By Paula Otero

Looking for work in this economy is challenging and fewer headhunters are knocking on our doors with good opportunities. But this is the very same reason that caution is important when working with a headhunter. Be aware of practices that can lead to time/money wasted or worst yet to the wrong job.

- Forced fit: Just like Cinderella’s stepsisters could not fit their feet into the glass slipper, a job too is designed with a certain shape/size of qualifications in mind. A headhunter who is on retainer gets his commission only when you are hired. Thus, a shortage of good-fit candidates may be replaced with here’s-a-warm-body. Oftentimes the job is not exclusively listed with them so they need to parade options to keep themselves top-of-mind with the client until the right person comes up.

- Nip-and-Tuck your resume: Key words will stand out to an employer and sometimes a headhunter will ask you to include those in your resume. This is fine if you already posses the general qualifications for the job but if the tweaking results in a re-purposing of your resume it goes into shaky practices and worst yet, land you a job you can’t sustain. I’ve seen endless cases of people who oversell their qualifications only to be called out and replaced shortly after. Honesty is the best policy when it comes to your job search; don’t be pressured into doing something you aren’t comfortable with.

- Double charging on fees: It doesn't matter if the agency is on retainer or contingency, either way, the employer pays the fee. The Association of Executive Search Consultants bans the practice of billing candidates for the job search. If any hidden fees creep up as “services” beware of doing business with that specific firm. Experts say the search should not cost you money.

- Oh, by the way, I already send them your resume! A headhunter should NEVER send your resume until you explicitly give your permission to do so. On one occasion, I caught a headhunter in a lie and realized she’d probably sent my resume before I approved her doing so. How do I know? She called and said “They really want to meet you, they love your background!” She denied sending it and skirted the issue. This is another practice banned by the AESC so beware.