How should you deal with unwanted calls from headhunters?

Q: You're getting a lot of unwanted calls from headhunters. How should you deal with them?

Nick's reply: What you're experiencing is partly the result of low hiring levels and partly due to the continuing infiltration of poor salespeople into the headhunting business. The fact is, more headhunters are calling more people because they are desperate to close deals with employers.

You could just hang up on all the callers, but when you are looking for a job, you'll regret that you ticked them all off. Think twice before generalizing that all headhunters are a waste of time. The good ones are worth knowing even when you're not job hunting.

Real headhunters -- those who actually work on specific assignments from clients -- really are looking for good candidates. If you're good at what you do and people in your industry know it, these headhunters are getting your name from other people in your field that they know and trust. It's likely that some good headhunters who are working on relatively few open positions have all heard about you. That's one reason you're getting a lot of calls. And that's a good sign about your reputation. I think you want to cultivate that, even if it takes up some of your time.

However, my guess is that only a few of those calls you're getting are from good headhunters. A good headhunter's job is to entice, cajole and steal a good person for his client. But a good headhunter won't be rude or pushy about it -- and he won't bother you. If you politely say, "No thanks," he'll respect you and leave you alone. He may also ask your permission to stay in touch periodically. Judge the headhunter on how he behaves and consider keeping such connections open.

When you meet a headhunter you like, consider recommending another possible candidate. Again, the point is to cultivate the relationship for future benefits.

The other class of headhunters -- the ones who play "dialing for dollars" -- don't have legitimate search assignments. Their approach is to get someone like you interested in the idea of a new job. The coin of their realm is a good resume. Once they've got it, they call companies that may or may not be hiring and pitch you as someone the company ought to hire. Yours won't be the only resume they will submit. Their hope is that they'll get a hit here and there.

There's nothing inherently wrong with this. Call it supply-side headhunting or call it desperation. But when these guys become a nuisance, it's time to cut them off.

Since the same headhunters are likely to call again and again, I suggest that you keep a list and make notes about who you like and who you don't. Once you judge someone to be rude, you should have no qualms about just hanging up. This works as well with nasty headhunters as it does with telemarketers. (If you argue with them, they'll just keep calling.)

Make another list of questions that you want any headhunter to answer before you'll even jot down his name. Put the toughest at the top: "Can you give me two clients and two candidates as references I can check before we talk further?" Headhunters who are looking for a warm body will decline; then you hang up. The ones who provide references are worth putting on your "A" list. Tell them you'd like to talk again in six months. Don't worry: You won't get enough legitimate calls that you'll have to devote much time to this. Your "A" list will be short. The hang-ups will be quick and those calls will stop.

You can of course just hang up on everyone soliciting you. But that's not a great idea -- especially in today's economy.

Copyright 2009. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate

Nick Corcodilos is author of "Ask The Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job" and the host of www.asktheheadhunter.com. He can be reached by e-mail at seattle@asktheheadhunter.com or at North Bridge Group, P.O. Box 600, Lebanon, NJ 08833. Sorry, no personal replies.