Two recruiters put you forward for the same job: what happens, and how to avoid it

Why a double submission can cost you the job

Agencies are paid by the employer when someone they introduced is hired. When your CV arrives from two agencies, the employer can face two claims for one hire, and which one it accepts depends on its own terms with each agency, which you will never see. For an employer with a pile of good applicants, the simplest way out of that argument is to move on to the next CV.

That is why recruiters ask "has anyone else put you forward for this?", and why the same answer from you to both matters. It is rarely a judgement on you. It is a paperwork problem, and the faster it is sorted, the less it costs.

How it usually comes to light

You will not always be told. When you are, it tends to happen in one of these ways:

• a recruiter calls to say the employer already has your CV from someone else;
• a second agency rings about a role you know is already in, and mentions they sent your CV "last week";
• the employer, or its in-house recruiter, contacts you and asks which agency you are working with;
• the same role turns up advertised by two agencies, and you realise you said yes to both on the phone.

The last is the most common, and nobody did anything wrong: it is easy to say "sure, send it" to two friendly calls in a busy week. What matters now is what you do next.

If it has already happened: the first day

Do these in order, in writing, the same day if you can.

1. Get the facts. Ask each agency which employer and role they sent your CV to, and on what date. Email is best, because it gives you a dated record.
2. Check what you agreed. Look back through your messages. Did you say yes to each agency for this employer, by name, before they sent it?
3. Stop it spreading. Tell both agencies not to send your CV anywhere else without asking you first and naming the employer.
4. Decide who carries on, and tell both (below).

If an agency sent your CV without asking you, the Privacy Act 2020 is on your side. Under information privacy principle 11, an organisation holding your personal information generally cannot disclose it unless that is one of the purposes it was collected for, or you authorised it. You can also ask any agency for the information it holds about you, including where your CV went. It must respond within 20 working days, and the Privacy Commissioner says organisations should not usually charge for this. If you are not satisfied, start with the agency's privacy officer, then the Privacy Commissioner.

Choosing which agency carries on

If you only agreed to one agency, that is your answer. If you agreed to both, the usual choice is the one that put you forward first, because that is the record the employer already holds. Be straight with both: playing them off against each other, or going around them both to the employer, can turn two introductions into three.

To the agency that keeps your application:

To the agency you are asking to step back:

If the employer contacts you directly, give the same answer: which agency you agreed to, and that you have asked the other to withdraw. Then leave the agencies and the employer to settle it. If you are also in the running for a different role at the same employer, that is a separate application, and our article on applying for two jobs at the same company covers how two applications read side by side.

Next time: one question, and one list

Prevention fits in one question, asked before every submission: "Which employer is it, and can you check with me before my CV goes to them?" Our guide to working with recruitment agencies has the full routine, a short message to send each agency the first time you deal with them, and what to ask a recruiter.

The other half is a list of who represents you where: the agency, the recruiter, the employer, the role, the date and the CV version, written down the day it happens. Checked before you say yes to the next call, it catches the clash before it starts.

In jobtracker.co.nz, each job has a "Represented by" field for the agency, and the Contacts page lists every agency with the roles it has put you forward for and how far each has got, beside the recruiters you deal with. With On the Move, a job shows a warning when another agency already has you in front of the same employer on an open application. You can see an agency with two roles on the Contacts page when you open the demo, which needs no account.

Keep every submission on one board