Recruiters… Ever had a Client backdoor you?

I’ve been sitting on this one for a while… just a little too nervous to let fly.

After all, some of my clients have admitted to reading this blog… and… to be quite honest… upsetting my clients = no business.

Anyway, imagine this if you will…

I make contact with a candidate who fits my client’s requirements to the letter – could not be more perfect!

So, I complete a thorough (but fair) interview. During the interview the candidate tells me that he interviewed with the hiring manager about a year ago – when the hiring manager was recruiting for a different role, at a different company… remember that… at a different company.

I call the HR Manager and tell him that I have this amazeballs candidate. I tell him that this candidate covers off every competency, skill, personality trait and experience level that they have been looking for. I tell the HR Manager the candidate’s name and ask them if they have interviewed, or received a direct application from my candidate… I’ve used the word candidate far too many times already… let’s start calling him Duane… So, the HR Manager tells me that he’s never heard of Duane. In turn, I tell the HR Manager that Duane met with the hiring manager… let’s call her Mata Hari… when she was working for her previous employer and would that be a problem? I received an emphatic… ‘No!’

I emailed the profile over immediately. I followed up twice over the next 24 hours, and again the following day. Finally, the HR Manager returned my call. (Let’s give him a name too… how about Louis Tully?).

‘Hi Craig. Louis Tully here, sorry I keep missing your call.’

‘Not a problem Louis. I just wanted to tee up an interview for Duane – with yourself and Mata – as soon as possible.’ I began confidently enough.

‘Ahhh… yes… about that…’ Here we go… ‘I spoke with Mata, and she said that she’s not prepared to accept an introduction from you in relation to Duane as he is already in her network…’

What!? I thought. ‘What?’ I said.

‘Yes, Mata tells me that she is already connected to Duane on Linked In, and if she had have known that Duane was interested in the role she would have contacted him directly.’

But, she didn’t… I thought. ‘But, she didn’t.’ I said, or implored, or screeched. Whatever it was, it was definitely an octave higher than my previous utterance.

‘Be that as it may,’ Be that as it may? Who says that? ‘Mata won’t accept the referral. Mata also said that Duane is probably not quite right for the role anyway, and won’t fit our culture…’

I don’t really remember much more of the conversation. Let’s just say that the culture must have changed, because 2 weeks later Duane was employed by Mata for the exact role I had represented him for…

So, what are my options? I could say that by accepting the profile binds you to our terms of business, which are clearly laid out in sub-section blah, blah, blah of our commercial arrangement. I could sack them as a client, and headhunt the hell out of them, or I could look at what this business spent with me over the past couple of years and let this one slide…

I’m not going to tell you what I did, I want you to tell me what you’d do… comments below please!

Craig Watson