Headhunters Working on Behalf of Firm
Am certified user, this is throwaway account.
Is it likely or even possible that your firm could be using headhunters reaching out to you on their behalf to figure out if you are a flight risk (and therefore adjust your bonus accordingly?) Or am I just being paranoid?
It should be pretty obvious which headhunter your firm uses by default to hire people. I am pretty sure the headhunters have contractual exclusivity, so doubt your firm would be able to use a different headhunter to try to trap you.
Also I doubt a headhunter would be willing to do that for a firm, especially when they would not be getting paid in that scenario, and also the reputational risk if it ever got out. No candidate would ever want to work with them again in the future.
this is not true. Citadel, Pt72 and all the MMs use multiple headhunter firms.
Its unlikely a headhunter would knowingly do this but its very possible for HR within the firm to do this.
Interesting proposition.
Have heard some stories about how quant funds/HFT's do this b/c they're worried about you taking secrets out of the company.
But I would not put this past management. You are right to be wary.
Another thing is when you're interviewing with a firm, then that firms tells your current boss/makes inquiries, whether intentionally or not, that results in an awkward work environment.
The last point is very frustrating...have had a few opportunities blown up by this. I always tell interviewers they are welcome to use my current boss as a reference but prefer they wait until an offer has been made, and in the meantime are free to use anyone else as a reference. Of course, things can always get out unintentionally.
yes, furthermore when the interview is more of a "find out your firm's secrets" rather than a real interview and then they tell your boss deliberately.
I try to sniff headhunter bullshit out, but very hard to do so when so many funds are using headhunters.
Could you clarify what you mean by "had a few opportunities blown up by this"? Did interviewers talk to your boss and then get cold feet or something?
Yeah so my asset class is a fairly small world and all the guys who've been around a while know each other. So when my resume landed on the desk of a guy who happened to be a long-time friend of my boss he calls him up and asks if its cool to chat with me as a courtesy, and when my boss said ok he interpreted that as I must not be a good analyst if my boss is ok with losing me. A similar early stage check in with my boss resulted in him telling the fund they couldn't talk to me because he didn't think the firm would be a good place for my growth. I have a fairly close relationship with my boss, and he knows I'm looking around and supports it. I think he does have my best interest in mind, but instances like this are annoying because I'd like to go through the process and decide for myself. However, I have limited room to complain because it is a pretty cool setup to feel like I can interview relatively freely without my firm feeling like I'm slacking on work / risk of getting fired.
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This is excellent advice.
Also headhunters can feel out how desperate you are. Not to mention unscrupulous bosses/HR announcing to the world you are interviewing. I've had one PM I was interviewing with call up a former boss without my permission because they figured out who it was from my resume, I'm almost certain I've had another PM I worked for figure out I was looking elsewhere from the headhunter I was using.
Framing the conversations as happy at my job and happy to chat is great. But then how do you answer why are you looking to move? What if the other side feel like they're just wasting their time?
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