My clients ask me to "just send me a copy of the resume"

Ok my specialty in legal is Intellectual Property. When one of my former candidates called me she said my brother could really use your help, I thought yea if he is as good as his sister slam dunk.

Well his specialty is construction litigation. I did that when I first got into the legal industry. I did not want to disappoint his sister and he has a good background I decided to take him on.

Here is my problem I am doing my blind presentation and I am getting feedback but it is we are talking about hiring in the next________________ please send me a copy of his resume and we will talk about him when we look at hiring. I have sent a blind copy of his resume once and the candidate was fine with that and now I have two more firms who have said the same thing in regards to hiring.

I don't want to turn my nose up and possible ruin a chance for this candidate to get an interview but at the same time I don't want to just be sending resumes.

How would you word it so you don't come off sounding condescending to the Partner. One of the Partners who called me back is on the hiring committee.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Theresa

Comment by Kerry Kirwan on February 7, 2013 at 6:19pm: Hi Theresa

Often "send me a resume" to said to get rid of us. I have found the following useful when trying to keep control of my candidate's information, and I can then 'qualify' if there is the potential of business; or whether I'm wasting my time.

You could try ...

"As I'm intending to actively market this candidate and it is likely that he/she will not be available by (date they have given you) . Rather than potentially wasting your time by sending you his/her resume now, when you don't have an immediate vacancy, why don't I diary to contact you (suitable date before they say they will have a job available) and I can let you know whether he/she is still available, and I can then organise to send you their resume at that time.

In the meantime, I will keep a 'watching brief' for you. As a specialist legal recruiter, I potentially may be able to assist you with other candidate options nearer the time you are ready to recruit. I can keep a 'look out' for you.

(Close)

Is (date you said you would get back to them), a suitable day to contact you again? Thanks for your time, etc.

You could also try ...

"My candidate is sensitive about confidentiality, and I am obligated to discuss the specifics of any potential jobs with them, before I send out a resume. (might work well with lawyers!)

As you don't have an actual vacancy right now, why don't I diary to give you a call on (suitable date) to check in with you about the status of the future vacancy you mentioned, and we can assess at that time whether my candidate would be suitable. If you are moving ahead with recruitment, I can then get permission to send out their full resume.

(same ending)

In the meantime, I will keep a 'watching brief' for you. As a specialist legal recruiter, I potentially may be able to assist you with other candidate options nearer the time you are ready to recruit. I can keep a 'look out' for you.

(Close)

Is (date you said you would get back to them), a suitable day to contact you again? Thanks for your time, etc.

Comment by Jerry Albright on February 8, 2013 at 8:24am: I'll just go with Kerry's reply above - and underline the very simple fact: Them asking to send a resume for future hiring is really just their way of politely saying "no thanks" - which is nice and polite, but not what's really going on.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on February 8, 2013 at 6:06pm: Why not just send it, let your candidate know where it went then send it again in 30 days as a reminder if he is still available. What have you got to lose..control? Control of what? If you are working closely with your candidate and they call him he will tell you and you can send them a thank you note.