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Subject:Re: Agencies (clarification) From:doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Sun, 4 Jun 2006 16:34:48 -0700
On Sunday 04 June 2006 04:42, Jobs at ProSpring wrote:
> OTOH, ProSpring makes a point to tell the candidate who the client is
> (The client is XYZ, have you already sent them your resume?) --- no
> sense wasting everyone's time if we can't represent you if you or
> another agency already submitted you for the position.....
As a long-time contractor, I appreciate ths openess on the part of the
recruiting agency.
In recent years, this richer information sharing between recruiter and recruit
seems to be more normal, made possible without exposing the recruiter or
agency to predatory contractor practices, because the hiring company's HR has
partitioned all openings into either contract or staff positions. IOW, HR
doesn't handle contract opportunities, so a recruiter can tell me the company
name and I can learn or share more with the recruiter about the opportunity
with that information, but I can't go to their HR office and apply for the
contract. RARELY would a recruiter volunteer the name of the hiring manager,
but if I know the company I will ask who the hiring manager is, and the
recruiter will tell me (or say it isn't given in the description). The
recruiter will WANT to know if I know the manager--it can be a weighty factor
when the recruiter decides who to send for interviews..
Such is the security built into the recruiter-employer relationship, at least
that's the way I see and work it. There isn't actually any room for a
predator or free-rider contractor to benefit from the rich information except
within the relationship with the recruiter. Perhaps another recruiting agency
would be interested in it, but with preferred vendors and so forth, even that
risk is low and probably worth assuming in the interest of more
backfire-proof contracting decisions..
I may be too focused on contract work to have the big picture, but it seems to
me that:
o Contractors are not hired through the usual HR process.
o Staff positions and contract positions are not recruited through the same
agencies. Agencies tend to specialize. The gray area (contract to hire) is
in the domain of contract positions.
o Staff positions that are announced to the public are not recruited through
recruiters. I believe recruiters can attempt to fill publicly announced
positions, but my sense is that it is futile for them to spend the time.
Under these circumstances, there seems to be little risk of having a recruit
do an end run on the recruiter--recruiters still don't tell us the hiring
manager's name, and it doesn't affect contractor hiring if the contractor
already has a resume in with the HR epartment..
Locally, recruiters have told me (because I ask a lot of questions and pick
their brains to understand all of the factors I can influence in seeking
contract work) that when a candidate/resume is submitted by more than one
agency, the client throws them all out. The onus of keeping resumes and
candidates straight is shifted to the contractor, primarily.
Some hiring companies issue and then withdraw contractor requests, and then
reiussue them at a revised pay rate, or with different requirements, or even
with no modification. This practice makes it difficult to keep things
straight, especially if recruiters also revise the announcements before
emailing them to contractors. I assume that some recruiters do revise
descriptions, because I get similar-but-different ones a lot. I generally
avoid applying for opportunities with companies that issue/withdraw/re-issue
contractor requests, and recruiters who send abridged versions of a contract
description..
I do provide feedback to recruiters who contact me with opportunities of these
types, and I think it is a good practice--recruiters and contractors should
encourage each other to engage in any such dialogue. It establishes some of
the groundwork for cooperation and long-term productive contracting
relationships.
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