Working with Candidates that accepted Counter Offer?

I have a question for the group as certain managers are black listing consultants that accept counter offers after having committed to taking a new position.

Would you work with a candidate again that accepted your job verbally and then took a counter offer when their existing company came back with a great offer?
Would you work with a candidate again that signed an offer letter from you, then retracted to stay with their current company due to a counteroffer?

I ask this as certain managers want to have a black list of people that cannot work for us due to one of the above. What do you think?

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Permalink Reply by Slouch on April 5, 2011 at 12:17am

Hey John, that's a good comment. It reminded me of this post that Jerry Albright wrote about counter offers.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Monastra on April 5, 2011 at 8:26am

I like that comment, very well put. What do I need to tell you in the future....., that is not something I use but will certainly begin. I discuss with them when it does come up all of the non money related reasons why we started down this road but it does not always work.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Dimmick on April 5, 2011 at 11:06am

I would not work with that candidate again. In my experience, serious candidates (active and passive) make a mental shift when they begin to look for a new opportunity. They make the decision to leave and either your opportunity will snag them or someone else will have the right opportunity. To remain with the present employer is not really an option in the serious candidate's mind.

For me to again work with that candidate would require them to completely assure me that they are now "serious". So far (8 years as a recruiter and 25 as an HR professional), I have not had anyone be that convincing.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy McGarry on April 5, 2011 at 6:36pm

Interesting question - I just had this happen to me. I think every case is different - it's not black and white. I personally think it's better for the candidate to take the best role based on all factors, including money, upfront. It's a better scenario than quitting 2-3 months into a role. It's a tough call but if they haven't started yet, why would they change their entire career because they gave their acceptance to you when they have an even better opportunity to stay where they are? I also see the other side of it as well -why would you work with someone who doesn't show integrity? They might be the type to drop everything for their own best interests. It comes down to communication and finding out the motivation for the counter.