Why do we tell our candidates to accept offers from other recruiters?

Sometimes, we work on roles with candidates whilst they're simultaneously looking at other opportunities with other recruiters. If you speak to enough of our candidates, sooner or later you'll meet one who we've advised to take one of those other roles.

You might be asking yourself why, in a sales business, are we doing something that isn't in our financial interests? Indeed, lots of recruiters wouldn't do it.

There are lots of reasons why we would do this and we believe it actually is in our financial interests. Yes, we are value-driven and we always want to do the right thing, but we also believe that this should be profitable too!

Shouldn't we be prioritising the best interests of the client we're working for?

Yes, absolutely, and we do.

Convincing a candidate to take our role when there's something better for them on the table elsewhere isn't in our client's best interests. That person doesn't actually want to be there. They could have taken a better job somewhere else and it's likely they will leave quickly. It could benefit our client in the short-term for a month or two, but then the person they hired will seek to move on. Our client will be left with another hole to fill in their team, another round of recruitment to do, and a whole heap of headaches ahead of them.

Ultimately, it's in our client's best interests that we fill their role with a candidate for whom their role is the best possible opportunity, who will thrive there and stay for longer. Everyone's a winner!

We don't want our candidates to accept a job that's wrong for them. 

We want our candidates to know that we're doing the right thing for them. The further we can progress someone's career, the better. No, we won't make any money in this situation and another agency will, so, why do we do it? The simple answer is: we want our candidate's careers to prosper.

If our candidate receives another offer for a role giving them better progression, even if it’s with a lower salary or at a lower profile firm, it's obvious to us that the exposure they'll get and the skillsets they'll pick up in that role will aid them in their career better than the role we have for them.

One of our core values is to do the right thing. It's a really important part of our business, it's something we live and work by every day, and we pride ourselves on it.

At the heart of what we do, we want to create a long-term relationship with our candidates that spans their entire careers. Encouraging them to take the offer that's right for them is just one of the ways we demonstrate this.

If we convince someone to take a role that isn't right for them, they're not going to enjoy it. They won't be challenged or fulfilled, and will want to move on quickly, which won't benefit us either! Our relationship with them could be damaged as we've placed them somewhere they weren't happy, having given bad career advice.

Our relationship with our client could also be damaged as we placed a candidate that wasn't right for the role, was unhappy and left quickly, and therefore our commission from them may not stand either.

Ultimately, it's in everyone's best interests for us to look at the situation objectively, and encourage our candidates to do what's right for them. Even if that means accepting another offer, that's ok, we're not going anywhere!

Written by Adam Spencer, Director of AJ Fox Compliance


To discuss your career give us a call on 0207 117 2542, email your CV to jobs@ajfoxcompliance.com, or see our latest jobs here.

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