D I was amused this morning with a ad on computerweekly jobs, yes I am looking for work this was a job for "Forensic / E-discovery Consultant - Manchester expanding private sector organisation is currently seeking a Data Forensics Technician/Data Collection/Recovery/E-Discovery Specialist to join their team in the Manchester", but what really caught my eye was that in the ad it also stated that they wanted "someone with a proven track record within a similar role and ideally be able to bring a bank of clients across". đŸ˜¯
roll So our industry where we insist that our people are CRB checked, Security Cleared, Witness cleared and even in their advertisement suggest should have knowledge of Rights of Civil Procedure, we are advertising for people to steal from there their existing employers, ofcourse they could be an independent consultants which is fair enough.
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I'm not naive and know it goes on and to a certain extent may have done my self - but please lets not it advertise so blatantly.
Agreed. I can't believe that made it into the job spec.
Jamie
whilst it is very surprising for the advert to be so up front about these requirements, I think it's a fact of life that , within the corporate sector, managers, senior managers etc , are employed for their contacts and knowledge of the market. It's not really stealing the clients (clients are free to choose any service supplyer they choose), it's using market knowledge and contacts to find ways into markets that other employees could not find. This exists in all corporate sales roles and it's logical that it should exist within computer forensics.
But most of the time, this goes unsaid rather than printed within the job advert
No that’s got me with the advert it was their honesty we only want you for your contacts. I wonder what other people think.
Is it fair to take clients with you when you change jobs? Is it fair for employers to ask you not to ?
But hey it gave me steady employment in ediscovery for a number years in my last company, looking for such trends. And ex employees had some seriously smart gardens when put on a three month gardening leave D .
Jezza,
It really depends. I've worked with others who've had clients follow them…the client didn't care who the tech worked for. The downside of this is that you can't walk into an interview and say, "I can bring over 20 clients" unless you've spoken to each of them, and told them of your leaving…and that in itself could be unethical.
I like this bit.
expected to have an excellent knowledge of litigation processes
If someone left my company who didnt have the knowledge of litigation processes required for the job and I subsequently found that they had taken a bank of my clients with them - then they would pretty quickly gain first hand experience.
That sort of investigation is pretty common and usually results in an a civil search order and if subsequently sucessful an injunction to prevent use.
I am completely surprised by the advert. Any such person should expect legal action as Sandy has said.
I have a bank of clients that I bring to any firm I am working at. These are not the "firm's" clients and I make that damn clear when I bring them in. These are "my" clients and they will probably go with me when I leave. My current firm is free to keep the business that is in-house when I leave but they can pretty much count on these people giving me and my new firm any new jobs. I use this bank of business as a selling point for my hiring.
If I'm reading that right, they want someone to come over, set up the lab, and bring their clients with them. Heck, if that's the case, you could just go into business for yourself, set up your own lab and keep the full value of the clients instead of maybe getting 1/3rd of the billable working for someone else. Of course your employment contract probably has a non-compete clause so you'd be wasting your time…..
Out of curiosity clownboy, were you originally freelance/self employed to get this 'bank of clients'?
I only ask, as surely it's little different to what's being discussed if you built up these clients at a particular firm, on their time, and are now taking them with you…?