Recruitment etiquette

[anxious_ant]

Hypothetical scenario:

A recruitment consultant has been contacting John for months asking if he is interested in looking at job opportunities.
After a few time John agrees, if a role fitting a provided set of criteria emerges.
A suitable role emerged ad John was introduced by said consultant.
Interviews went well, offer was made. It was a lengthy interview process, 3 stages with a final interview with CEO and CTO.
John went back to his current employer with the news and after discussions secured a better package.
John apologises to consultant, mentioned that he would not be accepting the offer.
Consultant not happy for time wasting and mentioned that John cost him his reputation.
He also loosely threatened to pass negative feedback to other potential employers

Is John in the wrong here?

[anxious_ant]

Many thanks for the insights.

Must say John hasn't dealt with many recruitment consultants and such an experience is quite unnerving.

[anxious_ant]

I've only had experience with handful of recruiters in the past and can honestly say only one is helpful.
The last one kept pestering for a phone call even though I've said I'm only interested if a role meeting my specific requirements pops up.
"I've got a few suitable roles in the pipeline, when can I call you?"
Finally agreed to a call and I find it a total waste of time.
Roles are non-existent and it was mostly a data mining exercise.
Got another call and was pushed to go for a role that is obviously not for me, I've only went for the phone interview as the recruiter basically lied about the actual job requirements.
It's definitely frustrating experience.

[anxious_ant]

I personally feel that there is an increase of recruitment consultants out there.
As with everything, there are the good and bad ones.

I'm in a position where it's beneficial to mediate via RC instead of approaching directly.
Flipside is that I may not always accept the offer.
It's just tricky to find an RC you can trust.

Most recent experience:
- Contacted by RC via LinkedIn about a very suitable role but cannot divulge details due to confidentiality
- Arranged a quick call as was promised the role is highly suitable
- On the call very vague and didn't name company but said that will send job spec if I email CV over
- Emailed CV over never heard back for days

Don't really understand the thought process behind this...

Edited by anxious_ant on Wednesday 5th February 11:58

[anxious_ant]

768 said:

Probably someone selling CVs rather than a recruiter.

To be honest I did have this suspicion, perhaps I was to naive to think no one would actually go to this level of effort for selling CVs.
From this email seem to work with a very large recruitment agency too.

[anxious_ant]

How long would you normally take to respond to a job offer?

[anxious_ant]

Gargamel said:

Up to a week is usually fine, but after that it looks like you don’t want it or are waiting for something better.

Sometimes you can show interest and ask for more time, but you may have to give a good reason (usually the truth is best)

All the offers I send have a 14 day response limit, after which its automatically withdrawn.

Many thanks for the reply, a week does indeed sound reasonable.
This gives some time for talks with current employer if required.
I find it strange when the recruiter is requesting acceptance the following day.

[anxious_ant]

miniman said:

John should consider that if he has to resign in order to get what he considers to be a fair package from his current employer, then his current employer doesn’t value him very much.

I suppose it's hard to quantify what's fair.
It's just an unwritten rule in most companies that salary should never be discussed openly, which doesn't help.

In my OP it's not possible for John to get an accurate figure of how much his skills are worth unless he goes for interviews.
(I suppose I should also mention in OP that John's salary hasn't increased beyond 2% CoL for last 2 years.)
Equipped with a confirmed figure John would be in a better position to discuss this with current employer.

Now I suppose there are 3 possible outcomes:
1) Employer genuinely value John however don't have the budget to increase his salary matching his expectations, however willing to negotiate
2) Employer genuinely value John and have decided to increase his salary to match his expectations
3) Employer doesn't value John and wishes his well

[anxious_ant]

Gargamel said:

Very few firms want to get into a bidding war, plus if your only motivation to join is money then you are unlikely to stay or have any loyalty in the future. Firms want to hire people with a ‘fit’ to the business. Sure pay fairly, but not a bidding war.

If Johns only motivation to leave his old firm was money, then he may stay, but if he was leaving in the first place because he didn’t like the people, then the money is kind of irrelevant.

I think around 60% of people accepting counter offers to stay, leave within the next two years anyway.

Interesting stat.
Personally I've yet to have the opportunity of a counter offer, however I don't switch jobs often.
I usually get the "you'll be welcomed back with open arms if you change your mind" line. Burn no bridges and all that...

I would love to hear from someone who'd had a counter offer.
Accepting a counter offer is great, however I wonder if there are any negative impact? e.g the employee might be flagged for trying to jump ship

[anxious_ant]

Gargamel said:

bad company said:

The recruiter will be trying to hit his targets.

Well indeed, time kills deals too. I think if a company has aback up candidate that they are prepared to offer to, but make you an offer as the first choice, then it can be reasonable to put a short time on the offer so as not to lose plan b.

Very interesting, and a legitimate strategy. There's nothing worse than a time waster, on both sides.

However having to accept the offer in 24 or even 48 hours does, to me, sound too hasty.

[anxious_ant]

Is it common for a recruitment consultant slash headhunter to field multiple candidates for same role?

[anxious_ant]

Thanks again all for the insightful feedback.

Personally I’m not one to threaten to leave for a better pay. I’m always loyal to my current employer and will consider other opportunities when I have concerns on current role.

There is always a risk starting a new job due to the protection offered for over 2 years service.

[anxious_ant]

bad company said:

That’s not really the way it generally happens.

The usual scenario is that the employee for whatever reason starts looking around. They’ll attend some interviews and get an offer they like. When they resign their existing firm realise how hard and expensive it could be to find a replacement, hence the counter offer.

I don’t think many play the market as a tactic to get more money from their current employer.

Thoroughly agree with this.