Why NOT Contingency Recruiting

I could explain how clients working with that model basically create a conflict of interest with their most important supplier(s) and that in this economy - with the numbers of candidates out there - they don’t need a third party introduction, they need help with the assessment and selection processes. But these remarks, however true, are not the reasons behind my choice not to act as a contingency recruiter. My rationale, which really reflects my professional credo, follows.

I don't want to be a recruiter who gives people false hopes. I don't want to have to explain why clients don't get back to candidates - or don't get back to us - but it's really because they have nothing to lose. I don't want to make placements just because I pressed the send button faster. I don't want to have to rely on Chutzpah, luck or willingness to compromise, because that's what contingency recruiting is all about. I want to use ingenuity, integrity and intelligence in my line of work, and I believe that these qualities, together with months of hard work, deserve compensation. I don't want to perform unpaid market surveys or due diligence for companies who have no real intention of recruiting. I don't want to have to compete with people who recruit for a hobby or with the hiring manager's sister-in-law. I want to be the resource companies use to get the best people, not a misaligned filter for employers. I want to make sure candidates get the attention and respect they deserve, and that means giving them honest feedback, especially if they just spent the past 6 months interviewing with everybody in the H.R department and the whole management team on three continents. I don't want to have to listen to improbable excuses about lack of chemistry or cultural fit when the candidate is simply not falling into the hiring manager's sweet spot. And if you are going to discriminate, and use selection criteria that have absolutely no pertinence to the job, just be aware that I am not going to wink back, and that I won't work with you.

I may lose some clients, but at least I’ll keep some dignity in the profession.