Reverse Recruitment: Can You Really Hire a Recruiter to Find You a Job?

Reverse recruitment—is this event a thing? We often receive messages from job seekers asking for help in securing new roles. While we completely understand the challenges of job searching, especially in the games industry, it’s important to clarify how recruitment agencies operate.

What Is “Reverse Recruitment”?

The concept of reverse recruitment involves individuals or services that, for a fee, actively seek job opportunities on behalf of job seekers, sometimes even submitting applications without the candidate’s direct involvement. While this approach might seem advantageous, it carries several significant concerns. The biggest one being: it may not be legal.

How Do Recruitment Agencies Operate?

Recruitment agencies typically operate on a business-to-business (B2B) model, working directly with companies to help them identify and hire suitable talent. Our role is to source and present candidates for specific roles based on the client’s hiring needs.

It’s also important to note that it would be highly unusual—and in many cases legally questionable—for a recruitment agency to offer both B2B recruitment services and B2C “reverse recruitment” services (proactively searching for jobs on behalf of individuals). These models have conflicting interests and could put an agency at the edge of legal and ethical compliance.

For this reason, approaching a recruitment agency as a job seeker and asking them to conduct a proactive job search on your behalf is unlikely to bring results, as it’s simply not how recruitment agencies are structured to operate.

Why We Advise Caution with Reverse Recruitment

While the concept of reverse recruitment may seem appealing at first—saving you time and effort—it comes with serious caveats and risks.

Legal Framework

In many places, it’s illegal to charge candidates for job placement services. For example, the UK’s Employment Agencies Act bans such fees, except for optional services like CV writing or career advice, which are not directly tied to the recruitment process. In Canada and the EU, similar rules exist under national labor laws, ensuring job seekers don’t have to pay for recruitment services. Any paid services offered by recruiters must be optional, unrelated to the hiring process, and available to purchase separately.

In the US, the legality of charging job seekers fees varies by state and is often governed by state labor laws. Some states may allow such fees under specific conditions (eg. some government agencies may charge application fees to offset hiring costs), while others prohibit them entirely.

Using services that charge for finding you a job could unintentionally involve you in illegal practices. Always check your local laws before agreeing to a reverse recruitment deal.

Authenticity and Employer Expectations

For game studios, hiring isn’t just about your skillset. It’s also about your genuine interest in joining their team. Employers value candidates who demonstrate initiative, passion, and a clear understanding of the company’s culture and goals. Transparency is equally important. Employers expect direct engagement with candidates to build trust and understand their motivations.

When someone else applies on your behalf, it can signal a lack of personal investment, which may harm your chances of being considered. In some cases, if a studio discovers a third party has applied on your behalf without proper disclosure, it could raise red flags and potentially harm your professional reputation.

“Okay, so why do companies hire recruitment agencies in the first place?”, you may ask. Employers use recruitment agencies not to replace their involvement but to streamline the hiring process while staying actively engaged.

Agencies assist by sourcing qualified candidates, but hiring managers still play a crucial role in evaluating and selecting talent. And they want to get to know you, not your proxy.

Quality of Representation

This might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s worth emphasizing to ensure we’re on the same page. Paying someone to represent you doesn’t guarantee they’ll accurately convey your skills, goals, and personality. In fact, nobody can showcase your passion and potential better than you can.

In today’s competitive gamedev job market, there’s no room for missed opportunities or second chances at a first impression. Tailoring your resume to align with a specific job post is essential. If the person you hire to represent you and apply for roles on your behalf isn’t from the gamedev industry, how can they know which of your past projects are most relevant to highlight? Will they even understand the nuances, like the difference between game engines or the significance of your contributions to certain titles?

Moreover, if you’ve worked on projects under NDA, you won’t be able to disclose those details to a third party. This means they can’t properly refer to or highlight key aspects of your experience—something you yourself could explain and present with the right balance of discretion and impact. This lack of direct knowledge and industry expertise can significantly weaken your application.

High Costs with Uncertain Outcomes

Reverse recruitment services can be expensive, with no guarantee of success. Paying someone to submit job applications on your behalf doesn’t automatically lead to meaningful connections with employers or opportunities aligned with your career goals. If a studio is under a hiring freeze, the likelihood of a reverse recruiter being able to “unlock all the doors” for you is, unfortunately, quite slim.

“The Current Job Market” vs Reverse Recruitment

We’ve mentioned “especially in the current job market” multiple times in this article because it’s the reality—job searching in gamedev (and not only in gamedev) is incredibly tough right now. We understand that this can make people more open to exploring less conventional paths, like reverse recruitment. That’s exactly why we felt it was important to explain how these practices might be perceived by future employers and to offer a broader perspective.

Make informed decisions—and if you’re on the lookout, don’t forget to check out our current open roles.