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Q: Prudence – A question, if I may. I was contacted by a recruiter(A) about 9 months ago who set up an interview with a manufacturing company(P). I would rather like to work for company(P). After the interview, I heard nothing from recruiter(A) or company(P). Within a few days I was contacted by another company who then hired me for a contract position. As I was gainfully employed, I did not give the matter much further thought. That contract has been completed and I am in the market for a new job again. Another recruiter(B) contacted some days ago and after some discussions she felt like I would be a possible candidate for an open position that happened to be at the very same company(P). After informing recruiter(B) that I had already interviewed with company(P) represented by recruiter(A), she stated that it would be unethical for her to represent me with to company(P). Recruiter(A) is no longer with the firm he was at when he first contacted me and I have no real desire to try to track him down. My questions is, do I have an ethical right to pursue this opening on my own without regard to recruiter(B)? Opinions, please?

A: Unfortunately, we are up against this often, either through a candidate presenting themselves to a company (and the company not contacting the applicant) or in another recruiter presenting a candidate but then disappearing. As recruiters, there is no win in presenting candidates that a client is already aware of either because of ethics or because of the probability of a fee dispute. In the bigger picture, recruiter A is essentially out of business and recruiter B has bowed out, so you have nothing holding you back from moving forward on your own. I’d suggest that you had been presented on another opportunity through a recruiter months back but you’ve not been able to locate that person. That will put the onerous on the company to decide the ethics. Best of luck! Thanks, Prudence