Head hunting?

I am keen to inquire what other recruiters consider head hunting? One of my colleague's recently received an email from a client complaining that I had been calling their employees and headhunting them.

I haven't made any phone calls so the headhunt is completely unfounded but, I have attempted to connect with some of this company's employees via LinkedIn. I have also sent personal messages via LinkedIn to thank for the connection (once made) and not to hesitate to get in touch if they are after career advice.

I do message my connections when I struggle to find specific skill sets, nothing pushy, just to say I am actively working on roles and to get in touch if they would like to know more. (Interestingly enough we have just made a placement at the company that made this complaint through this approach.)

We are debating in our office how we should be connecting with people on LinkedIn, and when we do what sort of follow up should be made. As an agency we do not headhunt as we may be headhunting from one of our colleague's clients.

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Permalink Reply by Linda Ferrante on September 19, 2014 at 8:37am

That's an interesting question, since someone you contacted (or more than one) would have had to be talking about it in their office. Good and bad results, really! Good because at least they are talking about you but bad because they are talking about you (and not providing any referrals).

Whenever I contact a connection on LI, or send an Inmail, I always say, 'Someone with a background like yours' and not ask them specifically. If they are interested, they'll reach out (presumably), but perhaps they do have a great referral for us!

If it is a company we do or have done business with, then they are OFF LIMITS. For ethical reasons, I will NOT pull from a company we've done business with. I would even be hesitant to contact them for referrals if it's a similar position as to not cross messages, but they would definitely be off limits.

If you are respectful of your contacts, and present your message in the right way, the only person who is going to have a problem with it is the manager/owner who is fearful of the employees leaving, but perhaps that's his problem and not yours?

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Permalink Reply by Nicholas Meyler on September 20, 2014 at 7:06pm

I bet you did nothing wrong. Companies will sometimes complain when their employees are getting called by recruiters, simply because they fear losing valuable employees. Usually, it is only companies that are in trouble that would even worry about it, since normally, it doesn't matter and is extremely common.

"Headhunting" is any recruiting activity. There is nothing wrong with it. It is a term of praise. It is an accolade meaning the quest for the best and brightest minds in a particular industry or niche. Be proud to be called one.

Don't recruit out of clients! Number one rule of being a smart headhunter. Aside from that, you should feel free to contact anyone, anywhere that you think can help your search. Don't be afaid to do so. LinkedIn is a pretty good way to contact people, but so is having your own network you can call.

In any case, as long as you aren't recruiting people out of client companies, you are doing nothing wrong. Complaints are usually a stupid smoke-screen designed to discourage and embarrass the recruiter. If the complaints are outrageous enough (and they would have to be pretty outrageous), you have the right to file a criminal complaint against the person making the accusations. I've had a top attorney at a major company yell and scream at me to stop recruiting their engineers, etc., but I responded by asking him for his California Bar License number and told them that if I heard any more from him, I would be filing a criminal and ethical complaint against him with the Bar Association. In that case, it turned out that the loser was completely bluffing, and didn't even have a license to practise law in California. I had a big advantage because I had already interviewed several thousand attorneys previously, when I was placing Intellectual Property experts. He didn't know how much more I knew about the Law than he thought.

You have a right to recruit, contact candidates, and to earn a living. Don't let anyone try to take it away from you.

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Permalink Reply by Barbara Goldman on October 2, 2014 at 2:25pm

You can try this:

"Look outside, the limo is not waiting for your employees".

Or,

"How long have you been at ? Have you considered a career move?"

I love to have fun with those idiotic complaints.

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Permalink Reply by Sian Taylor on October 2, 2014 at 9:07pm

Thanks guys! The issue is resolved... not sure where the suggestion that I called people from but the interesting thing is that we now agree that connecting via linkedin is not a headhunt!

Barbara Goldman said:

You can try this:

"Look outside, the limo is not waiting for your employees".

Or,

"How long have you been at ? Have you considered a career move?"

I love to have fun with those idiotic complaints.