CE Search Partners

I was contacted by CE Search Partners about a position that seemed to be a great fit. At first they were very responsive - getting back to be within an hour of any message I left them. In the process the prospective employer did a blind reference check. According to the CE recruiter someone "threw me under the bus." I was very surprised and wanted more information. Inevitably in a senior management position tough decisions have to be made and sometimes people feel slighted. I wanted a chance to at least address the concerns. But I was never able to get the recruiter to call me back. A good recruiter will, at a minimum, give you actionable feedback. A great recruiter will discuss the negative reference with you and help you get a chance to address it. I've discussed this with a number of my professional advisors and we're not sure if I was just column fodder, if the recruiter's comment was merely a smoke screen, or if the reference was in fact real. My advice is to stick with the big recruiting firms. They are in it for the long term and as a result are much more professional. If you are contacted by this firm my recommendation would be to go directly to the hiring company and take CESP out of the loop from the start.