Why Won't Recruiters Tell Me Who a Job is With?
Manda Milling • July 15, 2021
Have you ever rung up a recruitment agency and had a recruiter withhold information about an employer? The overriding advice I can give you is that it's your job search, and you need to be the one in control. As you would probably be aware, when a hiring manager makes the decision to outsource their recruitment, they can brief a number of different agencies. This is because there is a perception that they will cover more of the available talent in the market by doing so.
Similarly, some candidates will also register with a number of recruitment agencies with the idea that they will have access to more available vacancies. What can and does occur is that the same candidates receive multiple calls to brief them on the same roles. It can all get very confusing. So what do you do?
The golden rule is to never have your resume sent anywhere without your permission. Now, for you to make an informed decision about whether you would like to be considered for a role, in addition to the details of the job, you need the name of the organisation and where it is located. Don't put up with a recruiter telling you they can’t give you information because of confidentiality. If you have registered with a recruitment agency (i.e. attended an interview and filled out the paperwork, not just phoned in), you are entitled to be informed of as much information as possible.
A common question is why a recruiter doesn't tell you the name of the organisation when you make your initial phone call. Until you are registered/interviewed, this information remains commercial and in confidence.
There has usually been a commercial agreement made between the hiring company and the recruiter.
Occasionally, a competitor may call in masquerading as a candidate to acquire details about the client (yes, this does happen), so recruiters need to be wary. Some recruiters don't like the idea of even a registered candidate having the name of the hiring company for fear of them telling their friends or their competitors. It is my belief that if you want the job, you will keep it to yourself to give yourself the best chance of being successful. Why put yourself in competition when you don’t need to? I have also seen best friends get the job over the candidate who was initially briefed! You have been warned!
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In business since 2002 in Australia, NZ, and the United Kingdom, people2people is an award-winning recruitment agency with people at our heart. With over 12 offices, we specialise in accounting and finance, business support, education, executive, government, HR, legal, marketing and digital, property, sales, supply chain, and technology sectors. As the proud recipients of the 2024 Outstanding Large Agency and Excellence in Candidate Care Awards, we are dedicated to helping businesses achieve success through a people-first approach.
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