It is bad enough that we don't know what is going on inside of a candidate's head when they walk into that interview room with the VP of Operations that took us three weeks, personal favors, and a lunch with the head of Human Resources to set up.  Now we have to worry about a candidate that is hard up on funds and desparate for a job because they have been out of work for six months.  We have all seen what that often leads too: crazy tactics and extreme measures a candidate will go too to land that paycheck... err, I mean job.

 

Candidates are not dumb when they call us.  They know we are swamped with resumes and working as hard as possible to find openings in a tough economy.  The best type of job seeker to deal with on the phone is the one that understands this.  However, human nature strikes when a candidate realizes that the flooded market is calling on them to be different from the rest of the bunch.  No different than what us recruiters do when the job seeker market is tight... we brand ourselves and market.  Well, now it is going horribly wrong.

 

Let me give you an example...

 

The other day, a co-worker of mine got an email from a candidate who has been out of work for quite some time.  It seemed that she had decided to co-brand her job search effort with that of her friend, a local tailor in the Twin Cities.  The deal in the email was this: if you get her a job and end her search, you will "win" a free $100 gifft card to her friend's tailor shop.  Umm, let me think about this... no, sorry, not interested.  At first I laughed it off, but then I got to thinking.  Wow, this is what the job seeker world has come too?  We are now having candidates try and bribe us to work on their behalf?  Placement fees and commissions are no longer enough?  Now I am only going to return calls from candidates who offer me free car washes, donuts every Friday for a year, back rubs, house cleaning services, and baby-sitting?  A well-defined resume is not enough for me to call?  Is Monster and CareerBuilder eventually going to add a field on a resume submission form thaat says: "Recruiter Incentive"?

 

Now of course I am writing this with major tongue-in-cheek.  After all, not many people have stood up for the displaced workers as much as I have (ie - my very public battle with Macy's).  I think employers out there do not take enough responsibility and need to be held accountable for their Talent Management strategies.  I hope that one day I will be able to start my own outplacement firm to help those I can't help now.  But this situation did raise a serious concern for me, and I hope the trend does not continue where us recruiters have to resort to reading "extra incentive emails" from our candidates.

 

-Robert Stanke