The Power Of Name Clearing

By: Wilson Cole
Date: 7/1/2008

I want to take a moment and share with you a disturbing trend that I am seeing more frequently. My company has collected well over 100 million dollars, which means I have seen just about every collection scenario imaginable, yet this particular scenario... a method of stealing placement fees...troubles me. Very few times in my collection career have I seen such a systematic approach, and within the last 6 months I have witnessed increasing incidents.

The approach to which I am referring looks something like this: The HR Director has to clear a name to make sure that they are not already talking to this candidate. On the surface, this appears to make sense; if you present a candidate and they have sent their resume out to hundreds of companies then there is always a chance that you could present someone that is already in the process of being considered. Here is the twist: They ask you for 48 hours to clear the name. Within that 48 hour period they go out and see if they can find the resume on the major job boards and contact them through the job board or they pass your candidate's resume to their "Favorite Recruiter" who will present the candidate at a later time. I have had over 24 collection accounts this year that would fall under the suspicion of this scenario. Out of these 24 suspicious accounts I have been able to confirm that over half of them occurred just as I described. So ask yourself, "Over the last 12 months, have I presented a candidate that was reportedly already in the system or submitted by another recruiter?" Were they ever really in their system or is this a sign for concern?

One thing I have learned along the way is that most people are honest and have character, even the ones who pass across my desk for collections. Most are good people who simply misjudged cash flow. Unfortunately, though, about 5% of cases passing through here are people who will try to beat the system every time they can.

Now that I have put a knot in your stomach I will share with you a very simple idea that will help protect you from such an occurrence. Have your candidate sign a statement saying that they are unaware of any available positions within the company you are presenting. This will prove effective in the event that you do not get paid and you need our help collecting, but, more importantly, it will help you collect the outstanding balance on your own without the need to retain my company.

So remember, if your client wants to clear a name, let them know that you have a signed document from the candidate stating that they are unaware of any position within the company. When done with tact, this strategy will reduce the risk of having your candidate stolen and protect you should it happen anyway.

If you would like to know if you have a client that has been sued then send an email to Wilson@aercollections.com and we will do a public record search and let you know within 48 hours if your debtor has done this to others.

While your debtor may have hundreds of excuses, they are no match for the Billion Dollar Man and his hand picked collection team.

Adams, Evens & Ross is a Inc 500 company with over 1500 recruiting & staffing clients. The company has grown to become the nations largest credit & collection firm that was built exclusively for the staffing & recruiting industry. Over the past 17 years Adams, Evens & Ross has collected or trained their clients to collect over 1 billion dollars in past due staffing & recruiting debt. In 2008 this resulted in the Recruiting & Staffing Solutions Magazine Editorial Staff naming Wilson the "Billion Dollar Man." Adams, Evens & Ross is the only collection agency endorsed by the United States Staffing Association. To contact Wilson Cole call 800-452-5287 ext. 6578, email to wilson@staffingdebt. com.

Wilson Cole, President, Adams, Evens & Ross The nations largest credit and collection firm for the employment industry

Wilson Cole
President, CEO
Adams, Evens & Ross, Inc.