Quick Headhunter Question

Say you apply for a position listed on an online job board and get a response from a headhunter explaining that although you do not qualify for the job, you qualify for “several other jobs in the same area.” He then tells you to send him a list of other companies you have applied for so that he does not offer you positions at firms in which you already interviewed. What are the odds of this being true and what are the odds of the headhunter just trying to get leads for himself? Thanks

I’ve seen this scam posted on the board before. He’s not looking out for you.

Right - do not do this…

ive always been told to tell headhunters you are in the early stages of your search. if they are going to submit you for a job, they will tell you where it is and if you’ve been in at that firm/group than tell them not to submit you. when you start telling them where you’ve been in at they will use it to try and submit other candidates.

scam

Okay, that’s what I thought. Thanks everyone

in my case, the recruiter keeps saying that he doesnt have a job description for me but the company is interested in me. he has even got me on site interviews with the company. this is kind of strange.

does anyone know why headhunters are so secretive. I had to crack 2 jokes to get my boston guy to open up. weird. I find it more productive to get alum from your schools on your side and let them go to bat for you.

Because if they tell you where the position is you can go straight to the company and cut him out daj224 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > does anyone know why headhunters are so secretive. > I had to crack 2 jokes to get my boston guy to > open up. weird. I find it more productive to get > alum from your schools on your side and let them > go to bat for you.

KrukVT Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Because if they tell you where the position is you > can go straight to the company and cut him out > > thanks man

Many companies offer limited exclusivity to recruiter/candidate pairs. For example, if recruiter ABC presents you to firm XYZ, then if you take a job within 1 year of introduction, ABC gets the commission. ABC wants to know at which firms you’re already introduced, since he knows he can’t make hay with you at those firms. Reputable recruiters may do nearly all their work under exclusivity agreements, and they don’t have time to fool around with you if you might be wasting their time. This may lead to a recruiter quickly lobbing in your resume at every firm where he has an exclusivity agreement, even if the job fit isn’t good. Too much of that and the firm will drop him. But neither do I see this as a scam. If the recruiter has earned an agreement with firm (aka he’s on their preferred provider list), the company values his services and has had successful engagements with him in the past. Showing your resume to firms you haven’t contacted won’t lessen your likelihood of getting a job. If you separately find a position with the firm and ABC gets the commission, it’s no skin off your back. I don’t see how “telling them where you’ve been in at they will use it to try and submit other candidates” can actual work against you. Recruiters find out about jobs (a) from contacts at the firm, or (b) reading want ads. If it’s an unlisted position perhaps your information will give the recruiter a new lead at the firm, but you’ve already had your shot – if the company didn’t pick you up then you’ve lost nothing anyway. Of course you can turn this around and simply ask the recruiter where they have relationships, and then indicate which firms you’ve already been introduced to.

When I worked with recruiters, they always tell me the place I’m interviewing with before they submit my resume. In other cases, they’ll ask me if I’ve interviewed at such-and-such firm, and I’ll just respond with a yea or nay. In no case was I ever asked to “show my hand” in a manner of speaking, though the one thing I did find effective was naming a couple of the most famous shops I was interviewing with. I knew it was a safe tactic because (1) showing them that I was approached by the “brand name” firms increased my marketability, and (2) I already knew that these firms were being retained by another headhunter.

In my experience, recruiting firms are full of s***t. Take everything they say with a grain of salt. Just my 0.02.

Some companies have a policy of disqualifying candidates who are submitted by more than one recruiter because they don’t want the hassle of fighting with the two recruiters over which one gets paid for it. I have no idea if this is an issue in finance, but when I was a recruiter for contract IT jobs this was pretty common.