If you do the kind of work that lends itself to collaboration with a third-party recruiter, sometimes called a headhunter, you will find that you have to set your own standards. You have to evaluate any search person who contacts you before you dive headlong into an extended conversation.
Otherwise, you can easily get burned.
Some recruiters are amazing advocates and advisors to job-seekers like you. Others are not worth your valuable time.
As in any profession, the search profession is populated with a mix of visionaries, average Joes and Janes and some truly unsuitable members.
Whenever you begin a new acquaintance with a recruiter, you have to quickly determine whether he or she is a good match for your needs.
There will be times when the best course of action is to terminate the relationship before it begins.
Most of us have been trained to treat any prospective job opportunity like a really big deal, and to take abuse from recruiters when we believe that by doing so we might stay in the running for a job. We get desperate easily, whether we’re unemployed and job-hunting or working in a job we hate.
The key point to remember is that no recruiter (internal or external) who treats you like a piece of meat at the beginning of your relationship will treat you better as time goes on.
Here are five good reasons to end a recruiter relationship quickly.