Recruiter Expectations

I've recently had the experience of sending in my resume to a recruiter and upon follow up learned that the position has not been available for quite some time. There probably isn't anything I can do about it, but I was thinking, many consumer products have website reviews, why shouldn't recruiters?

Is there a website where we can document or at least discuss the habits of certain recruiters?

If not, maybe we can start one here? I would think that both good reviews and bad would come out.

There are several forums here regarding recruiters.

The job probably never did exist. Recruiters cut and paste ads from corporations, gets in applicants, then tout them the recruiter and hope the corporation will want and take that applicant (giving the recruiter a commission). Many times companies place their ad directly with the recruiter too.

A recruiter is a lot like a salesman. He works for the company he is trying to sell an applicant to. A recruiter is the salesman. The applicant is the product.

A good recruiter makes the applicant believe the recruiter's interest is in the applicant and he is working on behalf of the applicant. That isn't so. A recruiter is working on behalf of the company he is trying to sell you to.

In my opinion, recruiters fall into the used car salesman / lawyer catagory. The will take full advantage of you and jerk you around.

JoKu in New York, New York said: I've recently had the experience of sending in my resume to a recruiter and upon follow up learned that the position has not been available for quite some time. There probably isn't anything I can do about it, but I was thinking, many consumer products have website reviews, why shouldn't recruiters?

Is there a website where we can document or at least discuss the habits of certain recruiters?

If not, maybe we can start one here? I would think that both good reviews and bad would come out.

just another perspective- Ads run for periods of time. The position gets filled and the ad does not always come down. Unfortunately a lot of people forget to pull that information off the web, out of the paper, ect...This is not just something recruiters do. This is way more common with corporations.

Mary inTampa in Tampa, Florida said:
A recruiter is a lot like a salesman. He works for the company he is trying to sell an applicant to. A recruiter is the salesman. The applicant is the product.

True for the most part..

Mary inTampa in Tampa, Florida said:
A good recruiter makes the applicant believe the recruiter's interest is in the applicant and he is working on behalf of the applicant. That isn't so. A recruiter is working on behalf of the company he is trying to sell you to.

This statement is open for debate. A good recruiter should only be recruiting candidates that they can place. Place with companies that they already have relationships with or know that they can leverage a contact of a company that they want to do business with. A good recruiter should be working for both the company and the candidate. Now, on the other hand when you have an existing client who has made a very specific request the candidate will feel as if they are just a product being sold off the shelf someplace. Again the good recruiter shouldn't have just brought that candidate in for that one shot deal. Keeping options open and getting as many irons in the fire for a candidate is the best practices that will make them more successful.

Remember you can have jobs all day but with out the right candidates that doesn't matter at all.

Staffing Guru in Somewhere out there, California said: just another perspective- Ads run for periods of time. The position gets filled and the ad does not always come down. Unfortunately a lot of people forget to pull that information off the web, out of the paper, ect...This is not just something recruiters do. This is way more common with corporations.

Good point, however this was on the recruiter's website, something they should have 100% control over. All the more reason to think that it was intentional and deceptive and a waste of many people's time.

Expect nothing from recruiters, they post fake jobs just to boost their own DBs(databases) for contacts and commission. I still cannot fathom how they make a living scamming people and spinning so much B.S they can open a fertilizer plant.

Hunt for the job on your own, recruiters will waste your time. Many are unprofessional and don't respond to calls and/or emails.

Indeed.com is the only truth about recruiters and I believe rip-off report.com also has some reviews of certain staffing firms.

cindy recruiter in Fullerton, California said: I think that it is unfortunate that recruiters project this image. I have been a recuiter for 3 years now, and have never never posted an opening that did not exist. Nor do I take recruiting someone from their current job lightly. I am asking someone to make a life altering decision..... I want it to be a positive experience for all parties concerned. I am not interested in "overcoming objections" or trying to pursuade someone who is happy where they are to make a change, and neither are my clients. Shame on those who do function in such an unethical capacity.

Hmm, what a shock...

Displaced Legal Professional in Denver, Colorado said: Perhaps high-level headhunters who recruit for six-figure CEO jobs are honest and professional. They would have to be. Their "heads" and clients wouldn't put up with anything less than that. But the individuals who recruit for ordinary worker bee positions disgust me.

These individuals post fake ads for various reasons, primarily to haul you in to their offices to up body count and/or pad inventory. (In case anyone doubts they post false ads, say so. I'll be pleased to post a Kelly Services headhunter who admits he does.) They lie to candidates. They renege on promises. They are rude. They treat candidates high handedly.

I had never dealt with agencies until I joined the legal industry. I answered an agency's ad. The ad was for a fee-paid position. The headhunter brought me in and interviewed me. At the end of the interview, she pushed a piece of paper at me. This piece of paper was an adhesion contract which would have bound me for her fee were her employer-client to fire me. She stated I had to sign this adhesion contract or her agency would not pitch me to her client. I walked out.

Afterwards, I spoke with the agency's president. She told me rather tartly her interests lie with her employer-clients. Her attitude clearly impressed me she could have cared less about candidates.

I've had other experiences with headhunters. So has my wife. Between the two of us, I know that dealing with these individuals is a waste of effort and one should never, ever deal with them.

It is Sunday, so an amen is in order to that one...