By Liz Ryan

Sometime during your professional career, chances are that you've been placed into a job, interviewed by, or hired an executive-search professional (commonly known as a headhunter). Both job seekers and hiring managers rely on search firms the way home sellers and buyers rely on real estate agents -- as experts who can help them get what they want.

We look to search folks to tell us what's happening in the market -- how our skills and job prospects compare with everyone else's, for instance, or the latest enticements for attracting desirable candidates. Certainly, search consultants can be much more than simple job-fillers: As a hiring manager and human-resources exec, I used my search buddies as trusted go-betweens on sensitive issues (compensation, relocation) that a job candidate wouldn't feel comfortable broaching with me. Most of the time, competent search professionals earn their commissions, and then some.

Now that we've sung their praises, let's discuss some real-world problems that are inherent in working with headhunters.

SEARCHING OR SPAMMING?  The search profession, although greatly transformed from the "I-got-a-guy-who-knows-a-guy" industry of a decade ago, is still riddled with less-than-sensational performers and questionable business practices. For both job hunters and people on the hiring side of the equation, it's critical to evaluate a search firm or individual recruiter carefully before starting a relationship. Here's why.

As a job seeker, you may believe there's no downside to passing along your résumë to a recruiter, be it someone you know well or a go-getter who plucked your curriculum vitae off Monster.com. This would be a big mistake. Once you've given a headhunter a go-ahead to represent you, he or she can spam every employer in town with your résumë. This could include companies that have had unpleasant dealings with this recruiter -- and have vowed never to consider one of his or her candidates again. As far as that employer goes, you're toast.

Or let's say an employer has a job opening listed on a Web site or in the paper. If a headhunter you've authorized to represent you gives the company your résumë before your own response to its help-wanted ad arrives, the company won't deal with you directly. That's because if it hires you, it'll owe the search person a fee. The hiring manager may like your résumë, but not enough to pay a fee, when plenty of qualified candidates may be available without a fee. If you're "owned" by the search guy, then it's too bad for you.

LOST OPPORTUNITY.  Here's another cautionary scenario: You're working with a headhunter. You interview with a company. The company likes you, but doesn't like the fee (a percentage of your first year's salary) that the recruiter proposes. Maybe the local average is 22% of a first-year salary, and this recruiter wants 30%. He's betting on your terrific résumë and interviewing abilities to close the deal and garner his premium. But that doesn't work. The company wants you, but you don't get the job.

I have a good friend who lost a job opportunity because of a relationship with the wrong headhunter. The search guy was preoccupied and didn't return phone calls from the company. Another candidate (or headhunter) did, and the job was gone. So it behooves you, as a job candidate, to choose your recruiter(s) carefully.

Ask a lot of questions before you sign on with a search person. If he or she suggests that yours will be an exclusive relationship, bolt -- because there's no such thing. No one owns you, and you can work with as many search people as you like.

SKETCHY CHARACTERS.  You need to know the distinction between retained search firms and contingency firms, too. Retained search firms contract to fill positions for an employer for a fee (let's say 33% of the first-year salary), just as a strategy-consulting firm would contract to perform strategy work. Contingency firms lob résumës into the human-resources or hiring-manager's office, and get paid only if one of their candidates is hired.

I've had hugely successful relationships with both retained and contingency search partners. One is not by definition better than the other. But in general, in my experience, the contingency field is more heavily populated with sketchy characters.

It's ridiculously easy to go into business as a contingency recruiter. Basically, a phone, fax machine, and modem are all you need -- plus a business card. As a hiring manager, I've been unhappy with retained search firms at times, but I've never taken one to court. Wish I could say the same for contingency firms, which have on occasion tried to bill me for job candidates whose résumës they forwarded without the candidates' permission.

PASS OR PAY UP.  On the opposite side, hiring managers and corporate recruiters also need to take precautions with headhunters. For one, accepting résumës from any old search guy is bound to get you into trouble. The most common problem is when a trusted supplier, customer, or employee brings in a hot résumë. "You should really interview Pauline," the suggestion usually goes. "She's terrific."

O.K., her résumë looks great, so you do it. But wait! Pauline was undiscriminating enough to also give her résumë to the most fly-by-night headhunter in town, whose fax records show that he faxed it to your company the day before you received the résumë from Pauline. She's great, but did you intend to spend that much money to hire such a person? Suddenly, that's your choice: Pass on Pauline, or pay up.

Lastly, take a close look at the "hands-off" language in any contingency or retained search agreement. Often, it'll specify that, once a candidate is placed into your company by the firm, the search company can't call into your company to locate candidates, or otherwise lure away anyone who works for you, for at least six months. That short a term is baloney. You should negotiate a longer "hands-off" period, or don't do the contract at all.

ASK QUESTIONS.  If you're the job seeker, you may want to stay in regular touch with your trusted search friend, to keep up with the market and talk about how your career is going. But you don't want to be used like a hot stock that gets moved from portfolio to portfolio. If the headhunter is too quick to argue that the grass is greener at Company X, think twice about continuing the relationship.

Like so many relationships in business and in life, the search-professional relationship can have a positive impact on your confidence and success, or it can cause you trouble and missed opportunities. Use your common sense and instincts to pick a person who has your best interests in mind -- and don't be afraid to ask questions.

One more thing: For politeness' sake, don't use the term "headhunter" in front of the search person, at least not at your first meeting. Some of them are a little sensitive about that!