Tokyo Head Hunters: Ethics? Gimme a friggin’ break!

First of all, when I say Tokyo Head Hunters, I mean foreigners working in Tokyo as recruiters. These people are not professional human resources agents. They are for the most part former unprofessionals who were presented with an undeserved chance to do something else.

That said, I do know one or two recruiters who are genuinely good at what they do. Most of them operate at a level or two above me, above the $500K/year level.

To be fair, you need a professional recruiter to find a country head, or a CFO. But not to find a local IT compliance officer or a branch security officer, or a project manager. If I were country head and I learned that anyone making less than $200K (without bonus) was hired via a head hunter, I’d have a word with the HR manager about what they thought their work was about.

I forwarded my last two posts to a few head hunters I knew. And I got a good belly laugh from their answers.  They talked about the ethics of guaranteeing me anything. Ethics from a recruiter?! Ha!

Better yet: Pshaw! I say Pshaw!!

And for Monty Python fans, I say:

Your mother was a hamster
Your father smells of elderberries
And I fart in your general direction! 

Ethics from mid-level management recruiter? That’s a laugh and a half!

What can we mid-level management and staff level job seekers do about it? We can demand the following.

First, if a recruiter submits your CV for a role, you must have assurance in writing that they will represent no other candidates for that role except for you. They can have represented other candidates BEFORE that have been turned down. They can represent other candidates AFTER you have been turned down. But they MUST represent only you for any one position at any one time. No compromise on this issue, and you will sue their ass off if they ever screw you on this.

Second, the recruiter must do their utmost to sell YOU, not their firm, YOU. That is your price for letting them submit your resume. After all, your CV in their database is an asset to them. Why give it to them for free?

I do not mean that you should be arrogant. There are plenty of people who are better than I am, but not every company can get the best person, and not every one can get the best job. 

As a job seeker, you cannot expect a recruiter to guarantee you a job. But it IS fair to expect them to guarantee you something.

And that something is their effort to sell you, and the way to measure their effort is by the interviews they get you. If they get you interviews and you don’t get the job, fair enough. They did their bit.

If they can’t get you interviews, why would you need them? What possible use are they to you? If they can’t get you interviews, they are parasites living off your good will and you should spray them with insecticide.

Copyright 2012, Vincent Poirier

Explore posts in the same categories: Japan, Opinion