I am not naive, but wishful to be sure. I want to believe that when I talk to people, they are going to be honest with me. I know that is not the truth. Especially with this job when you are dealing with new opportunities, as well as salaries, bonuses, etc, people will often inflate their own worth.

I could sit here and espouse as to why i think people do it or what to do to prevent it. But here is something you have never heard before… We recruiters are wrathful when wronged.

A quick example of what has pissed me off: We sent a pretty talented younger candidate out to freelance at this agency that, although specializes in tourism, is growing its client base in a variety of industries and is putting out some pretty solid work and was looking to hire her after one week of freelancing. After freelancing she turned down the offer because she said that she did not want to move to this particular city and that she did not want to work for an agency that focused its work on tourism and leisure. These are things that we talked about ahead of time before she was sent out. How I see it, she was looking for sexier shops, she was freelancing with no intention of taking the job. I could be wrong, reflection could have given her a different perspective… but i doubt it.

Now there was another young candidate that allowed us to send her work to an agency but as things moved forward, she had other activity from other agencies and let us know about it. It was decided that it was best not to move forward with the interview process as she would probably not have accepted it. She was honest and we appreciate that.

If you cannot see why one is a much bigger deal than the other then let me explain. The first candidate had the agency fly her out and spend money on the plane ticket and the hotel and the rental car. They did not just want to freelance her, they wanted to hire her and that was made explicitly clear to all parties involved. Essentially, a month was wasted on this girl because she want a couple of extra bucks. Also, the agency essentially stalled its search for other candidates. That makes this agency pissed because this means another couple of weeks without anybody in that position and more work for others within the shop.

Here’s what we are going to do: not let her know about any other opportunities; try and recruit all of her friends and her references for amazing opportunities that we will not ever let her know about… and that’s about it. Because more than anything we are professionals.

We would of course never say anything bad about a candidate or share our views with those outside of the office… but you nee to beware…

We work hard and put our reputation on the line every time we submit a candidate, so please, do not fuck with us… we are here to help.

Have a happy holiday.

Yours in perm-disco-love, Joyce.

Wanna chat? Feel free to contact me at creativeteam@talentzoo.com.

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