Headhunters contacting new graduate

Parent Cafe
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<p>I was reading a CC thread, and the first response shocked me (link below); the poster said using a recruiter to get a job could render a new graduate “virtually unemployable” due to the recruiter flooding employers with your resume, thereby being entitled to
a huge commission from anybody who hires you. </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/1591947-how-important-first-job-out-college.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/1591947-how-important-first-job-out-college.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I was shocked because my son could be in this situation, having been contacted (via his new LinkedIn account) shortly before Christmas. I posted in the thread and got responses that basically stated that he’s screwed, but don’t worry be happy (at least that’s how it came across to me - sorry, I know you’re just trying to help, but in what universe is “virtually unemployable” not cause for worry?)</p>

<p>His school’s career center encourages them to get LinkedIn accounts, which he did, but apparently don’t warn them about what this may attract. I called their office, and got nowhere with the career counselor I talked to, who didn’t think this was an issue.</p>

<p>I also mentioned this to my college professor brother; I thought this may be a ‘thing’ they deal with at his school. He replied with his own ‘horror story’. Back when he was looking to make a move to further his career, he apparently gave his resume to a recruiter, but didn’t think anything of it, and went on about his job search independently. Bro landed a position at a small company two states away. A few months after starting the job, the recruiter had tracked him down and demanded a commission from his new company. And they paid it. But it was ugly. Really?? She had not even sent a resume there!</p>

<p>Son has nothing in writing between himself and her, and she has only mentioned one employer - a sought-after firm headquartered in our hometown. She has not mentioned sending his resume anywhere else - one way or the other. Mr. Stockholm Syndrome doesn’t want to give me her contact information, and can’t believe this could happen (“what’s a commission?”). I am at least trying to get him to ask her if she is retained by that specific company and tell her she’s not authorized to send it anywhere else, but I feel if she was doing that, it would have been done already. </p>

<p>I realize at this point I don’t have enough information but am trying to prep for the worst case and trying to understand how that case could be considered business as usual.</p>

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<p>I don’t understand the situation or why you would be calling anyone on his behalf. Yes a linkedin account is a good idea. No it doesn’t hurt you if anyone contacts you. That does not mean anything. Just cause they contact you doesn’t mean they are allowed to do anything on your behalf.</p>

<p>I suppose this is a contingency headhunter. I’d pick who I wanted to work with very carefully.</p>

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<p>I remember many years ago (in the 80’s) I got a call from a former co-worker who was asking me why I would apply for a job with her new company without going through her since she would get a referral bonus. It turns out a headhunter had sent in a resume to her company when I was not looking for a job and had never given the headhunter a resume (guess he had put it together himself). These types of things have always happened and will continue. I would not sweat it - have your son just keep working towards getting a job (which is the ultimate goal).</p>

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<p>I don’t really understand how this works… Why does the company have to pay a commission to someone they never agreed to pay a commission to?</p>

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<p>I get phone calls and emails from head hunters all the time, and I haven’t been looking for a job in over a year and am not a particularly desirable candidate-- great worker but I only have two years experience under my belt and have only just advanced out of entry level, the jobs they are calling me about are jobs I would likely not even get. I don’t think anything of it. I don’t see any reason why this would make your son unemployable and nobody is going to go demanding a commission, they contacted him…</p>

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<p>Lets take a deep breath here. Most companies use their in house recruiters now rather than paying a commission to outside recruiters. For entry level positions they would either recruit on campus or post on their company websites. There are some positions they would pay recruiters for and some they wouldn’t. </p>

<p>Just because you speak with a recruiter for a particular position, it doesn’t mean he/she could send your resume to every company. It certainly doesn’t mean the recruiter could demand a fee for any position you apply for on your own.</p>

<p>Our in house recruiter will search for potential candidates on Linkedin, then she would send me a list of candidates for me to look through. I would then check off on anyone who maybe of interest and she would contact them to see if they would be interested. So yes, it is good to have a linkedin acct, but it is unlikely a new graduate would be recruited without any experience. The market isn’t that hot yet.</p>

<p>A lot of company will not deal with recruiters not on their “approved list.”</p>

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<p>take the advice from your user name - don’t panic. Let’s explain things to you in the most basic of ways: </p>

<p>Companies hire employees via various channels
a. candidate applies directly
b. internal HR recruiter (works as an employee of said company) reaches out to candidate via LinkedIn or referral (usually from another employee at that company) about a potential job
c. company hires a “headhunter” (external recruiter) to find someone for a job they are hiring for and will pay them a commission (most of the times these recruiters will also reach out via LinkedIn).
d. “rouge headhunter” reaches out to a company with candidates and tries to place them within open roles at the company if successful they ask for a commission (these guys reach out to candidates also on LinkedIn). Most companies won’t even accept submissions from these guys. </p>

<p>In this day in age if you are not on LinkedIn you are an extremely unsophisticated job seeker. To the point that I wouldn’t hire someone without a robust profile and most of my hires have come from my company’s recruiters finding them on LinkedIn…</p>

<p>Nothing about your son being contacted by a recruiter could negatively impact him…even if it’s a recruiter from category “d” as most companies won’t even accept submissions from these guys. So chill…no need to panic :)</p>

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<p>Thank you all for your responses. This morning I finally thought to ask son the simple question: “How did this woman introduce herself?” I looked up his answer, and it’s the name of a presumably respectable recruiting firm. <<em>Sigh</em>… getting… a … grip…></p>

<p>Sorry for the Panic1; as you know, Job Search is an emotional time for many of us! But I feel a lot better now. My brother’s unexpected story really threw me for a loop. It happened 20 years ago or 20+, but still sounds very weird.</p>

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<p>I don’t know why they moved this to Parent Cafe; It’s not like I was asking for refrigerator recommendations. Oh well.</p>

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<p>A recruiter cannot send resume to a company without the applicant’s consent.
A recruiter usually asks the applicant whether he/she has sent the resume by himself/herself first. Otherwise many recruiters could send the same resume to the same employer and nobody can get credit. A reecruiter cannot charge an employer without a pre-written consent.</p>

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<p>Definitely not true. My resume has been sent by recruiters without my consent. The company called me and I didn’t know how they got my resume. They told me it was from a recruiter. I still don’t know how the recruiter got it, but I suspect someone who I was networking with gave it to them. I wasn’t in the job market anymore, but it definitely left an impression. This was about a dozen years ago. </p>

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<p>Many companies have long standing agreements with recruitment firms. They need the recruiters for the harder to fill jobs, but the agreements pertain to most jobs. Whoever gets the resume in first is entitled to the commission. The company’s dispute headhunter claims with proof that they already had the resume earlier.</p>

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<p>OriginalCCer, can you explain to me how the rogue headhunter works? The way I’m thinking about it, if I’m looking to hire someone, a rogue headhunter sends me a resume of a good candidate, I’d contact the candidate directly and tell the rogue headhunter to go away. I don’t see any way they could demand a commission. If they say that they’ll never send me a resume again it doesn’t actually matter since I was never willing to pay the commission anyway.</p>

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<p>ClassicRocker - Only a desperate recruiter sends the resume of an applicant that has been already sent by the applicant or by another recruiter. Two reasons:

  1. The recruiter will not receive any fee because the recruiter is not the first sender.
  2. The recruiter will lose the opportunity to send resumes of other applicants who may get hired and give him/her fees (because of reason 1 or because the applicant’s resume was rejected by the employer).</p>
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<p>But was the recruiter a recruiter who was retained by that company (and who might have had your resume in old files), or a “rogue” recruiter who had no relationship with the company and was cold-selling resumes?</p>

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<p>[Recruiters</a> sending resumes without asking for the candidate’s permission! - - Hiring - Employers - MACRO Specialist Recruitment](<a href=“http://www.macrorecruitment.com.au/index.php?category=3&section=40&article=78&PHPSESSID=ab7b0dd]Recruiters”>http://www.macrorecruitment.com.au/index.php?category=3&section=40&article=78&PHPSESSID=ab7b0dd)</p>

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<p>Also imagine this situation: The recruiter found your resume and sends it to your current employer without your knowledge.</p>

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<p>[What</a> You Should Know About Working with a Recruiter - Career Development Advice - Legal Technology Staffing](<a href=“http://legaltechnologystaffing.com/resources/candidate/career-development-advice/what-you-should-know-about-working-with-a-recruiter]What”>http://legaltechnologystaffing.com/resources/candidate/career-development-advice/what-you-should-know-about-working-with-a-recruiter)</p>

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<p>I’ve worked with recruiters – that, of course, we contracted out and sent on a search and agreed upfront that if they found us a candidate, we’d pay x%. I’ve never had a recruiter come out of nowhere and send me resumes. Has anyone on the hiring side ever had that happen? Is that unusual? My first inclination would be - I don’t know you, I don’t have any kind of contract with you to pay you x%, go away.</p>

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<p>As a hiring manager, I get recruiters email me all the time saying they have this or that candidate who would be great for an opening. However, they don’t blindly send resumes to me. We only work with recruiters we have contracts with normally. When they send us resumes, they remove all contact information so we couldn’t contact the person on our own. When I’ve worked with recruiters to find me a position, they have always asked my permission to send a resume to a particular company after we have discussed the opportunity. I work in IT where recruiters of all sorts are common.</p>

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<p>It was a rogue recruiter. </p>

<p>I expressed my concern and diplomatically let her know that I didn’t give my resume to ANY recruiters (based on the book I had read and reference in the other thread) and was unhappy about the privacy violation, though I appreciated her call and explained that I was happy in my present position but should that change in the future, I would apply to her company directly. </p>

<p>The HR person was unhappy with the recruiter and she apologized to me.</p>