To the point: Is it OK to have two recruiters actively working to place you in a new job?
Back story:
So I’m looking for a new job. I’m in management for a health care firm, maybe upper management, I’m not sure (not really into titles) but I manage people who manage people and they pay me a lot of money to do that. Anyway. My first step was to contact these two recruitment agencies that a lot of former employees have used in the past, I figured, “no big deal, I’ve used recruiters before”. After I emailed them, they called back with basically, “Wow, I really appreciate you considering me”. I’ve heard recruiters (or their company) can make a commission of 30-50% of the first years salary, and since I’m looking for a 6 figure job that’s a lot of money they can make. The two might offer different leads if they have different contacts and such (diversify, blah blah) so is it ok for me to use both, knowing one of them has to lose the commission from me? Should I tell them (or tell one of them) that I’m using another firm too? I’ve been in serious discussions with one (set up lunches with a few execs at other companies) whereas the other one just got in touch with me today, so I can still break off contact with the one individual.
Maybe I should place this in the “problems you have that others won’t empathize with” thread, but I’m not sure if it’s kosher to use a few. Advice or previous experiences welcome!
Head hunters work for the employer, not for you. It is ethical - the only thing you have to worry about is if they both connect you to the same job, and then start arguing about the fee. The employer will drop you like a hot potato instead of having to deal with this issue.
Check out the Ask the Headhunter web site (sorry, I link through a mailing list). The writer, a headhunter, has covered this issue, and also has hints about how to tell if the headhunter is legit.
It’s done all the time, it’s normal. Would you write to an ad and not write to another until the first ones answered? No. Same with recruiters/headhunters.
Of course, it’s important to do your best to avoid having your CV sent to the same client by two agents, but that’s as much the agents responsibility as yours. I’ve seen it happen when the agents weren’t clear enough on what the contacts were (one had asked me about “six months in Spain”, the other one about “one year in Seville”, both had refused to give me the company or sector, turns out that the Seville company in question wanted someone for two years… I’m actually in, the agent who got the contract is the one who had submitted me first); it happened to one of my coworkers when two agents from the same headhunting company submitted his CV independently as part of cold calls…
Semi-OT: How does one find a headhunter? I saw how the OP did it, but what do you do if you don’t have any connections in your field in a new area, except for those related to the job you’re already in? Are there any search sites, or even industry-specific ones?