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Permalink Reply by Tim Spagnola on January 7, 2014 at 8:34pm

Is this with a client? another firm? Who exactly are you disputing with?

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Permalink Reply by Lucy Guerra on January 7, 2014 at 9:52pm

This is with a Client.  I presented a candidate to them and they were not interested and did not get any feedback at the time. They hire a candidate through another employee who supposedly refer the candidate to them a couple of months after they original submission.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Spagnola on January 8, 2014 at 8:39am

Have you had any conversations with them to date about this issue? them=client?

Always dislike when these situations unfold this way.

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Permalink Reply by Linda Ferrante on January 14, 2014 at 12:38pm

In our agreement it states up front that if they hire one of our candidates within 12 months after our submittal (without going through proper channels) then we bill them 25% of the salary we submitted with the candidate.  Fortunately, I have never had this happen, but I think once we found out, we would have a conversation, then send an invoice.  

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on January 21, 2014 at 4:26pm

I disagree with the 12 months clause.  What if you recruit someone for your client and it turns out that 11 months ago some other agency sent their resume in?  Do you feel that the other agency should be paid?  

Back in the day, "we all" agreed that it was the agency who generated the interest that was entitled to the fee.  "But for my efforts...", etc.

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Permalink Reply by Linda Ferrante on January 22, 2014 at 10:31am

There has to be a specific time frame attached to a clause like that one, Jerry.  For legal purposes.  It covers the 'client' who wait out the 30 days, etc. to hire someone to avoid paying the fee.  I highly doubt that if I am not in contact with a candidate for that period that I would even know they got hired.  

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on January 22, 2014 at 10:50am

Thanks for the reply Linda.  

So then, regarding the scenario I described - what would you do if you submit a hot candidate who's resume had been sent in 11 months earlier?

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Permalink Reply by Linda Ferrante on January 22, 2014 at 10:57am

I would assume this would have come out somewhere in the process.  Talking with the client: why is this open, what happened with the last person, etc.  In talking with the candidate, if they had been submitted for our EXACT SAME CLIENT for the EXACT SAME position, then I should know about it!  Have you interviewed for a position like this before?  What was the outcome?  What have you been doing in the past 11 months?  

The info SHOULD come out in the process.  If it doesn't, by some weird coincidence, then so be it.  To be honest, if it comes up in conversation, I walk away from the candidate, and even sometimes the client.

I haven't had this situation in YEARS, not since I was recruiting for engineering positions, where skill set is king.

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on January 22, 2014 at 11:01am

It's a fairly frequent occurrence in our world.  Often times the candidate may not even be aware if there resume was simply "submitted" by another agency.  There are still quite a few recruiters who think they should keep their client name a secret until there is interest.  (I disagree with that - but that's another topic.)

So yes, it does happen.  I for one expect that if I do the work that generates the interest in the candidate, then I have absolutely earned the fee.  We do not included any sort of timeline in our agreement.

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