Recruiter blacklisting: A cautionary tale -- Career Center Blog

April 7, 2011

Recruiter blacklisting: A cautionary tale

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By Paul Anderson
NWjobs

Although I'm not a headhunter or a placement agency, I try to help my clients by referring them to hiring managers or companies when I see there might be an opportunity. In one instance, an aerospace company was looking for a low-level C++ programmer. I happened to have someone in my program who was a perfect fit, so I decided to call the recruiter.

"I have a client in my program whose experience matches the job description you have listed perfectly. Are you still looking for candidates?" I asked.

"Of course! Send me his resume. What's his name, in case I've already looked at him?"
I told her his name.

"Oh no, not that guy!"

"What do you mean, not that guy?" I asked.

"Paul, let me tell you, first of all, yes, he's very qualified for the role technically speaking, but I can't hire him," she said.

"Why not?" I followed.

"Last year I had him in the final stages of the interview with another candidate. I was ready to make a job offer and told both applicants that they would have to go through a drug screen. (This candidate) said, 'give me six day's notice.'"

I was devastated. I went back to my client and asked whether the recruiter's statement was true. He said, "Vaguely speaking, I remember saying something like that once." Then he said, "Wait! I have never interviewed at this aerospace company before. She is probably mistaking me for someone else."

I went back to the recruiter all excited that she had the wrong person. She quickly lowered my excitement by saying, "Yes, of course he would not have remembered. I wasn't at this company last year. He did the interview at my former company."

That's when I noted the difference between a company blacklist and a recruiter's blacklist. Even though the aerospace company hadn't necessarily blacklisted my client, the recruiter had. If you get on the wrong side of recruiters, you'll be in a dangerous position. First of all, they can document your behavior in their current company's applicant tracking system. Second, they can mentally carry that blacklist with them to their future employers -- to which you might be interested in applying.

To try to help my client, I looked at other openings and contacted a different recruiter.

"Hi, I've got this great client. He's a great developer and I think he would be a great fit for some of your openings."

"Oh no, not that guy!" said recruiter No. 2.

Was I having déjà vu, I asked myself?

"Why not, do you know this guy?" I followed.

"I met this guy a few months back. I asked him, 'You have a six-month gap on your resume. I need you to tell me what you've been up to during this time so I can prepare a good statement as I market you to my hiring manager,' " she recounted to me.

He told her he had been developing websites. When she asked for more details, he said he had been developing adult websites and he wasn't shy in sharing all the details -- all of which made the recruiter very uncomfortable.

"So what did you do?" I asked.

"I made sure to tell every one of my recruiter colleagues about (him) and to watch out about him."

I know it's true, because I had a very difficult time finding him a position locally here in Seattle. We eventually looked out of state and found him a job in California.

The moral of this story is that you have to watch your footprint, not only with companies, but with individuals as well. I'll say it again: Seattle is a small town when it comes to employment.

Paul Anderson is presenting free Career Search Optimization seminars Saturday, April 16, and Thursday, April. 21. He'll share additional details on employer blacklisting and what to do if you find yourself on a blacklist.

Paul Anderson of ProLango helps professionals in transition find their desired employment.

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Smith | April 7, 2011 2:37 PM | Reply

How do you find out if your blacklisted in a field.

Mike | April 8, 2011 12:09 PM | Reply

This kind of conversation is abhorrent, and illegal.

I think "oh no, not that guy" has a good lawsuit if he wants it.

Stephen Northcutt | April 8, 2011 4:32 PM | Reply

Truly a cautionary tale and the story is well told. I will share the link with a few of my "hot house plant" friends, might save them a lot of pain.

oxxygen | April 9, 2011 5:27 AM | Reply

this also works in reverse and I use it to good advantage during my job searches: word gets around if you're not only a great candidate but able to send recruiters leads and networking referrals even if you arent a match for a current position. I've shared links, leads, sites, backgrounders on companies (good and bad) and I still have recruiters calling me years later. With only little bit of extra work you can have recruiters wanting to stay in touch with you for *years*. I've been in the tech industry for 20 years and I love to "chat up" recruiters with good info, candidate ideas, little articles about companies (eg, from techflash.com) and tips about strategy with *positivity*. They always come back and I've even made a few referral fees. oxxygen@hotmail.com

Neileta G | April 15, 2011 6:07 PM | Reply

I live in New Mexico but am looking to move to the Washington area, if you are blacklisted...does it follow you? I would also like to kno how to find out if i am blacklisted

Simon Jones | August 24, 2011 2:01 PM | Reply

In this day and age with employees moving around so much, it is unacceptable for someone such as a recruiter to build up a blacklist of candidates.

Imagine if it happened the other way around and this recruiter bombed somewhere. In fact, there are situations where this can be perfectly warranted. Does this person get blacklisted for her stupidity? Probably not so why should a candidate?

It's insane...

Shira | July 2, 2012 11:22 AM | Reply

Yet another reason why so many R&D jobs are sent overseas. These tactics of recruiters make it hard for hiring managers to get resumes of some of the most qualified candidates. The hiring managers report to the higher ups that they cannot fill the positions, and next thing you know, the positions are filled with contractors from overseas. Completely insane.