Um, no.  We are not pimps.  I do not sell people.  I do not even sell candidates.  

What I sell is my ability to identify and recruit appropriate Talent that is vital to the survival of my client companies.  I am a finder, and a seeker.  I search -- not for victims, but for people who may benefit from the information I provide about companies and careers, who are solutions to my client's key hiring needs.

I've heard madmen and sociopaths (and idiots) rave that recruiters are merely modern slave dealers.  This is incorrect.  If I were selling slaves, I would keep them in shackles (which is, of course, against my principles altogether).

Candidates are completely 'free agents' who have no obligation to me whatsoever.  I cannot make them do what I want.  I can only offer suggestions and ideas, encouragement and information.

I do not seek 'a feather in my cap'.  I only seek to provide opportunities to both client and candidate.  To the client, I provide a possible hiring solution for their acute need.  To the candidate, I provide a potential new career opportunity.

The term 'Headhunter' is not a term of scorn.  It is a word to find glory within, whilst relishing its implications and connotations.  We recruiters should not permit the slanders of the demented to annoy us, all the same.