ASK THE HEADHUNTER Why headhunters waste your time

[deanwebb]

Why headhunters waste your time

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Question May I ask for your advice? I'm a headhunter. What is the best thing to say to a candidate when they ask who is the client I'm representing? I don't want them going after the job on their own or using another headhunter. Thanks for your time. Nick’s Reply Nice to hear from a "headhunter," but I'm more concerned about what a candidate should do when you won't disclose your client. Why on earth would you not tell a candidate who your client is? Aren't you proud of the client? Unfortunately, I say that with tongue in cheek. I

Join us for discussion! https://www.asktheheadhunter.com/16215/headhunters-waste-time">Why headhunters waste your time

                              

Question

May I ask for your advice? I'm a headhunter. What is the best thing to say to a candidate when they ask who is the client I'm representing? I don't want them going after the job on their own or using another headhunter. Thanks for your time.

Nick’s Reply

https://www.asktheheadhunter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/waste-time-1.png" alt="headhunters waste time" width="300" height="200" />Nice to hear from a "headhunter," but I'm more concerned about what a candidate should do when you won't disclose your client. Why on earth would you not tell a candidate who your client is? Aren't you proud of the client?

Unfortunately, I say that with tongue in cheek. I know why you won't disclose who your client company is. You're afraid the candidate will take the information, contact the company directly about the job, cut you out of the loop, and cost you a placement fee.

Is this a headhunter or a “headhunter”?

But there's more to this that job candidates need to know, because this is part of how "headhunters" (I shudder to call them that) waste job candidates' time. I'm betting you're worried because you have no control over your client, and that's because you have no contract or written agreement with the company. (If you do have a written agreement but it's not exclusive, candidates face the same problem.) It's simply bad business when a company welcomes lots of "headhunters" to submit resumes of the same candidates indiscriminately and all at once. If the company hires a candidate submitted by 10 "headhunters" and makes a hire, one of the "headhunters" gets paid and the rest get diddley-bop.

Pardon me if I’ve got it wrong, but I think that's why you're worried. That's why you're a "headhunter" and not a headhunter. (Note to job seekers: Please read https://www.asktheheadhunter.com/theyre-not-headhunters">They’re not headhunters.)

The Employment System is Broken

This is also proof positive that the Employment System — how HR recruits and hires — is a sham, a scam, an irresponsible cluster-f@ck that doesn’t work for anyone but the database jockeys who build the software that props up this indefensible house of cards. Yes, I’m talking about Applicant Tracking Systems, LinkedIn and Indeed, the baddest HR consultancies and “recruitment automaters,” phony “A.I.”, phony algorithms that “view and judge” video interviews, and HR-we-do-it-all outsourcing rackets. These all contribute to indiscriminate, more-is-better and massively erroneous candidate selection, “review” and “processing.”

I'm sure readers are already laughing because they've had loads of their time wasted by headhunters! Now we're going to take a look at how this happens.

Job Candidates: How headhunters waste your time

https://www.asktheheadhunter.com/8430/how-to-work-with-headhunters">Most headhunters work on contingency. That is, they are paid only when the employer actually hires a job candidate the headhunter submitted for a job. There's nothing inherently wrong with this business model. It's very common and it can work well enough for the job seeker, the headhunter and the employer. But problems arise when the search is not assigned exclusively, but thrown like chum on the waters to create an insensate recruiter feeding frenzy.

A contingency search assignment should at minimum give you 30, 60 or 90 days to complete without competition or interference from other sources of candidates. You are the only headhunter authorized to submit job candidates for X days. That's what makes it exclusive. That's what makes it worth your time to do a good, thorough job. That's what makes you proud and happy to tell the candidate who your client is.

When https://www.vox.com/recode/22673353/unemployment-job-search-linkedin-indeed-algorithm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an employer solicits many resumes from many sources all at once, it’s practicing garbage in-garbage out recruiting. It wastes job candidates’ time and its own. When “headhunters” are forced to compete this way, they will submit anyone for any job, hoping to get lucky.

How does this waste a job candidate’s time? Because earnest job seekers go on interviews totally wrong for them while the “headhunter” is hoping to get lucky. The candidate’s time costs the “headhunter” nothing because the “headhunter” costs the employer nothing unless a hire is made.

Is this a