When Do You Fire a Headhunter?

Captain Sarcastic writes "I have been a contract programmer for a few years (with some time off when a contract-for-hire paid off and made me a full-time employee). Currently, I'm between projects, but I'm a little worried about one of the contracting companies who's helping me. First off, a little history. "Zeke" (not his real name) was with ABC Contractors (not their real name) when I first met him, and he took my resume and started processing me through the jobs that ABC had available. A bit later, Zeke left, and his replacement Yvonne (standard disclaimer) submitted me to a company (call them "Acme") for a contract-for-hire. Everything looked like a good fit, and she E-mailed me a copy of the resume they submitted to Acme. Came the interview, I realized that Zeke had left out part of my history and had mis-dated other aspects, to keep me from appearing unemployed. Like an idiot, I tried to correct this at the interview, to find out that Acme had decided that I had fabricated all of my experience, and chewed out the rep for ABC for sending an unqualified applicant. Fine, learning experience for me — double-check what the contracting company says about you, and don't try to correct things in the middle of the interview." Read below for the rest of the story. What other difficulties have others gone through with headhunters and when is it time to leave one behind? A couple months later, Zeke contacted me from his new position with Blue-Sky Consultants (standard disclaimer), and sent me on a couple of interviews. Once again, I found out he'd "corrected" my resume — the same way he did with ABC. I raised the issue with him, and he apologized and said he'd correct the resume, and he's submitted me for other positions, but none seem to have gotten to the interview stage. I suspect that he's not trying very hard, and I wonder if he's soft-pedaling submissions for me to keep his own bosses from recognizing he'd altered my resume. So, I have the following questions:

1. Am I suspecting malice and/or clumsiness where a competitive market is the true suspect? (An answer of yes would be harder on my ego, but a relief.)
2. Do headhunters modify resumes, and if so, should I just shut up and go with what the headhunter says? (I was always told that eventually, the truth comes out, so I'd be uncomfortable doing that, but life isn't always comfortable.)
3. Should I tell Zeke to get lost and stay that way? (I was always told that making enemies unnecessarily was "considered harmful", but I get the impression that Zeke isn't a friend).
4. Have fellow Slashdotters dealt with similar situations?

Comments

Re:Personally I'd rather you were honest with me

[Jim Hall]

I agree with the parent. It's unfortunate, but sometimes headhunters mess about with the resume before sending it on. You can reduce the odds of this happening (somewhat) by only giving the headhunter a PDF copy of your resume. They'd have to re-type the resume to edit it, and many may be unwilling to go through the effort.

Definitely do bring copies of your resume with you to any interview, and if you find the resume they have in front of them is wrong correct it right away. Don't try to cover for the headhunter. In the original question, the submitter said he was an idiot to correct the resume during the interview - no, you weren't. As a hiring manager, I'd rather hear that the headhunter falsified your resume, than discover that you did.

If you find a headhunter has faked your resume, I'd drop him/her right away, and insist they no longer share your info with anyone. Limit the exposure. If it happens once, it will happen again.