Do headhunters send out your CV without informing you first?

A disgruntled candidate writes:

And I don't even believe you called me to say you were passing my CV along; isn't that something headhunters should do?

Interesting question and perhaps something that needs to be addressed.

Different firms may have different policies; at Pronexia, our standard procedure is to not send your resume to a client without consulting you first. We do not position ourselves as the recruitment firm that sends out the most CVs and simply do not want to waste anyone’s time. For that reason, we call you prior to presenting your candidacy to ensure that you are indeed still available and that the position in question is of interest to you.

Our very rare exception is with candidates whom we have known for an extensive period of time and have a thorough 100% understanding of their ideal position, work environment, corporate culture, and so forth. In these rare cases, we do take the liberty of presenting their profiles and scheduling interviews accordingly.

Within our office, however, we share resumes and contact lists constantly. If a colleague has a position that could be a good fit for one of my contacts, I will provide him (or her) with said contact’s information immediately. Our number one objective – and differentiating advantage from other firms – is our speed. If I were to call my contacts to inform them that one of my colleagues would be calling them it would be time consuming and would unnecessarily stall the process.

So, with the aim of full disclosure – please know that your information is kept completely confidential from any 3rd party until you provide us with your consent to move forward, yet is shared constantly within the walls of Pronexia.