How can you avoid wasting your time with an unprofessional recruiter?

How can you avoid wasting your time with an unprofessional recruiter?

A recent college graduate has repeatedly run into such recruiters during his four-month job search. The 27-year-old May graduate from University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business in Indiana has encountered several so-called contingency recruiters who claim assignments they haven't landed yet or pressure him to lower his expectations. (Retained recruiters partly get paid in advance of filling posts while contingency recruiters, who often fill lower-level openings, earn a fee only if their prospects get hired.)

Amid hard times, "a lot of companies aren't going to recruiters to place people, so the recruiters are struggling," observes the Hoboken, N.J., resident. "These people are commission-based, and sometimes I get the impression that they're lying the minute they start talking to you."
Many career experts say you can calibrate recruiters' level of professionalism by asking them a host of questions, such as: Is this a contingency or retained search firm? Do you have this search exclusively? How long have you had the search? Whom are you dealing with at the client? Do you have a "spec" or position description? How did you get my name? How long have you been in the search business?

Recruiters sometimes display unprofessional behavior during their initial approach. Mark Jaffe, president of Minneapolis retained search firm Wyatt & Jaffe, says some recruiters fish for information before deciding whether an individual should be a candidate or a source of prospects. "That communicates a lack of professionalism to me," he adds.
Be wary of disclosing too much personal information until you obtain concrete information about the pending hunt, warns Gary Kaplan, president of Gary Kaplan & Associates, a retained search firm in Pasadena, Calif. A contingency firm "might not really have a job order. But if they collect enough resumes that match the parameters, they have a better chance of getting a placement and a fee."

It isn't just contingency firms that fail to exhibit professionalism, however. There's "a certain amount of arrogance" among retained firms, too, says Mr. Kaplan. "I hear all the time from individuals that they never get feedback from a retained search firm and are left to dangle in limbo. It's unconscionable and not good business sense."
Even if a recruiter lacks an appropriate opportunity, you can still figure out whether he or she has your best interests at heart. Steven P. Cohen, an executive coach who teaches negotiation skills in Pride's Crossing, Mass., suggests asking about a vacancy better suited to your background or for an introduction to a fellow recruiter more knowledgeable about your field. "It's a sign of good faith," he says.

But any time a recruiter's style makes you uncomfortable in any way, "it's best not to waste a lot of energy trying to figure out what's going on and just move on," advises Nancy Collamer, a career consultant in Old Greenwich, Conn. "It's just best to find a few recruiters you can establish long-term relationships with."

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