Recruiters posing as Fake consultants

[Sanghmitra Adhage]

Recently I heard that there are some consultants who will call a 'job seeking candidate' and will be interested in knowing about the companies that candidate has recently been interviewed. They insists on knowing the company names. There reason for this is that they want to avoid contacting companies again for the same candidate. But in reality its only for the consultants to know which companies are hiring.

Has anyone got such experience? How do you deal with it?

[Bear Bibeault]

You mean "recruiters"?

[Sanghmitra Adhage]

Yes, recruiting agencies...

[Deepak Bala]

Your title is misleading. Your allegation is that these recruiters want to know which companies are hiring. They are trying to mine you for information. If you do not want to provide this data, tell them it is confidential.

[Sanghmitra Adhage]

Hmm.. true, title is misleading... Its good not to tell them this information but was wondering if anyone else has got this experience

[Campbell Ritchie]

I ought to have told you to change the title, but since everybody seems to think it is misleading, I have taken the liberty of changing it myself. If you would prefer a different title, please click the "edit" button on your original posting.

[Sanghmitra Adhage]

Thanks Campbell :-)

I wasn't sure how to change it

[arulk pillai]

I have come across this as well and never reveal where else I am being interviewed with or my resumes sent to.

[Campbell Ritchie]

arulk pillai wrote: . . . never reveal where else I am being interviewed . . .

That strengthens the case for our prohibition against discussion of named companies.

[Henry Wong]

A recruiter asking you about who is hiring is only doing his/her job. It doesn't make them unethical.

They ask this all the time, even when you are not interviewing -- the ones that keep in contact, that is. Of course, if you are not interviewing, they don't phrase it as "where have you interviewed". It's phrase as "who else is hiring?".

Henry

[Sanghmitra Adhage]

If a recruiter wants to know who is interested in this candidate and for what position, then its fine to tell them about the positions applied. But if recruiter's only intention is to find out who is hiring then that is unethical indeed. More than that it is disappointing for candidates who are searching jobs.

[Edward Kin]

It is common and sometimes known as 'fleecing'. Recruitment consultants will phone up a contractor/freelancer and try and glean knowledge of large companies who are hiring. Then they'll put together some cv's on their books, contact the company and try and make a placement. Often this will happen with companies that the recruitment consultant wants to get new work with. Ideally as a preferred supplier.
Sometimes the recruitment consultant will call a contractor/freelancer and tell them that they have a great position but can't tell them as it's a hot contract, instead they ask the contractor/freelancer all the places that they've applied to/interviewed at in the last week/month, then they say that the hot contract was one of those on the list that the contractor/freelancer said. (That way they get to know all of the places currently hiring).
Recruitment is often a low salary with a high percentage on placements made... Often the environment is fairly cut throat with alot of pressure to place candidates... I guess ethics are a little shaky in such an environment. I tried it for a short time about ten years ago but find that I prefer the other side of the fence.

[arulk pillai]

I also noticed that the margin charged by some recruitment agencies can vary depending on how desperate you are and how well you negotiate. That is why I rely more on networking to find assignments where possible.

[Mark Herschberg]

arulk pillai wrote:I also noticed that the margin charged by some recruitment agencies can vary depending on how desperate you are and how well you negotiate. That is why I rely more on networking to find assignments where possible.

I haven't seen that. I have seen the rates change based on how desperate the recruiting agency is. Standard rate is 25% of the first year's base salary. In recessions it can drop to 20% and as low as 15%. Back in the late 90's some companies jacked it up to 30%.

--Mark