EmploymentDigest.net

Secretive Searching

Posted on 27. Sep, 2005 by Bill in Employment News

Secretive Searching

Recruiter calls at work create a new dilemma for targeted employees. Do you talk or not? Oh, to be among the wanted. That’s what many workers out there say when they hear friends or colleagues moaning that they don’t know what to do when a recruiter — or headhunter — calls them at work to tell them about an exciting new job.
But to be among the wanted: It can be a tricky balance of checking out an opportunity yet remaining loyal to an employer. And it’s particularly difficult when one is sitting at that employer’s desk, talking to a recruiter on the telephone. So sneaky. So underhanded.
So common and so necessary.

Recruiters often happen upon workers in one of three ways:

The workers are well-known or referred by other people, and they are very good at what they do. These people are in very senior positions or have specialized skills.
Others are found because they are incredibly active in their job searches, whether they are searching now or not. They are on job boards and databases, and because of that, they end up in recruiters’ files.
And others are found because they are very public. They serve as association officers or on boards, or they hold positions in the community. Therefore, recruiters or organizations know about them.
These people might get calls rather often from recruiters who are paid by companies to find good hires for open positions. The recruiters are essentially trying to make a sale. That’s great for a lot of people. But the question lingers: How do these people handle the sticky situation of being recruited while at work?
“The beauty of the recruiter-candidate relationship is its mutual benefit,” said Paul Villella of HireStrategy, a staffing firm in Reston, Va. “The recruiter can call your referral in confidence if you desire and therefore protect you, and they are always grateful for your assistance with their sourcing and the building of their network. Their gratitude will often show itself when they think of you first for the very best position that opens up and may be of interest to you, whether you are actively looking or not.”
But trying to deal with that relationship at work is no easy task. One reader recently wrote to me asking just what to do in such a situation. Headhunters often cold-call him at work, he said, looking to fill open positions or even asking him to pass along names of colleagues or friends who might fit a particular position.
“Declining their call is relatively easy, since I can just say that I don’t know anyone who is interested at this time,” he said. “However, sometimes they do dangle something that sounds like it might be interesting to hear, even though I am not actively looking right now.”
So how should someone like him handle this, particularly when one sits in a wide-open cubicle environment, as so many of us now do?
Villella said his recruiters know things have changed. The short answer for the recruited: Talk to them, but make it on your terms as much as possible. Villella said his recruiters are used to working around someone else’s schedule.
Most recruiters understand how the office has changed and will understand when an employee asks to call the recruiter back at a more convenient time.
“Indicating that it is not a good time to talk is not only appropriate, but it is often expected,” said Kathy Albarado of HR Concepts, a consulting firm in Herndon, Va. “They will expect to make themselves available to you after standard working hours.”
So take it from the experts. Most people who get called can put off the recruiter without, well, putting off the recruiter.

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Tags: Employment News