I have always considered what I do (and how I do it) to be highly professional and one of the most valuable resources or services a company can have. A not insignificant part of my role encompasses the spread of goodwill and positive PR. The reasons are so obvious they hardly need to be stated. It’s good for me and it’s good for my client.

Yet our profession will never escape the comparison to used car salesmen as long as agencies encourage their people to get the interview at all costs (usually in order to gain points for some weekly or monthly prize); run MPCs every which way and with little or no regard for the candidate’s best interests; cold call making claims they cannot possibly substantiate when they are pushed for detail; use candidate references and ‘where have you interviewed – who did you talk to?’ purely as a source of more business; lie! Yes, unfortunately they do that, too. These fools, and yes they are fools, just never understand the power of honesty. In the end I try to console myself, as I shake my head in disbelief, with the thought that they simply make me look better. But in reality we all suffer as a result.

Worse still, having returned to the UK after many years in the business in the US, I have found more shoddy business occuring here than I ever encountered in the States. I wish it was ‘only’ bad practices, but sadly it goes beyond that. Too bad there is no body to which flagrant dishonesty and corruption could be reported, and lead to people being struck off.

Even with that option, given how difficult it is for doctors to remove their own, no doubt there would be the same closing of ranks in search and recruitment, too. It’s a pity, because right now the only thing that acts as a clean broom is a good recession. Unfortunately recessions impact many of the good, hardworking professionals as well, so let’s hope the subprime repercussions won’t be so severe after all.

Especially after what happened to SEAL Team 10.

We’ve had endless ethics discussion in this forum. Presenting opportunities truthfully to those of character who may find them a match cannot possibly be unethical. Non-competes can be dealt with, bought out, whatever, if parties agree. Competitors do not have any sort of hold on employees in an at-will status. It is when the parties involved do not disclose or lie about the opportunity and their ability to play ball that things go south. This is not exclusive to recruiters, and the vast majority of recruiters do not practice this way, for they know they would be sitting in the soup line.

Please…

It’s tiresome to repeat this, but I’ve never – not once, ever – in 30 years had a client inquire how I had sourced, recruited, or closed a candidate on their behalf. They’re either not curious, or they’d rather not know. You pick.

What my clients DO care about is whether anything we did to bring this star to the table will generate any blowback. Did we ask the candidate to violate a non-compete? Did we misrepresent the job, thereby creating unrealistic expectations that will contribute to quick turnover? Did we exaggerate the candidate’s skills, experience, values or credentials, thereby setting the new hire up for failure? And so on.

And therein, perhaps, lies the intersection of ‘ethics’ and the requirement to deliver.

One day, I hope to see a photograph of a SEAL team posing with the severed head of Osama Bin Laden. If I ever do, they last thing I’ll be asking myself is, ‘How did they do that?’

One thing I would like to add: You say, ‘Recruiters who use methods they know are deceitful or dishonest do no one a favor. They harm their employer’s reputation and sully their own.’ You didn’t mention that they also harm the reputation of recruiters in general. Sadly, recruiters are the used car salesmen of the professional services world in the opinion of many with whom I have spoken.