I Need The Advice of Experienced Recruiters--QUICKLY!

Okay guys...here's my issue. I have a candidate interviewing for a Sr. Risk Analyst position at a good client of ours in NY. My candidate is in southern Cali but open to relo. During his first phone interview with HR he mentioned he would have to hold onto his house in California (because the housing market in southern Cali is so bad) but he did not explain why he would hold onto his house. The HR interviewer took it as a flag that he would take the first plane home if a position came up back in Southern California, which the company has had happen before. So, long story short, they shot him down but my candidate and I worked on a letter requesting to be considered for a second interview and explained his reasoning behing keeping the house.

It worked! We have a second interview with the hiring manager set up next week. My problem is...I just got some really sweet Sr. Risk Analyst positions in Maryland that pay better and my candidate would be great for the role! So what do I do??? Do I tell my candidate about these roles and get him excited about them but risk having him be less excited about the position in New York? Or do I not tell him about the jobs and risk having him shot down after the second interview with the bank in New York and the positions in Maryland could get filled in the meantime? HELP!!!

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by See_Jane_Recruit on March 13, 2009 at 12:15pm

Whew. Thanks for the advice everyone! I can't believe I quit smoking while in this career...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Cindy on March 13, 2009 at 12:51pm

If he's interested, better to send the candidate yourself than for him to find out about these opportunities on his own or through another recruiter. I have had clients find out that candidates were interviewing at multiple companies through me and get upset. I explain that it's my obligation to find the right people for all of my clients and that they have an advantage that the candidate is working through me because I can let them know exactly what's going on. If the candidate is likely to take another opportunity, I can search for someone else and save my client time.

I've seen other recruiters hold back opportunities from candidates only to get burned because they sent their resume themselves or from another recruiter.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on March 13, 2009 at 4:48pm

I'll try to offer advice without being too wordy here....

Until you have PLACED your candidate you need to send him out. If he is considering other options (and he is) they should be YOUR options.

If your client is open to seeing more candidates - they should be YOUR candidates.

So I'll go against most replies here and say this - you should be sending that candidate to every position that fits their criteria.

P.S. If you don't - someone else is going to - so then your candidate gets the job in MD through another agency and you'll find yourself feeling pretty bad.......(it has happened to me before.)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by See_Jane_Recruit on March 13, 2009 at 4:49pm

Hey guys. I feel I have made a good move. I did a really thorough interview prep with my candidate for this second interview in NY. We discussed the company (he did his research, thank God) and I gave him some background on his interviewer. We did a few sample interview questions to get his brain jogging and I critiqued him on what to stress in the interview and where to hold back. I pumped him up to get him excited and confident. Then I brought up this other opportunity in Maryland and, believe it or not, despite the money he's a little more interested in the position in NY! It's more in line with his career path. Ya never know what people are thinking unless you ask!

J Stedman: it's actually very common in my industry for people to relocate for jobs. The interviewer brought it up because she has been burned in the past by people who were great and excited for the position but then decided they didn't want to move when there was an offer on the table.

Sandra: good point about talking to my Manager, first. That was my first instinct but I held back because our model in our firm involves Client Side Recruiters and Candidate Side Recruiters, which creates competition on two levels. There is some crossover here but I do not deal directly with clients. Advice from anyone here would be very biased and I was going for more of an unbiased advice. Plus trying to get my manager to sit still for a minute is like trying to nail jello to the wall.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on March 13, 2009 at 4:57pm

Jane - (I'm assuming your name is Jane) this part of your reply makes me sad:

Plus trying to get my manager to sit still for a minute is like trying to nail jello to the wall.

Hearing about any manager who is too busy to sit down and talk about a send-out (several actually) bums me out. I fondly remember sitting in my bosses office with my notepad any time I was strategizing my next step. We would light up a couple of smokes and get to it! That is how I learned.

Every placement is unique. They're like snowflakes, really. You never know what sendout is going to be your placement until it reveals itself to you........

Sorry your boss is too busy to share in these things with you. I really mean that. Feel free to call me directly any time you might need some input.

260-347-1715

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Charles Haines on March 13, 2009 at 5:09pm

Maureen asked a really good question about who is paying you. Well, if these are contingency searches, no one yet because you're working at 100% risk. Granted the fee will come from a company, not your candidate, but if you client hasn't paid you a retainer then I would suggest that your loyalty be to yourself and you do what you need to do (ethically) to make a placement.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by See_Jane_Recruit on March 13, 2009 at 5:11pm

Jerry, I do not mean to be misleading about my boss. He's a super guy and has provided invaluable experience and knowledge to me and has afforded me a great opportunity to work here. I was more speaking to his personality. He kind of reminds me of Bugs Bunny. He's always popping up all over the place! He has a large group of Recruiters to manage AND he still actively recruits clients and candidates! Perhaps this speaks a little bit to the timidness in me...

Thank you for the offer to provide help and guidance! I really appreciate it. I am heading home to wrangle my two-year-old but I will give you a call next week!

Thanks, everyone! Have a good weekend!!!

Jerry Albright said:

Jane - (I'm assuming your name is Jane) this part of your reply makes me sad:

Plus trying to get my manager to sit still for a minute is like trying to nail jello to the wall.

Hearing about any manager who is too busy to sit down and talk about a send-out (several actually) bums me out. I fondly remember sitting in my bosses office with my notepad any time I was strategizing my next step. We would light up a couple of smokes and get to it! That is how I learned.

Every placement is unique. They're like snowflakes, really. You never know what sendout is going to be your placement until it reveals itself to you........

Sorry your boss is too busy to share in these things with you. I really mean that. Feel free to call me directly any time you might need some input.

260-347-1715

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by pam claughton on March 13, 2009 at 5:22pm

As usual, I totally agree with what Jerry wrote. By sending him to both clients, you are servicing both clients and the candidate by giving everyone options. If your candidate is pending with a client, unless it's at offer stage, you should keep that candidate interviewing. I don't really think it's fair to the candidate or second client to not tell them about each other, it's kind of like playing god and it can backfire, because if you don't introduce the candidate to that other client, someone else might! And, as you found out, you never know what they will like or not like until you ask them. Sounds like things will work out well hopefully!