Get a Real Job Mr. “Recruiter!"

So here’s the scenario:

 While we are traditionally a direct placement firm, we have a contract employee solution for firms seeking contract staffing. We have had a Work Comp Adjuster contract employee out on assignment with an insurance carrier, and this contract employee has been assigned a pending case load of claims for one of this carrier’s larger organizations. This organization for the carrier was looking to hire an adjuster to handle their claims internally.

The organization had this position posted to their website. A “recruiter” saw this adjuster job posting, then went onto LinkedIn and found a profile for a Work Comp Adjuster and presented/referred this profile to the organization for review. The organization actually knew the candidate who was presented by this “recruiter” because it was the contract employee handling their claims through the carrier as mentioned above.

Now the organization feels obligated to pay this “recruiter” a fee because he “referred” the candidate to them. Okay let’s stop right there. I had never heard of this “recruiter” beforehand, so I took to Google to do a little research. They call themselves an IT recruiter. They are located in CA. So….

First thing to take note is that this person is outside their area of expertise. They are not an insurance recruiter. They do not recruit claims. They recruit IT, or so they state.

Next thing to take note. This type of practice is precisely what gives the recruiting profession a bad name. The good, respectable recruiters are constantly battling this type of behavior. It is not acceptable to ambulance chase in our profession. Respectable recruiters don’t peruse employer websites looking for openings, then locate a profile on LinkedIn, and then send in that profile with never even telling the candidate. This is a completely unacceptable practice.

To make things even worse, the organization tells us that this “recruiter” was hard to reach, did very little to assist them when they did start the interview process, and the candidate even stated that the “recruiter” bullied and threatened them.

Get a real job Mr. “Recruiter,” there is no place in this profession for people like this.

Dear Hiring Manager/HR Professional,

This is not an acceptable practice. You do not owe this “recruiter” anything. First, you knew the candidate before this “recruiter” ever shared the LinkedIn profile with you. Second, the candidate didn’t even know their profile was being sent to you. Third, this “recruiter” had no business sending you this profile…period. Their tactics are despicable.

Scot Dickerson, CPC
President, Capstone Search