Every now and again the “recruiter” question rears its head …
“Can’t I just go around the recruiter and contact the company directly”?
My answer is ALWAYS the same … NO! Attempting to knock the recruiter out of the process is a bad idea. It’s always a bad idea. In fact, it’s always a very bad idea.
So, when Matt Bud, Chairman of the Financial Executives Networking Group, addressed this issue in a recent newsletter, I requested his permission to repost it in my blog. It’s worth reading.
<<This particular search firm posted with us on a regular basis. In this case, the posting included the name of their client. You see, they felt that the relationship they had with The FENG was so strong and their confidence in us so high that they could provide this information and not get hurt. Unfortunately, they were wrong.
Several of our members decided that they knew best and submitted their credentials directly to this search firm’s client. Not smart. Not only had they most likely eliminated any chance of their being considered for this relatively high paying job, but they had also embarrassed the search firm and burned a long standing relationship of trust that our organization has had with them.>>
It makes perfect sense to control your recruiter relationships, in fact, I advocate controlling with whom you work and to whom your resume can be released. But believing yourself to be clever in going around a recruiter who has shared a great opportunity might actually result in much more negative consequences than merely being eliminated from consideration for that particular opportunity.
Delivering a KO to the recruiter might actually be delivering one to yourself as well.