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Long story short, I got in touch with a few firms in a local market last year, but things didn't work out at the time, and I'm staying with my original firm. At the time, I was working with a Headhunter A, and she was the one who got me in touch with the firms that I spoke with last year.

Recently, I was approached by Headhunter B with a good opportunity in the same local market, and I've started interviewing again.

Also recently, I received an email from a partner of one of the firms that I talked to. When we were in touch last year, they seemed to be interested in me, but they had a firm-wide hiring freeze because of the pandemic, so it didn't go further. Now, it sounds like they can hire again and they may want to interview me.

Now my question is, do I have to tell Headhunter A or Headhunter B or both about this? Trying to make sure that this is no ethic problem here, but also don't want to make (any of) my potential employer unhappy.

The Partner likely reached out to you because they can now hire you without paying that headhunter a fee, usually if it's been longer than six months. This could lead to you negotiating a higher salary for yourself (perfectly fine to mention that fact if you want to negotiate hard). I would go directly through the partner. Congratulations!

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 18, 2021 1:25 pm

The Partner likely reached out to you because they can now hire you without paying that headhunter a fee, usually if it's been longer than six months. This could lead to you negotiating a higher salary for yourself (perfectly fine to mention that fact if you want to negotiate hard). I would go directly through the partner. Congratulations!

OP here. Thank you so much for the response!

So if sufficient time has passed after I was first connected with the firm by the headhunter, we don't need to let the headhunter know this time. This is great to know.