Bad Recruiting - What NOT to say to a Candidate

My buddy just called me up to complain about a recruiter who called him today about a job opportunity.

Apparently the recruiter had picked up his name on Monster and had called him to Inquire about his job search. He told the recruiter that while he was content to be where he was he was also open to new possibilities. The recruiter then proceeded to berate my friend about having his resume on Monster and not really looking for a job and wasting her time.

Say what??!!

This is an example of horrific recruiting and the recruiters who do this give the whole industry a black eye. My buddy is the kind of candidate that you want to nurture and lure out of his happy seat. Not only will he never work with this recruiter again, but he will probably avoid the agency altogether.

The recruiter who asks a candidate why the candidate is wasting her time needs to seriously assess her career in the recruiting industry and consider something perhaps less stressful and people oriented.

If you do not hold the best interest of your client and candidate as the guiding principle of your recruiting strategy, you are doing everyone, including yourself, a disservice.

< Previous Post

Comment by Phil Chernesky on March 3, 2009 at 10:06pm: I agree with you Gene, it could have been worse. The recruiter could have hung up on your friend. Needless to say, the recruiter should've been polite and maybe you friend could've passed on a good lead.

Comment by Dave Graziano on March 4, 2009 at 11:54am: I agree with you also Gene. That is terrible. As I said in my blog post "Recruit the way you would like to be recruited"

Comment by Pushpa Latha on March 19, 2009 at 11:01am: True... Being a recruiter need to do their job with complete responsible. Not to hurt the candidate whether he has been picked from job portal or database. Recruiter job is to check if he is available great !!! if not ask when he will be availble for new job, then he would be a prospectus candidate for the recruiter. He will refer this recruiter whomever he knows and looking for job.....