA firm should be looking for in their recruiter – always tell it straight no matter what the financial implications. That’s just good long term business sense.

As a candidate, your conduct becomes part of your reputation in the workplace, get it wrong and it could come back to bite you.

So let’s count down the 13 point hit list of how you should treat your recruiter:

1. Don’t apply for positions you really aren’t interested in, or qualified for.

2. Make a list of what is and isn’t working for you in your current job and use that list to determine if any specific opportunity could be right for you.

3. Update your resume with your most recent experience. Don’t embellish - be honest.

4. If you say “Money Isn’t everything” your actions have to backup your words. Remember that finding the right fit and having the opportunity to grow within a firm will bring you more money in the long run.

5. Be honest with your recruiter and with the client. If something is on your mind, spit it out.

6. Return your recruiter’s calls promptly. They probably have an update for you or something else important to discuss.

7. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Better to get the whole picture now before you go on an interview.

8. Do your research – check out the firm’s website for any updates, and ‘Google’ them.

9. Be prepared to answer questions about your resume. If there are gaps in employment or evidence of ‘job hopping’ have a genuine explanation.

10. Be open to going on interviews within office hours and in the evening or at weekends.

11. Have your references ready. Call your references to ensure that it is okay to have the recruiter contact them.

12. If you are presented with an offer and know you aren’t going to accept it, do the right thing and let everyone know. This way you won’t burn any bridges you might want to cross in the future.

13. Don’t use an offer in order to get more money out of your present employer. No one is going to reward you in the future for holding their feet to the fire now. In fact, you probably won’t be around long enough to enjoy your raise.

It’s really all about acting with integrity and expecting the same from the people you choose to partner with in your job search.

One final thing to keep in mind; if you’ve decided it’s time for a change and you go through the process either alone or with a recruiter, and you land an offer for a new position, when you have considered the offer and accepted, never go back on your word and always leave your present firm with grace and dignity.

5 Steps To Moving On:

1. Give ample notice. It’s tough to find good people, give your present firm as much notice as possible so they can get a head start on finding your replacement.

If this means delaying the start of a new job to see through some professional obligations at your old firm so be it. Your new employers will usually respect this and know that they have someone on-boarding soon who will ‘do the right thing’.

2. Never leave any job in public accounting between March and April if you can help it. If your role isn’t affected by tax season then ignore this point.

3. Never ‘Diss’ your present firm in an interview. Try to think of positive reasons why you’re ready to move on. Employers want to see you working towards a goal, not running away from a problem.

4. Your word is your bond. Keep it, sometimes it’s all we have. Your recruiter will probably ‘blacklist’ you if you do an about-turn on an offer or if you string them along only to decline an offer later that you had previously been making ‘all the right noises’ about.

You may have held up the process, prevented other decent candidates from getting the job or aggravated the potential employer, none of which you really want to do.

5. Think it over, for sure, but don’t take more than 48 hours. Getting an offer is great. Accepting is even better, if you’re not going to accept it, please let the recruiter know sooner rather than later.

“I need to talk it over with my spouse, cousin, mother, uncle etc…” is fine, but if after a week we still haven’t got an offer accepted, trust me, we’re moving onto the next candidate.

Follow these simple guidelines and not only will you get in front of the right people who have the right opportunities, but you can take comfort in the knowledge that you have made the best choice in working with a firm who will look after your best interests. In return you establish a strong reputation with a recruitment firm who will be instrumental in helping you to advance your career.

It’s a win-win situation for everyone.