Job recruiter dilemma

Xire

Xire

Xire

Soldato
Joined
8 Apr 2011
Posts
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Location
London
Hi guys,

Basically I am not happy in my current job and I am looking to leave. Now a recruiter has contacted me regarding a very good role that looks perfect. The problem is, the recruiter is from the agency that recruited me for my current job.

Would going forward for this new job put my current job at risk? The person that recruited me for my current job is quite close to my manager and places all staff in the business. Now obviously I am worried the recruiter mentions my name to the guy that recruited me for my current job and could potentially raise questions.

Any advice would be great.
 
Given that he almost certainly gets paid on placing candidates, why on earth would he talk to your previous recruiter/boss!?
 
That's quite poor form from the agency.

I think the right thing to do is to tell your current employer that their recruitment agency is now actively working to take their staff away. I'd expect your company to fire the recruitment agency.

There's a (significant) chance the new role has been seriously misrepresented. Perhaps contact whoever the recruiter is now working for directly?
 
Basher said:
Given that he almost certainly gets paid on placing candidates, why on earth would he talk to your previous recruiter/boss!?
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Because I imagine the other recruiter that originally recruited me wont get paid until I pass my probation (which I haven't yet, 1 month left)
 
Halfmad said:
He may be lining you up for a move shortly after your probation, he gets paid, you get a better job.
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That's exactly what it is.

The recruiter is looking at getting paid commission twice basically. Although if your current company are any good there will be a caveat in the contract that states they don't get a finders fee if you leave within the first X months of being made permanent.
 
Basher said:
That's going to look pretty bad on your CV.
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As long as you can justify why you left it's generally not much of a problem. Not in marketing at least anyway.

I had a 6 month stint at a company where the role was completely different to what I applied for and I completely hated it.

The next company that interviewed me, where I'm working now, wanted me to explain why I didn't enjoy it and what I learnt from the experience etc.

No biggy, just got to be honest and don't come out with anything stupid that causes alarm bells around responsibilities in the role you're applying for.
 
Xire said:
5 months.
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I interview for recruitment constantly and one of things I'd be asking you is why you feel the need to be back in the job market after only 5 months in your current position?

It would show a lack of commitment to me and a willingness to jump ship at first available opportunity which would immediately ring alarm bells so if you do decide to go for it give serious thought to that question.

Also any agency willing to do what you are suggesting should not be trusted imo, think about how they represented your current role before you accepted it, was it accurate? how was it sold to you? why are you not happy?
 
Basher said:
That's going to look pretty bad on your CV.
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I have my reasons and quite simply need out, whether it looks bad on my CV or not.

Also down the line I can say it was a contract role.

Columbo said:
I interview for recruitment constantly and one of things I'd be asking you is why you feel the need to be back in the job market after only 5 months in your current position?

It would show a lack of commitment to me and a willingness to jump ship at first available opportunity which would immediately ring alarm bells so if you do decide to go for it give serious thought to that question.

Also any agency willing to do what you are suggesting should not be trusted imo, think about how they represented your current role before you accepted it, was it accurate? how was it sold to you? why are you not happy?
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The job sold to me is the complete opposite to what I am doing, the management is awful, the people are awful. I have thought it through and getting myself a new job is the only solution.

Anyway regardless of how many months I have been in the role is irrelevant to my original post.
 
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Jumping ship after 6 months won't be an issue unless you do it again at the new place. If you're confident you can stick it out for a couple of years at the new role then go for it. It's not worth being unhappy in your job for the sake of how it looks on a CV when you've practically got another offer sat there.

It depends what your field is, but if the 6 months before leaving ever looks like a problem then just leave it off the CV and claim you were doing work on a freelance basis.
 
Xire said:
The job sold to me is the complete opposite to what I am doing, the management is awful, the people are awful. I have thought it through and getting myself a new job is the only solution.

Anyway regardless of how many months I have been in the role is irrelevant to my original post.
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If that's how you feel then of course you need to do what you see as being the best course of action for yourself.

However was it the agency that sold the job to you or the company you are working for and while how many months you have been working for may not be what you asked in your OP, it could be entirely relevant to any prospective employer which I why I offered the advice.
 
If you're not happy then move jobs, yes there is a possibility your boss might find out if you're applying via this company and that is a risk... but overall you've got to decide whether its worth staying somewhere you don't like. I don't think a move after 5 months is bad if you can justify it and if you stay at the next place for a bit longer... several short moves will look bad but if you say spent 3 years in one place, 5 months at the next then 3 years+ at the next... it really shouldn't matter to most people, clearly there was a bad fit at the place you only wanted to stay at for 5 months, these things happen.
 
Columbo said:
I interview for recruitment constantly and one of things I'd be asking you is why you feel the need to be back in the job market after only 5 months in your current position?

It would show a lack of commitment to me and a willingness to jump ship at first available opportunity which would immediately ring alarm bells so if you do decide to go for it give serious thought to that question.

Also any agency willing to do what you are suggesting should not be trusted imo, think about how they represented your current role before you accepted it, was it accurate? how was it sold to you? why are you not happy?
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5 months is probably about what it takes to fully understand the company and the role and to get to grips with some of the nuances. Whilst its not a great time to leave it shouldn't do any harm.

The average tenure of a CEO is less than 18 months.

It's middle aged managers that think changing jobs looks bad. They are the type of people that judge a candidate on the values that they had when they were looking for a job. Usually stability and security, and willingness to do overtime (look busy).

Long gone are the days of a job for life. Today's talent is more interested in the mission and prefers to work on a project basis.
 
JonJ678 said:
That's quite poor form from the agency.

I think the right thing to do is to tell your current employer that their recruitment agency is now actively working to take their staff away. I'd expect your company to fire the recruitment agency.

There's a (significant) chance the new role has been seriously misrepresented. Perhaps contact whoever the recruiter is now working for directly?
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Why? Op is looking to leave.
 
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