From: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis)
Newsgroups: sci.research.careers,can.jobs,ont.jobs
Subject: Re: Called for interview by company & agency - Pl. HELP !
Date: 22 Jan 93 04:18:28 GMT
Followup-To: sci.research.careers
Organization: Elegant Communications Inc., Ottawa, Canada

In article <1993Jan21.020835.12079@julian.uwo.ca> perwaiz@gfx.engga.uwo.ca (Jim Perwaiz) writes:
>Please HELP me !

>I have been contacted for interview by both
>the company and an agency for the same position.
>Incidentally, I came to know after the agency revealed
>the company's name.

>What should I do - I realize that eventually
>if things go well. It will be apparent that 
>I am the same person.

You certainly have to do something by the time that might happen.

I've been in this situation three times.  Twice as a prospective
employee, and once as a prospective employer.

Timing is critical.  Did the headhunter establish the contact first,
or did you/the company?

If the company has been in contact with you before the headhunter
revealed the company's name AND before the headhunter gave your
name to the company, you're on legally safe ground for telling the
headhunter to back off.  Your direct contact with the company takes
precidence.  In two of the above three situations, I did have prior
contact (once as employee and once as employer) and the headhunter
did, relatively gracefully, drop out of the picture.  Some headhunters
may not give up a commission that easily.  It may make some sense
to contact the company first, explain the situation, and let them
tell you what to do.  In the unlikely event that some "special
relationship" they have with the headhunter is more important to them
than paying the enormous commission (often 25% of a year's salary),
they may advise you to stick with the headhunter.

From my short stint as a hirer, I can tell you that most companies
really *hate* paying the fees, and consider agency-supplied people
as a last resort when direct methods fail.  I used to get called
all the time by headhunters, but as a buyer, not *the* product, about
people they had uncovered with what they thought were skill sets I
needed.  Generally speaking, however, if I needed someone with those
skills, I was already looking, and already had my own leads.
And I knew the CFO hated agency fees.  Most of the time I'd turn
the head hunter down, even if the skill set matched what I wanted,
because my own searches were more likely to succeed, and be considerably
cheaper...

While the agreement that you signed with the headhunter may seem to
restrict you to dealing through them only, they're usually not
enforceable except insofar as you're obligated to go through them for
contacts that *they* develop.  And any company who'd felt themselves
obligated by one they signed wouldn't be contacting anyone directly.

Perhaps I've been lucky, but I've never had headhunters scream or
yell at me when I've told them "prior contact".  One headhunter
explained it by saying that turnover is sufficiently high that repeat
business is important - thus pissing you off isn't in their best
interests.  Short-timers - people who're not making headhunting
a career - are probably entirely different.

Don't ask me about which agencies to use.  I kept saying "no" for
so many years that even the good guys gave up on me, and I don't
know what any of them are like nowadays.
-- 
Chris Lewis; clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca; Phone: Canada 613 832-0541
Psroff 3.0 info: psroff-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
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