Be loyal. If you find a productive search consultant, stick with them. Don't be a fair-weather client. When you need their services, call them. Don't re-educate a new consultant for every new opening you have. Constantly looking for a new consultant every time an opening occurs is like a one-night stand...dangerous and counterproductive to developing beneficial and meaningful relationships.

Be truthful. If you don't work with placers or recruiters, or if you only work with a select few, say so. Don't lead them on. If you do decide to work with a placer or recruiter, give them all the details of the assignment. If you turn a candidate down, tell your consultant the real reason why unless you want to keep looking at misfits. Time is too precious to waste...for both of you.

Be reasonable. Overstating needed qualifications or understating the salary dollars available just muddies up the waters. Don't require a Master's degree for a job needing a trade-school graduate.

Be accessible. Return phone calls promptly. Failure to do so can cost you a shot at the "perfect" candidate. Ignoring phone calls is a gambit reserved for dolts and egomaniacs. You never know when you may need a favour (or a job).

Don't over-control. Allow your consultants reasonable access to hiring managers. Departmental culture can only be discerned by direct contact with hiring supervisors or managers. Unless you know every job as well as your own (an impossibility), recognize that your consultant may have a better handle on the real qualifications than you do. After all, it should be you and your consultant against the problem: the unfilled opening which is costing your company money.

Don't be a tire-kicker. Don't give out speculative job openings or use consultants to supply you with sources of competitive market or salary information from candidates you have no intention of hiring.

Don't be a bargain-hunter. If you feel the fee for the service is too high or the guarantee period is too short, use another hiring alternative. You'll probably end up paying about the same with a lot more lost time and you won't get any tenure guarantee for a hire through the newspaper. "Blue-light specials" only exist at Kmart. A consultant's time and expertise is all they have to offer. If you find one who's willing to work for less, you can expect to get less of their time, and their expertise is probably second-rate.

Respect your consultant. No one knows more about the job market than a personnel consultant. No one! If your consultant tells you your candidate wish-list is unrealistic, he or she is probably right on target.

Be ethical. Attempting to avoid or evade a fee you owe can have devastatingly expensive repercussions. The last thing you or your company needs is to be on the target list of every recruiter in town.