 |
1. Send out your resume without you knowing about it. This happens ALL THE TIME in Tokyo and it is one of the most unethical things that a recruiter can do. It's an unfortunate result of the "first to file" system with many employers who are contractually bound to compensate the first recruiter who sends a candidate's resume to them. The only way to manage this is to choose to give your resume only to recruiters you trust and to clearly tell them "please do not send out my resume to anybody without my prior approval". See my page on 10 Tips for Working With Executive Recruiters for more information on choosing recruiters. 2. Send you out on an interview for a job that you have no chance of getting. There are bunch of reasons for this happening, but the bottom line is that it is generally a waste of your time and a waste of the employers time. Recruiters do this to show their clients they are generating "candidate flow", they may have another candidate under consideration for the job and they want to make the other candidate good by comparing them against you (ouch), they have no idea what the client is looking for, they want to get you into the clients system (see #1 above) hoping that you'll match up to something later, etc. To manage this tell your recruiter that you don't want to waste your time going to interview for jobs you're not a clear match for. Ask detailed questions about the job and get a job description (if any exists) before agreeing to be presented to the client. Or, if you don't mind spending the time, go anyway if you want to make a connection with a hiring manager in the hopes that something more appropriate will come up. 3. Pump you for referrals/names. Referrals are the lifeblood of our business and quality referrals from people who know, like and trust us are highly appreciated. That said, many recruiters when they first meet you (before you've had a chance to get to know, like and trust them) make aggressive efforts to get people's names and job titles from you. There are bunch of ways to do this, and sometimes you don't realize until after the meeting is over that the primary reason for the recruiter calling you in for a meeting is to get the names and titles of your co-workers and your current and former companies. Again, if you know, like and trust your recruiter it's a great to give them some leads on other quality candidates, but beware of a recruiter who is asking rapid-fire questions, like "Who do you report to? What is his name? How long has he been your boss?" etc. It's not relevant to you getting an opportunity (just your reporting line is important) and they're just using it so that they can headhunt your boss, co-workers, former co-workers etc. 4. Call you in to meet them so that they can offer you a job in recruiting. This
one usually happens to non-Japanese candidates. 90% of
placements via recruiting channels go to Japanese candidates, so
opportunities are limited for non-Japanese candidates.
Recruitment firms, however, are always looking for new talent
with Japan experience and networks that they can bring in on a trial
basis as recruiters. There are a number of firms in Tokyo that
consistently call people in for a meeting with the sole purpose of
proposing a recruitment job. If you go in thinking that you want
a job in engineering that you get to the meeting and all the talk is
about you becoming a recruiter, that can be a major disappointment.
There's not much you can do about this other than asking prior to
coming in "Do you have a current open position for me in (your target
field)?" 5. Talk about you outside of the office. Along with #1 above, this is another highly unethical practice that is fairly common among recruiters. A professional recruiter should NEVER talk about you outside of the office unless they are specifically speaking with a client that you have approved in advance for being presented to. This includes casually asking about you to your colleagues, customers, etc. in a way that it is clear that you are a candidate working with that recruiter. You obviously don't want anyone to know you're considering a change and working with a recruiter. Managing this is also challenging, but two things you can do are be careful about what recruiters you choose to deal with and also remind them in a friendly way of the importance of confidentiality. The good news is that most of the recruiters in Tokyo are honest, ethical, and really want to do a good job for you. Unfortunately, the few bad apples who do the above 5 sneaky things give the whole industry a bad image. Just be careful who you share your information with and make an effort to get to know a recruiter you like and trust and also help them get to know you so when a great job comes along they remember you and match you to the right opportunity. You might also want to take a look at 10 Tips for Working with Me for some more good information on working with recruiters you can know, like and trust. : ) To your success,
P.S. Tell a Friend! If you find the information above useful, please feel free to pass along the link to the main garybremermann.com page. Thank you very much. |
|
