Recruitment cowboys: Lack of transparency

By Wietse Boersma, Recruiter.

This post first appeared on LinkedIn on the 29th of May 2020.

Previously, I discussed whether or not recruitment consultancies deliver what they promise: if they add the value that they claim to add. I’m afraid that I now have to get a little less nuanced. I need to address some questionable practices when it comes to transparency in a recruitment process.

When I speak to developers and (managers at) clients about shady dealings in the recruitment consultancy business, the (lack of) transparency in the recruitment consultant’s practices is often one of the first things discussed. People I talk to about this subject mainly have bad experiences with regard to the consultant’s margin, as well as with the recruitment process. I’ll explain both.

… regarding margin

It’s not common for a consultant to be open and honest about margins for many reasons. When he or she spots an unusually large discrepancy between what the client has budgeted and what the freelance developer charges, he or she will usually quietly take the difference in margin. This is unethical because the consultant could have walked away with a fair margin, while giving the developer a bit more than he or she had charged, and/or while giving the client a break in their hiring budget.

Worse yet, perhaps, is a consultant who is not willing to disclose the margin charged, because he or she is simply unable to justify it. If you’re going to essentially take away from what a freelance developer could have earned, whilst (of course) charging your client for your services, isn’t it logical for you to be able to comfortably explain why you charge what you charge? If I buy a loaf of bread for 4 euros instead of 1, I like to know that I’m paying for something extra when compared to the cheaper loaf.

One reason for the consultant not disclosing the margin is, not surprisingly, because the client and/or freelance developer will (perhaps rightfully) think it is too much - especially when the consultant cannot justify the amount. Perversely, recruitment consultants’ personal commissions are often calculated based on the percentage of the selling price that the recruiter manages to take as margin for the consultancy.

… regarding recruitment process

You’re a freelance developer. You’re looking for a new project. You get a call from a recruiter looking for someone with your particular skill set for one of their clients. After ‘selling’ you the project a bit, you ask the name of the client that the recruiter is searching for. For many recruiters, giving out information like this is a no-go area until much later on in the recruitment process. This is usually out of fear that you will contact the client directly, thus, bypassing the recruiter. My philosophy was and is, that if someone were to bypass me, you’d know not to do business with that candidate or client again. But to each his own.

Worse, perhaps, is a consultant who is unwilling to say if you have any competition for the position. Or if they have any competition from other agencies. I’d consider not being able to assess your chances a big red flag. A possible outcome, of course, is that your C.V. ends up at a client via different consultancies. I’m sure many of you software developers have been in that situation. It doesn’t make for a very good first impression. Or perhaps there wasn’t even a project to start with; perhaps it was just a big smoke screen? There are recruitment consultancies that fabricate interim projects so they can ‘farm’ C.V.’s. The consultancy can then strip them for client information as they please. Of course it’s anything but GDPR-proof (and perhaps not even legal), but it does happen. Quite a lot.

I always find it quite bizarre to see how ambiguity and murkiness are prevalent in the recruitment industry. I feel that without complete (mutual!) transparency, there’s no basis for a healthy business relationship at all.

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