7 Cheeky Recruiter Moves Nobody Talks About

7 Cheeky Recruiter Moves Nobody Talks About Im going to go right ahead and assume that all agency recruiters can relate to these behaviours, regardless of industry or specialism. If thats a mass generalisation and Im wrong, just speak now. *TUMBLEWEED* Okay great. Thats what I thought. In  no particular order,  here  they are; the common cheeky recruiter moves nobody talks about (but everybody makes): 1. The Humble Hero Youve just made a massive placement. Now its time to do The Humble Hero. Whats that, you ask? Its that special walk you do up to  the deals board in front of all your colleagues. The one where you write your big, fat fee against your name  while everyone watches, acting all coy and embarrassed while secretly loving every minute of it. You hang your head low and try to hide the big grin spreading across  your face. Play it cool, just act like you hate being the centre of attention  and you could take  or leave this placement.  Youre all no big deal on the outside, while on the inside youre all, BIG DEAL, I REPEAT BIG DEAL, HAVE YOU EVEN SEEN HOW BIG THIS DEAL IS? 2. The Meeting Milker This is the move where you milk  your meetings (whod have guessed)  and really stretch the definition  of work-related entertainment.  Its the move where your client cancels the meeting last minute, but seeing as youre already in the pub, you and your colleague enjoy a cheeky beverage, because youre already there. This move also includes  when your client leaves after one round of drinks, but you stay for a bit longer and have one more for your troubles Catching up with candidates that just happen to be your best mates as well, and expensing lunch,  is another pearler. 3. The Shameful  Schadenfreude Schadenfreude noun. pleasure derived by someone from another persons misfortune Youve had a really bad run lately. Your clients have withdrawn offers, put a pause to all hiring  indefinitely and your candidates are burning you like fair  skin in the summertime. Your management meeting comes up and everyone starts sharing their forecast and current work in progress, and youre just sitting there  wishing everyone  else is  having just as woeful luck as you are,  because misery loves company. In these moments, you are committing The Shameful Schadenfreude. Youre usually a really nice person; a great team player  with great sportsmanship, just not today. 4. The Damsel in Denial Management is always reiterating  how important it is to stay on top of your administration. Log this, log that. Now, if youre honest, you  know (deep down) that you dont always update your records and fill in the right information on the CRM. When someone points out that something is missing, or that your supposed input is nowhere to be found on the internal shared system, you act totally dumb instead of admitting your sins. This move is called the Damsel in Denial, as your defensive reaction is very reminiscent of a damsel in distress. Well Sarah, it should be on there, so I dont know whats happened maybe the system crashed when I went to hit  save. 5. The Judging Jeffrey This  Judging Jeffrey involves  picking apart what other people are doing and silently (also harshly) judging them for it, for no good reason. You do this while sitting on your high horse.  It occurs when you are on a conference call with a bunch of other agency recruiters, taking a role brief from one of your clients. One of your competitors asks a question and you just sit there, leaning back in your chair, shaking your head and thinking, what a stupid question, thats already been covered 100 times. 6. The Fair-Weathered Fan Your agency operates on a shared candidate model. Youre a huge supporter off this model when someone else from your company finds an A+ applicant thats perfect for one of your live roles. BUT you suddenly loathe this model  when someone else pinches your best candidate, and offers them  one of their roles. You try to convince yourself you have a real reason you shouldnt have to share this candidate, but you know youve got absolutely nothing.  This move is extremely hypocritical, and known as The Fair-Weathered Fan. 7. The Silent Sandbagger Youve worked out  the best times for your various candidate placements to be approved for commission purposes. The Silent Sandbagger move involves remaining tight-lipped over a deal so as to push it over into the next calendar month.  It involves assessing fee amounts against thresholds and your tiered commission structure, then manipulating  your  forecast and underselling current  prospects. Cheeky, but effective. Have I missed any?  Tweet me and tell me: @feebspinks!