Here's one that really boils my blood. You are contacted by a recruiter, they tell you about an opportunity they have available, sell you on all the sizzle points-nothing wrong with that, I get it. They ask if you can be submitted, you agree and then-they drop off the face of the face of the earth. No follow up. No e-mail, not return calls. The message sent was you were important for that moment, but now that there is no interest in moving forward, I am too busy to let you know or provide feedback. Another horrible experience happened to me personally, I was placed at a company where the recruiter made a very large fee. Things happen company closes down-when I e-mailed the recruiter and told them what happened after moving half way around the country-crickets!!!!!!! Not even sorry this happened. What a classless person. On the flip side There have been 3 solid recruiters in my life. One who is a very high level person at a national staffing firm that has always been there for me and literally changed my life twice. 2 Jr. level recruiters who I worked with RB and JF who were fantastic. What is the moral to the story. I have been doing this for a long time. Our business gets a black eye when it shouldn't because at the core of what we do, we help people. Those of you out there with recruiting ADD or only care about the $$$, you are hurting the rest of us that still think this is the best profession in the world. Remember your candidate is also your client.

posted July 1, 2009

I don't understand the term "ethical recruiting" either. Is it different from being ethical?

Too many people in too many professions have situational ethics these days. They can talk themselves into just about anything and explain why it was just ethical enough to pass. May I point your eyes to the financial industry for example.

Living by your ethics is hard. And sometimes rather than immediate cash, it has a different set of rewards. Too many practice situational ethics where they convince themselves that ethical is the same as not illegal. They don't call these people ethical...they call them schmucks. They come in every profession.

We live in a time where the universal "Do unto others" is not enough anymore. We have to start "doing better unto others than has been done to you." That's when ethics will mean something again.

posted July 1, 2009

True ethics is not saying your ethical but instead it's a behavior.
Kind of like someone saying "You can trust me"...most likely you cannot trust them.
Those recruiters that are only there to make a quick buck lack the maturity and understanding of the big picture.

posted July 1, 2009

It is practiced by many.....and it is ignored by many!! Ethics are a funny thing! I will share the best advice that I ever learned about ethics! I started as a recruiter in the industry in 1988. At the time, I went to company conference that featured a speech from the founder, a man, now very well known, by the name of Bob Half (Yes, Robert Half). His speech was on ethics.. and his advice.. Priceless! I quote it all of the time..."If you think that it is unethical, then it is".. And the point is great, because I have received so many questions through the years from employees asking me if X was ethical or Y was unethical. Frankly, almost by definition in their asking then it was indeed unethical for them! Try it and think about it!

posted July 1, 2009

Lee, I know you can find people in every business/occupation who will sell their soul for the next deal. (Wallstreet, Enron, Madoff) But there are probably 3 to 10 times that number of people who are ethical. All I have is my word. If I break that you won't do business with me again and will most likely tell all of your business associates to avoid me. But to answer your question, yes there are plenty of us who will do what is right and agreed upon every time.

If you have had that happen to you confront the recruiter/agency/owner. Then of course you have to decide is it worth legal action (another whole mess).

posted July 1, 2009

Very True but it totally depends on individual recruiters. I did see this happening when we had targets for recruitment team. When we outsourced the recruitment process. I noticed that there was no question of these recruiters being unethical since the RPO's are paid a usual monthly fee for the entire process and do not have targets. They team up to work with a recruitment co-ordinator and send out the best resumes for the relevant position. Since these guys don't have any targets, they churn out the best of the lot and send it over. They are not involved in P&L and hence prove to be very ethical.

Swaroop P. also suggests this expert on this topic:

• Karishma H.

posted July 1, 2009

I am curious, how people define "ethical recruitment practices"?

posted July 1, 2009

If you are a ethical person you are always an ethical person it comes from within. I have recruited for 23 years and put ethics and integrity before compensation always. Any one who does not have that committment to their self their families and the people they deal with should not be a recruiter. That is why there are so few who really have the passion to be successful in the business

posted July 1, 2009

Katherine, I wanted to comment on your story. I had a friend who was working a 'project' for a company. Toward the end of the project (the company was MOVING out of state) my friend called the recruiter . . . nothing. When his project ended, he called again . . . nothing. So, he filed for unemployment and as soon as he showed up on their unemployment, he got a phone call! Not, what's next, or sorry I didn't get back to you, but the recruiter had the nerve to ask him for the new contact info for the hiring managers in the new location! That was it, no other contact. As a recruiter, this just infuriates me. Ethics are extremely important to me. If I put my name on something, that is what you get. If my name means nothing, then I have nothing more to offer. Unfortuately, not everyone feels the same way.

posted July 1, 2009

Lee,

I think it depends on how those recruiters have been trained. The ones that have had it drilled into them that client relationships are paramount are the ones that are picking up and filling vacancies now - Fact! My own experiences of dealing with Rec 2 Rec's are pretty mixed, however there are a very small number of companies that have built a relationship with us when the going was good that are getting our vacancies as and when we're recruiting. More importantly, they don't waste our time with people that aren't suitable because they actually understand our culture and how we've had to change to take on this recession. I'm getting phone calls from companies who have notoriously been candidate focused through the good times and paid no attention to developing a relationship with our business; unfortunately its too little too late. Quality of service will always secure repeat business, regardless of the state of the economy.

posted July 2, 2009