What Do Recruiters Do? - A Guide to Recruiting Ethics

What do recruiters do? It really all depends on the recruiter.

If you are reading this, there is a possibility that you first heard of me on a job-seekers advice forum. And as my online presence grows, I am quickly learning that recruiters are not well-received everywhere.

Recruiters go by a lot of different names:

• Headhunters
• Hiring managers
• Placement specialists
• Human resources generalists
• Interviewers
• Etc.

The list goes on. I make no apologies for it - I am a recruiter, and I am proud of it.

I have:

• Worked for a major placement agency in permanent placement.
• Worked in-house for companies with a primary focus on recruiting.
• Ran my own business and recruited a team of sales professionals.

The dictionary defines to recruit as "to enroll or obtain." But somehow, the general perceived idea of who and what a recruiter is seems to be entirely different.

I recently had an experience on the forums of Indeed.com in which several posters accused me of being "clueless" and disgusting. I was told essentially that recruiters are everything that is wrong with the job market, and that I was not welcome there (This of course represents the opinion of a sample of individual forum users, not indeed as a whole).

I can't be certain what type of recruiter these users thought I was, but I will freely admit that in my professional career I have seen several unscrupulous practices used by various recruiters. Unfortunately, the majority of illegitimate practices I saw were throughout my time spent working within a placement agency. (Hence why my stay there was short-lived) I want to share some of those with you, with hopes to set you up for a positive experience in your job search.

• Fake job ads.

Several placement agencies are known for employing this tactic. On the one hand, agencies will not freely divulge which company (client) they are representing. Should they do so and you go to their client directly, you are impeding their ability to do business. This is a conflict of interest, and as such there is nothing wrong with an agency keeping their client confidential.

Where the ethical challenge comes in is when recruiters take advantage of this policy and begin posting fake job ads. Since their client is always kept confidential, you have no way of verifying if a position is truly open or if this recruiter is simply trying to build his or her pipeline of potential candidates.

My best recommendation when working with an agency is to ask questions upfront, such as:

• Where is this client located?
• By when does the position need to be filled?
• How many candidates have you placed with this client before?
• Can you provide me with a job title and a detailed job description?

While this may seem a little like you are interviewing the recruiter, any inconsistency in his or her answer is a warning sign that there may in fact not be an opening at all.

It is unfair to present false hope to a job-seeker, and worse, to consume the one valuable resource many unemployed people have: time.

• Scams.

I want to dispel an important misconception. As described above, a placement agency keeping their client confidential is not a sign of being dishonest. However, attempting to acquire your personal information before you have even met the potential employer is.

I have heard of instances in which recruiters (particularly those out-of-state) ask for SSN numbers (SIN numbers in Canada), direct deposit information, etc. I have also heard of recruiters asking you to pay him or her upfront to find a job for you. (In most if not all cases, the client or hiring company should be paying the finders fee)

These are all obvious red flags. I recommend doing a search on the recruiting firm and meeting the recruiter in person before volunteering any personal information.

• Discrimination.

This point is especially an appeal to my international readers.

Although it may be customary in some countries to provide a recruiter with your date of birth, photo, ethnicity, religion, etc. on your CV, it is not customary in Canada, the United States, or most of the West. In fact, most recruiters will instantly discard your resume. Should they go ahead with interviewing you then elect not to offer you the position, you would have grounds to sue him or her for discrimination. You eliminated yourself from the interview process before it even began.

Having worked with an agency before, I can tell you firsthand that the greatest source of discrimination comes from the client or the potential employer. And unfortunately, you are not exempt from this type of discrimination even should you choose to apply directly to a company. (Discrimination exists everywhere) Clients would often tell me that they preferred a candidate of a certain gender, background, appearance, etc.

I do recognize that some positions do require specific skills, such as:

• Must be able to lift xx lbs.
• Must be able to clearly communicate in English.

Both those specific requirements differ greatly from "must be a male" and "must be born in America."

• Misleading job ads.

You have probably heard before that if it is too good to be true, it probably is.

I understand the mentality of the recruiter - the more people who apply, the more quality candidates I will get, the more positions I can fill, etc. So I am all for "dressing up" a job ad and making it sound appealing - but I am also a big fan of doing that in the context of transparency.

Should you interview with a company and the job details you are receiving sound highly inconsistent with what was advertised, ask about those inconsistencies right then and there. If a recruiter - whether in-house or through an agency - needs to lie to attract applicants, there is likely more to the story that you do not know.

Fortunately, we live in a day and age where information is exchanged worldwide at an unprecedented rate. Simply researching online credentials may be enough to capture a snapshot of the company's track record, but it should not be taken as complete truth. It is always a good idea to meet with a company and its recruitment team to form your own opinions.

The bottom line is simple. Most recruiters - whether with an agency, in-house, or hiring for their own business - have the best of intentions. They want to find the right candidate to fill the right position. But as with any industry, there will always be a handful of bad apples that create a negative impression.

If you are going to work with an agency, my suggestion would be to find a recruiter first - find him or her instead of allowing him or her to find you. Get to know a few recruiters, find one with whom you feel comfortable and can trust, then work together to find the right job for you. This is a good investment of your time. It is as simple as phoning a few agencies and asking if there is a recruiter available to meet with you today.

It would be my suggestion though not to paint all people who call themselves "recruiters" with the same brush. And should you ever meet up with me on a forum, remember that I - like many others - are only there to help.

Searching for headhunting or want to become a corporate headhunters, visit Recruitplus today