This Past January I was in the fortunate position of placing a candidate per week for 3 out of 4 consecutive weeks.

Two candidates, and one client company, were so excited and enthusiastic about the results they had experienced from using IRES, Inc.’s recruiting services, that they wanted to know “where can I post a testimonial for you guys … I want to write something up for you…”.

While this might sound crazy, I actually discouraged all three from writing any letters of reference or testimonial about our great recruiting and placement experience we had all just experienced.

One management professional wanted to post a testimonial on my LinkedIn page. I talked him out of it. Same goes for the other. As for the company I told the CEO, “If I ever need you I will let you know and we can always have a letter on hand for when we need such?”

Why, you might ask, did I not want anything written up on LinkedIn? Because for every testimonial there’s a burned bridge of opportunity I would rather leave standing.

One candidate’s praise about “how quickly” IRES’ recruiting services connected him with a job, could be an employer I can no longer reach out to or consider doing business with. While I might be able to overcome “previous recruiting” objections from the employer’s ranks, it makes it difficult to woo a new client if he/she sees IRES was recruiting from their company previously.

Different managers see this in different ways of course and whether or not a company that successfully recruited your talent out is your best potential friend or foe is purely subjective. I know many executives that actually prefer to use search firms that have recruited talent out of the same company’s ranks – for the belief that search firm is probably best poised to position individuals into the company. Also a friend can no longer be a foe so once you bring your former foe into the “friendship fold” it may be that is one less company likely to go after your people.

But others see it differently. I prefer to leave references off our website and off social networks. If someone wants to click “like” on Facebook … fine. It doesn’t mean much. But a testimonial on LinkedIn means the company that professional resigned from may be a challenge for us to work with in the future.

Not to mention the prying eyes of competitors, gossip-mongers, industry rumor mill mavens that will further exaggerate or distort what’s to be interpreted by a testimonial.

If a company provides a letter of reference I keep it handy in a digital folder. It’s used only when necessary. But it never goes up on the website.

I believe our discretion, attention to confidentiality is precisely why many of my clients like returning to me time after time as they know nothing about our work relationships will be broadcast. Yes I can make a mistake here or there – but for the most part I treat our relationships with confidentiality and that keeps everyone a lot happier.

So I turned down two offers for what would have been well-written, well-deserved, praised and kudos on LinkedIn – so as to not offend the companies either candidate resigned from.

Boasting about specific placements can at times pin you into a corner more so than keeping a low profile and not saying anything.

Think carefully about what gets posted online and if it will do more harm than good.

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BIOGRAPHY

Within two years after leaving the corporate world for the search industry Frank Risalvato was earning $21,000 single fees – rivaling his previous annual salary on a semi-monthly basis. He founded www.iresinc.com, the search firm he continues to operate today. Today his fees average $37,500 and he works on multiple positions in the $150k range monthly. His recruiter training site now features his newest book “A Manager’s Guide To Maximizing Search Firm Success”. Click the preceding link or the book cover below for the amazon.com order page and buy a handful to share with your clients. 704-243-2110.

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