Integrity in Recruiting

I was screening an IT candidate the other night for a developer position with one of our Dallas IT clients and noticed that the resume he had emailed stated that he was a BA on his last 3 positions.  I told him thanks for his resume, but my client needed a developer.  He said he was a developer and I asked why his resume stated he was a BA.  He said that the last Dallas IT Consulting/Recruiting firm he had spoken with had “tweaked” his resume to match a requirement one of their clients had open.  To me this is just plain wrong.  For one thing, a Recruiting firm should never try to squeeze someone into a position they are not a fit for just to make a buck.

Years ago I interviewed for an account manager position with this same Dallas recruiting firm.  I a way I am glad that at that time they chose not to extend an offer to me and I would work for them now that I know that they engage in these types of unethical practices.  Even if this recruiting firm does not necessarily condone these practices, if someone working at the firm that chose to engage in unethical practices, it tarnishes the image of the entire firm.

I had a similar situation happen with a company that I worked for out of New York.  I managed the Dallas office of this company and had recruiters supporting me out of New York and New Jersey offices.  I had a situation where the recruiters just were not finding candidates with the right skills my clients were looking for.  They were submitting plenty of candidates, but none were a fit.  One recruiter promised me that her candidate had all the experience my Dallas client was looking for although his resume did not reflect the experience.  I told her that, if the candidate had the experience with certain programming tools my client was looking for, to have the candidate expound in the body of the resume how he had used the tools and then I would submit them. 

Without my knowledge, this recruiter changed the candidates resume to match the requirement (without the candidate’s knowledge, consent, or permission) and sent it back to me.  I submitted the resume to my client and he immediately requested an interview with the candidate based on what he saw in the resume.  I scheduled the interview and after the interview the manager called to ask why we had changed the candidate’s resume without their knowledge.  I told him that we never touch candidate resumes (so I thought).  He told me the candidate said he did not have the experience mentioned in the resume and that the recruiter must have added it.

Once I found out what had happened I called the candidate immediately to confirm that he had not updated his own resume and then I called the president of our company to discuss the problem.  The recruiter told him that she had corroborated with the candidate on what to change on his resume (which he denied) and the president believed her.  He told me to get the candidate another interview – WHAT?

I was so embarrassed that this situation had wasted my clients’ time.  IT managers are too busy to have their time wasted interviewing candidates that are not a fit.  As recruiters, we must commit to excellence and consistently raising our standards when it comes to working with our clients.  We must operate with integrity at all times.  We must exhibit INTEGRITY in RECRUITING.

Mike Hanes

ProVisionTech

Many IT Consulting/IT Recruiting firms seem to lack an understanding on what it means to partner with their clients’ in a long-term relationship.  It seems that some firms are just concerned with billable hours and one-off placement fees than actually serving their clients true needs.  A case in point was a situation I encountered at one such firm in which I was employed.  I was the Director of the Dallas branch of a New York IT Consulting firm and was account manager of a financial client where we had placed a programmer.  This programmer was not working out well and the client was thinking of replacing him, however, the president of the New York IT consulting firm I was with was determined to keep this programmer there for the 90 day guarantee period just so they could earn their fee.  I actually called the programmer and asked if he knew that the client was thinking of letting him go and told him that he really needed to “step up” his learning process and come up to speed or we would have to replace him.  The candidate did better for a short period of time.  At around 95 days after he was hired, the client IT Development Manager called to say that the candidate was not working out and could we find a replacement.  I spoke with the president of our firm and he said “no way, they have to pay us”.  I was very uncomfortable with this approach, but really had no say in the final decision.  Although I had asked if we could not be flexible on the 90 day guarantee period, he proceeded, in no uncertain terms, to tell me what he wanted me to tell the manager – to pay us immediately.  The client paid us all right, and then put us on their “blacklist”.

As a technical account manager/recruiter, do you truly partner with your clients?  As a 13 year veteran of Dallas IT Operations and Technical Consulting/Recruiting, I really do desire to partner with my clients in a long-term relationship that adds value. That is why I considered it a “blessing in disguise” when that particular company I was with decided to to close the Dallas office I operated.  I launched my own company, ProVisionTech, and now am able to operate my own company with what I feel are sound and honest business practices.   

For more information on our company, ProVisionTech, go to www.provisiontechgroup.com

Sincerely,

Mike Hanes

ProVisionTech

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