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On 6/29/00 6:11 PM, David Orr (dorr -at- ORRNET -dot- com) wrote:
>Unfortunately, it seems to us
>that the ethics of both recruiters and writers has declined in inverse
>proportion to the increase in recruiters and tightening of the job
>market.
Not sure where you operate, but here in the Boston area, many recruiters
(both permanent and contract) have been unethical continuously since the
late 80s. Possibly earlier, but that's when I entered the market, so I
can't vouch for anything earlier.
When I was young and naive, I learned my toughest lesson when I let a
recruiter bully me down on my project-price estimate just to land the
contract. My original estimates had been accurate, and I got burned
badly. This was at a "prominent" technical writing recruiting firm, who
is still around today, and has been unethical in dealing with me (until I
dumped them for good) and my colleagues who were slower on the uptake.
The late 80s were like today, with the streets paved with gold, and jobs
falling from the trees, but during the "lean" times the recruiters were,
as you can imagine, even more money-hungry and willing to compromise the
candidate and employer to seal the deal.
Not all recruiters are unethical, but dealing with recruiters is an area
where paranoia (ok, maybe just extreme caution), not trust, is the
attitude to have from the start.
