Recruiting as a profession has had a less than sterling image.  Especially third party recruiters. We have been likened to ambulance chasing lawyers and used car salesman.  We spend time compensating for this unflattering public perception.  What have recruiters done to deserve such a rap?  Have they eaten their young? 

Wow!  Besides bringing to mind a really disturbing visual – consider how short sighted the unscrupulous act of consuming one’s young really is.  While satisfying that nagging hunger for the moment, the result has definite long-term disadvantages.  Once the offspring are consumed, no one is left to huddle together when the night is cold.  No one is there to help fend off the enemy.  And when you become old and infirm, no one is there to care for you, if you’ve consumed your young.  Taking that kind of action can definitely burn some bridges.

Unscrupulous, short sighted acts?  Has our profession ever engaged in these?

Before the days of technology and internet research, name gathering was difficult.  In order to secure names, the ruse was widely practiced.  The ruse?  A practiced untruth designed to extract the name of a potential candidate or client from a shrewd and cunning gatekeeper.

Looking for an auditor?  Call into the Accounts Payable Department – because if they think you are paying a bill you owe them, you gain instant access.  Then once connected…  “Accounts Payable?  Oops – I think they transferred me to the wrong department.  I was looking for Auditing.  Who can I speak to in Auditing?  Can you transfer me?â€�

I still hear recruiters debate over the use of the ruse.  I am not an advocate.  Far from it.  Longevity in this business has everything to do with excellent reputation.  Entrance gained through this method is shaky at best.  If the ruse is uncovered, the recruiter’s credibility and reputation is blown.  The candidate willing to look at a career move is putting his/her future in my hands.  Where’s the trust if I lied to get into the door. 

How about the practice of recruiting out of existing clients?  There have been unscrupulous recruiters who directly approached and extracted candidates they had placed for a fee and place them once again for another fee.  There are those who have done it in the past – and those who still do it today.  Eating their young?  I think so.

My goal is to become an exceptional recruiter.  A trusted confidant – a supportive professional like  my CPA or my doctor.  The employment expert that people turn to when they are considering a career move or need to find a trusted staff member.  To be an exceptional recruiter, I need to adhere to ethical principles and long term relationships.  Those relationships evolve over the years and are begun by being concerned about my relationship.  It’s definitely not by eating my young.

It’s all well and good to talk about being an exceptional recruiter. Being ethical and doing the right thing.  Remember when you pick up the phone and call – the person answering the phone doesn’t know who you are.  They may be laboring under the old perception of what a headhunter does.

Me?  Eat my young?  Not me!

What do you do to prove that you don’t eat your young?