Very odd recruiter tactic
Discussion
I had a very odd email the other day. In summary, a recruiter wanted me to come for a meeting with one of their "senior people", around an hour away - and could I come the next day, which was a working day.
I responded that I'd be OK to have a phone conversation to discuss whatever they were contacting me about. The next day I got a phone call asking if I could come for a meeting the following working day. Again, I said I'd be happy to have an initial call, but no, he offered an evening meeting.
I asked if they actually had an opportunity - he said he hadn't, because they worked on unadvertised roles as they came up.
Now, if I were in between jobs I may have gone, but why would anyone expect me to go for a meeting with a company I've never heard of, with no initial meaningful contact, with no role?
I don't get it. Anyone else had this? What's the game - it can't be just CV harvesting surely?
I responded that I'd be OK to have a phone conversation to discuss whatever they were contacting me about. The next day I got a phone call asking if I could come for a meeting the following working day. Again, I said I'd be happy to have an initial call, but no, he offered an evening meeting.
I asked if they actually had an opportunity - he said he hadn't, because they worked on unadvertised roles as they came up.
Now, if I were in between jobs I may have gone, but why would anyone expect me to go for a meeting with a company I've never heard of, with no initial meaningful contact, with no role?
I don't get it. Anyone else had this? What's the game - it can't be just CV harvesting surely?
It could be that the recruiter is targeted to arrange a certain number of meetings regardless of quality or you have organisations on your CV they want to target.
Chances are they would probably tell you they have a suitable role etc having spoken to you and try to get you to explain your previous roles in more detail.
Them - "Oh yeah, project manager at Accenture. We work closely with them, made loads of placements. Were you working under Dave Smith!? Great guy".
You - "No, it was Mike Jones. Dave Smith doesn't ring a bell but could've worked in the other team with Sam Thomas"
Recruiter walks out of the meeting with an hour off the phones, a meeting to tell his manager about and the names of a few senior managers in your previous roles to hassle at the first opportunity.
You walk out with hours of your life you'll never get back, not opportunities and unwittingly annoying your previous hiring managers.
Maybe I am just a cynic.
Chances are they would probably tell you they have a suitable role etc having spoken to you and try to get you to explain your previous roles in more detail.
Them - "Oh yeah, project manager at Accenture. We work closely with them, made loads of placements. Were you working under Dave Smith!? Great guy".
You - "No, it was Mike Jones. Dave Smith doesn't ring a bell but could've worked in the other team with Sam Thomas"
Recruiter walks out of the meeting with an hour off the phones, a meeting to tell his manager about and the names of a few senior managers in your previous roles to hassle at the first opportunity.
You walk out with hours of your life you'll never get back, not opportunities and unwittingly annoying your previous hiring managers.
Maybe I am just a cynic.
It's very odd. They could have tried the "address book harvesting" over the phone, I just couldn't understand why there was no offer of contact other than a physical meeting. Even more strange, they don't have my CV unless they pulled an old one from Monster, I'm not actually looking for a job (but if something tasty came up, well you know...), so I just don't know what they'd gain from this tactic rather than the usual recruiter cold calling.
FrankAbagnale said:
It could be that the recruiter is targeted to arrange a certain number of meetings regardless of quality or you have organisations on your CV they want to target.
Chances are they would probably tell you they have a suitable role etc having spoken to you and try to get you to explain your previous roles in more detail.
Them - "Oh yeah, project manager at Accenture. We work closely with them, made loads of placements. Were you working under Dave Smith!? Great guy".
You - "No, it was Mike Jones. Dave Smith doesn't ring a bell but could've worked in the other team with Sam Thomas"
Recruiter walks out of the meeting with an hour off the phones, a meeting to tell his manager about and the names of a few senior managers in your previous roles to hassle at the first opportunity.
You walk out with hours of your life you'll never get back, not opportunities and unwittingly annoying your previous hiring managers.
Maybe I am just a cynic.
Cynical but somewhat trueChances are they would probably tell you they have a suitable role etc having spoken to you and try to get you to explain your previous roles in more detail.
Them - "Oh yeah, project manager at Accenture. We work closely with them, made loads of placements. Were you working under Dave Smith!? Great guy".
You - "No, it was Mike Jones. Dave Smith doesn't ring a bell but could've worked in the other team with Sam Thomas"
Recruiter walks out of the meeting with an hour off the phones, a meeting to tell his manager about and the names of a few senior managers in your previous roles to hassle at the first opportunity.
You walk out with hours of your life you'll never get back, not opportunities and unwittingly annoying your previous hiring managers.
Maybe I am just a cynic.
mr_spock said:
It's very odd. They could have tried the "address book harvesting" over the phone, I just couldn't understand why there was no offer of contact other than a physical meeting. Even more strange, they don't have my CV unless they pulled an old one from Monster, I'm not actually looking for a job (but if something tasty came up, well you know...), so I just don't know what they'd gain from this tactic rather than the usual recruiter cold calling.
Probably more buy in from an applicant if they get you in a meeting room. But, as I said it could be down to KPIs and the pressure the recruiter is under to hit their meeting targets. mr_spock said:
I asked if they actually had an opportunity - he said he hadn't, because they worked on unadvertised roles as they came up.
Sounds like a pitch from interexec... "we work on placing senior people into unadvertised roles"... we just need to refined your pitch - our consultation fee is £3k... Yes, I still get spam from CV rewriting places and executive placement firms: "Our Senior Director, Mr Biggs, has come across your profile online and would welcome the opportunity to speak with you"
Strangely I have never had a call from the firms sending this spam when seeking candidates ... nor have any HR people with whom I have worked ever used one of them to locate an employee.
Strangely I have never had a call from the firms sending this spam when seeking candidates ... nor have any HR people with whom I have worked ever used one of them to locate an employee.
Flooble said:
Yes, I still get spam from CV rewriting places and executive placement firms: "Our Senior Director, Mr Biggs, has come across your profile online and would welcome the opportunity to speak with you"
Strangely I have never had a call from the firms sending this spam when seeking candidates ... nor have any HR people with whom I have worked ever used one of them to locate an employee.
Quite. We don't touch them with a barge pole.Strangely I have never had a call from the firms sending this spam when seeking candidates ... nor have any HR people with whom I have worked ever used one of them to locate an employee.
"Hidden network of unadvertised senior roles" = BS
mr_spock]I took another look at the mail I got. The company's web site is http://www[.]apollo[.]eu[. said:
com/ if anyone wants to look.
I strongly urge anyone to NOT click on that link unless you want to compromise your machine or network.https://www.virustotal.com/en/url/46baabfe58324701...
Edited by acd80 on Monday 21st March 12:20
Vaud said:
mr_spock said:
I asked if they actually had an opportunity - he said he hadn't, because they worked on unadvertised roles as they came up.
Sounds like a pitch from interexec... "we work on placing senior people into unadvertised roles"... we just need to refined your pitch - our consultation fee is £3k... He went, since he didn't have much to lose - but it was a waste of time, and from memory I believe they wanted him to cough up a "registration fee".
Edited by davek_964 on Wednesday 23 March 12:36
I get regular emails and calls from a nice sounding lady from a company with three letter name, but part of a group named for the moon landing programme.
A senior manager has always seen my CV and knows he can find me a job found in the secret unadvertised network of mid to high level executive job vacancies.
He then tosses my details to his overworked Business Partner who has the thankless task of trying to book appointments with suitable candidates.
A couple of years back, I was in the market for new work I arranged an appointment after being contacted, sounds like a good idea to me. During the couple of days before I went to meet them, I received another identical email from the lady I had just spoken to. It started to seem a bit fishy, like industrialised spam, so did a google search on the company.
On reading people's experiences, it seemed a waste of time, after a lengthy but pointless consultation, they expected you to pay up front for opportunities to be sent your way, give you interview and CV reviews etc. Not somethign I felt I needed. I couldn't find anyone who rated the service or had actually found work using this company either.
So I cancelled my appointment, and at to their credit least they were quite nice about that. A job was found via a more traditional agent, who didn't make me any promises or ask me for any money (they get their cut later).
A senior manager has always seen my CV and knows he can find me a job found in the secret unadvertised network of mid to high level executive job vacancies.
He then tosses my details to his overworked Business Partner who has the thankless task of trying to book appointments with suitable candidates.
A couple of years back, I was in the market for new work I arranged an appointment after being contacted, sounds like a good idea to me. During the couple of days before I went to meet them, I received another identical email from the lady I had just spoken to. It started to seem a bit fishy, like industrialised spam, so did a google search on the company.
On reading people's experiences, it seemed a waste of time, after a lengthy but pointless consultation, they expected you to pay up front for opportunities to be sent your way, give you interview and CV reviews etc. Not somethign I felt I needed. I couldn't find anyone who rated the service or had actually found work using this company either.
So I cancelled my appointment, and at to their credit least they were quite nice about that. A job was found via a more traditional agent, who didn't make me any promises or ask me for any money (they get their cut later).
The moment you see 'CV Review', 'unadvertised job market', or someone who wants an upfront fee to find you a job, run away - fast.
Legit recruiters will ask you to tailor your CV for a specific vacancy, but they won't charge to review it.
'Unadvertised jobs' translates to, "We don't have any real jobs, but we'll take as much of your time and money while we try to convince you that we have"
Legit recruiters will ask you to tailor your CV for a specific vacancy, but they won't charge to review it.
'Unadvertised jobs' translates to, "We don't have any real jobs, but we'll take as much of your time and money while we try to convince you that we have"
Potatoes said:
FrankAbagnale said:
It could be that the recruiter is targeted to arrange a certain number of meetings regardless of quality or you have organisations on your CV they want to target.
Chances are they would probably tell you they have a suitable role etc having spoken to you and try to get you to explain your previous roles in more detail.
Them - "Oh yeah, project manager at Accenture. We work closely with them, made loads of placements. Were you working under Dave Smith!? Great guy".
You - "No, it was Mike Jones. Dave Smith doesn't ring a bell but could've worked in the other team with Sam Thomas"
Recruiter walks out of the meeting with an hour off the phones, a meeting to tell his manager about and the names of a few senior managers in your previous roles to hassle at the first opportunity.
You walk out with hours of your life you'll never get back, not opportunities and unwittingly annoying your previous hiring managers.
Maybe I am just a cynic.
Cynical but somewhat trueChances are they would probably tell you they have a suitable role etc having spoken to you and try to get you to explain your previous roles in more detail.
Them - "Oh yeah, project manager at Accenture. We work closely with them, made loads of placements. Were you working under Dave Smith!? Great guy".
You - "No, it was Mike Jones. Dave Smith doesn't ring a bell but could've worked in the other team with Sam Thomas"
Recruiter walks out of the meeting with an hour off the phones, a meeting to tell his manager about and the names of a few senior managers in your previous roles to hassle at the first opportunity.
You walk out with hours of your life you'll never get back, not opportunities and unwittingly annoying your previous hiring managers.
Maybe I am just a cynic.
Treat recruitment consultants as being having the same moral standing as politicians and you won't go far wrong.
In the traditional model, always worth remembering that you're the product they're trying to sell. They have as much concern for the product they're selling as your local newsagent cares about the newspaper he's selling you.
That said; I'd still run from a recruitment company that asked me to pay for their services
That said; I'd still run from a recruitment company that asked me to pay for their services
FrankAbagnale said:
It could be that the recruiter is targeted to arrange a certain number of meetings regardless of quality or you have organisations on your CV they want to target.
Chances are they would probably tell you they have a suitable role etc having spoken to you and try to get you to explain your previous roles in more detail.
Them - "Oh yeah, project manager at Accenture. We work closely with them, made loads of placements. Were you working under Dave Smith!? Great guy".
You - "No, it was Mike Jones. Dave Smith doesn't ring a bell but could've worked in the other team with Sam Thomas"
Recruiter walks out of the meeting with an hour off the phones, a meeting to tell his manager about and the names of a few senior managers in your previous roles to hassle at the first opportunity.
You walk out with hours of your life you'll never get back, not opportunities and unwittingly annoying your previous hiring managers.
Maybe I am just a cynic.
I'm pretty sure all that information could be gleaned over the course of a phone call rather than having to see you in person... unless they wanted to assess the cut of your jib or see if you smell bad... Chances are they would probably tell you they have a suitable role etc having spoken to you and try to get you to explain your previous roles in more detail.
Them - "Oh yeah, project manager at Accenture. We work closely with them, made loads of placements. Were you working under Dave Smith!? Great guy".
You - "No, it was Mike Jones. Dave Smith doesn't ring a bell but could've worked in the other team with Sam Thomas"
Recruiter walks out of the meeting with an hour off the phones, a meeting to tell his manager about and the names of a few senior managers in your previous roles to hassle at the first opportunity.
You walk out with hours of your life you'll never get back, not opportunities and unwittingly annoying your previous hiring managers.
Maybe I am just a cynic.
vsonix said:
FrankAbagnale said:
It could be that the recruiter is targeted to arrange a certain number of meetings regardless of quality or you have organisations on your CV they want to target.
Chances are they would probably tell you they have a suitable role etc having spoken to you and try to get you to explain your previous roles in more detail.
Them - "Oh yeah, project manager at Accenture. We work closely with them, made loads of placements. Were you working under Dave Smith!? Great guy".
You - "No, it was Mike Jones. Dave Smith doesn't ring a bell but could've worked in the other team with Sam Thomas"
Recruiter walks out of the meeting with an hour off the phones, a meeting to tell his manager about and the names of a few senior managers in your previous roles to hassle at the first opportunity.
You walk out with hours of your life you'll never get back, not opportunities and unwittingly annoying your previous hiring managers.
Maybe I am just a cynic.
I'm pretty sure all that information could be gleaned over the course of a phone call rather than having to see you in person... unless they wanted to assess the cut of your jib or see if you smell bad... Chances are they would probably tell you they have a suitable role etc having spoken to you and try to get you to explain your previous roles in more detail.
Them - "Oh yeah, project manager at Accenture. We work closely with them, made loads of placements. Were you working under Dave Smith!? Great guy".
You - "No, it was Mike Jones. Dave Smith doesn't ring a bell but could've worked in the other team with Sam Thomas"
Recruiter walks out of the meeting with an hour off the phones, a meeting to tell his manager about and the names of a few senior managers in your previous roles to hassle at the first opportunity.
You walk out with hours of your life you'll never get back, not opportunities and unwittingly annoying your previous hiring managers.
Maybe I am just a cynic.
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