How a recruiter handles boundaries tells you everything you need to know. Especially in a sector where everyone knows everyone.
The care sector is a small world – the interconnectedness is real, especially for those who have worked in it for years.
People move between organisations, follow old bosses, who become new bosses, sit on each other’s boards and turn up at the same conferences year after year. Reputations travel fast, and they last.
Recently, as part of a proposal process, we were asked a question: name three organisations you would not approach candidates from.
It’s a smart question, and I suspect it was designed to test something specific – do we poach the people we place?
It’s worth answering that question openly because it goes to the heart of how ethical search works.
Off-limits, and why it matters
Every reputable executive search firm operates with a concept of “off limits” – organisations and individuals we will not approach because of an existing or recent relationship.
We’re members of the RCSA – the peak body for recruitment professionals across Australia and New Zealand – and we operate under its code of practice, which sets clear expectations around ethical conduct. But honestly, the code just formalises what good sense and a long memory already dictate.
Agreeing the boundaries upfront
When we’re engaged for a search, one of the conversations we have early is about limits. Often, it’s obvious – we’re not going to approach someone we placed recently, and in most cases those people wouldn’t be right for the new role anyway. But naming it upfront, and revisiting it once we’ve mapped the market, means there are no awkward surprises halfway through a search.
It’s a small thing that signals a big thing. A recruiter who can clearly explain their off-limits logic is a recruiter who’s thought carefully about how they operate. One who can’t may be improvising more than you’d like.
Candidates are asking “is this clean?”
It’s not just recruiters who have to be aware of the potential for conflicts of interest. More and more, we’re noticing that senior candidates are increasingly alert to this. Before they ask about salary, they want to know the process has integrity. Is this confidential? Is our conversation confidential? Can I trust you with this?
They ask because they’ve learned they have to. Sadly, a lot of conversations in this sector aren’t as confidential as they should be. When a senior leader rings us in confidence, that discretion is absolute and the fact that candidates now actively check for it tells you something about the state of the market.
It also tells you what the best candidates are really looking for in a search partner. Not the glossiest brand or the biggest network. Someone they can trust with the most sensitive career decisions they’ll ever make.
The bottom line
Ethical search isn’t a constraint on good recruitment. It’s the foundation of it. The boundaries, the confidentiality, the willingness to have the awkward conversation – these are the things that make senior people willing to engage with you in the first place.
So, here’s a question worth asking any recruitment partner before you engage them: can you explain your off-limits approach, clearly and without hesitation?
If they can, you’ve learned something reassuring about how they’ll treat you. And if they can’t, it’s worth wondering what else they’re making up as they go.
At PJ Recruitment & Executive Search, trust is the foundation of everything we do. If you want an executive search partner to help you find your next leader, we’d love to talk.