The Risks of Reverse Recruiting

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone else could find you that perfect executive position? 

Hey, isn’t that what “reverse recruiters” claim they do?  Well, often if something sounds too good to be true, guess what—it probably is—like that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow if you could only catch a leprechaun.

So, where are the risks, then?  I searched the internet for the “risks of reverse recruiting.” Here’s what the search engine produced:

“The primary risk in reverse recruiting is the lack of guaranteed job placement. The process relies heavily on market demand and individual qualifications, meaning there’s no assurance of securing a job even when using a professional reverse recruiter. Other potential risks include potential mismatches between the candidate’s desired roles and available opportunities, and the possibility of relying too heavily on a single method for finding jobs, potentially limiting options.”

That is a reasonable summary, though it is incomplete.

No Results Without Effort

Relying on a reverse recruiter reminds me of trying to assemble a bicycle from scratch with only a screwdriver. In fact, you need a complete set of tools—a well-stocked toolbox (like The Barrett Group’s five-step career change program).

Of course, it is perfectly human to want results without effort. Unfortunately, discovering that perfect, high-level executive job cannot really be outsourced at all.  Employers want to speak with candidates, not recruiters.  Candidates must actually do the work to present themselves well, stand out from the crowd, and perform well in interviews. And all of that involves skill, experience, and hard work.  Fortunately, The Barrett Group (TBG) can minimize the work and maximize the results by virtue of our three decades of experience and the powerful team of experts that backs each client.

Potential employers are also often leery of candidates introduced to them by reverse recruiters. That’s partly because that same candidate has most probably been “shopped” to the company’s competitors as well.  In fact, reverse recruiters are sometimes hired to help prune an employer’s “underperforming employee list” attempting to lure them away. Yes, this also happens. [See source.]  So you can perhaps understand prospective employers’ reticence to take such offers seriously.

Missing the Biggest Market

By the way, most reverse recruiters are also not clairvoyant.  They cannot know which senior manager at any target company has an unpublished opening in his or her organization.  Instead, the reverse recruiter typically must rely on the human resources function first to introduce a candidate. These are the same HR gate keepers who are already managing applications to published ads and rejecting them if the candidates do not tick all the boxes.  This means reverse recruiters are targeting at best about 25% of the potential executive market (the published and recruiter markets). They are missing the biggest and most productive segment entirely (the unpublished market, where 75% of our clients land).

Double dealing can also be an issue with reverse recruiting.  Candidates usually pay some upfront fee for reverse recruiter service. They may not realize that the recruiter may well be paid by the hiring company as well, and therefore more interested in the potential commission than the best interests of the candidate, for example, job fit, company culture, growth potential, etc.  At TBG, we work only for executive candidates, not for employers.

Another latent risk is that some reverse recruiter services will effectively spam a candidate’s resume all over the internet in the hopes of getting lucky.  This means losing control of the candidate’s reputation and potentially trivializing his or her candidacy even to highly qualified employers.  TBG guides clients in refining their targets carefully to fit their real aspirations, packaging them accordingly. We then help them access all relevant market segments with vast data resources at our fingertips spanning more than 11 million executives.  [Read more about A World of Executive Opportunity.]

Why Limit Your Chances?

Probably there is a place for legitimate reverse recruiting as one tool in the executive candidate’s arsenal. But why limit your chances of success when there is a fully equipped alternative?  TBG has been helping executives clarify their career targets and then discover their ideal role for more than three decades using a tried and true, and truly unique five-step methodology.  [Learn more about TBG’s five-step career change program.]

Does it work? You bet it does!  Just ask Forbes who has placed us at the top of the field for five years running—making us the only career management firm in the top ranking!  But the main reasons our clients are so successful include that they can access 100% of the executive career market (not just a sliver as with reverse recruiters), they are fully prepared when they enter an interview, and they receive intensive negotiation support when the offer does come in.  We can virtually always add $10,000, $20,000, $30,000 or more in total compensation.

So consider the risks when reflecting on reverse recruiting.  You could be chasing a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, instead of relying on a reliable, recognized, and proven authority.

There is no need to put your career into reverse.  Forge ahead instead and reach for the tried-and-true tool chest TBG has used to help thousands of executives put their best foot forward.  Abundant success stories about real people help tell our story.  Check them out at our searchable Success Studies site, and then check in with The Barrett Group.