Vent - Recruiters

By recruiters, I mean headhunters. I have been in touch with many, many headhunters over the past year and I'm detecting a trend.

It seems that many (most - especially the ones who work for small, individually owned firms) I've encountered withhold the job information to get their hands on my resume. They won't tell me anything about the job before I have sent my resume to them.

The reason this bugs me SO MUCH is:

-they already saw my resume online (either thu the job board or linkedin, where they first located me and my contact info), so they don't need more written info than that to know whether I'm a potential candidate for the role they have
-I find it manipulative and obnoxious to withhold information about the job from me until they have my resume to add to their black hole of a database, particularly when THEY contacted ME!

I can understand them needing the actual document once I agree that I'd like them to submit my resume, or if I contacted them out of the blue and they know nothing about it.

Recruiters like this really get under my skin. In the beginning of my search I would comply w/o saying anything, but now I'm getting frustrated and irritated with them, and try to get them to tell me what company it is before I send them my resume document.

I'm afraid I'm just hurting myself in the search by acting this way, but I feel disadvantaged enough in this search that the last thing I need or want is to feel like someone is using my position of powerlessness to their own advantage. Am I wrong?

Thanks for letting me vent.

Re: Vent - Recruiters

For the ages, they have been doing this and it's incredibly frustrating.

It's beyond annoying. They do need to see your formatted resume since they get a dos looking doc from your on the internet. It's not formatted..etc..

sorry you are running into this. Searching for a job is truly one of the most frustrating parts of life.

Good luck and I hope you land one very soon.

Re: Vent - Recruiters

i know they need to formatted one eventually, but before they tell me about the job? what differenc does formatting do at that point? ugg!

thanks for your good wishes

Re: Vent - Recruiters

Posted by karabara

i know they need to formatted one eventually, but before they tell me about the job? what differenc does formatting do at that point? ugg!

thanks for your good wishes

Re: Vent - Recruiters

I also think they have to satisfy quotas, meaning that they have to interview a certain of candidates a month, etc

Re: Vent - Recruiters

it's so frustrating to run through my "speech" just to hear in the end that they have nothing, when frankly, they could figure that out from my bio. they don't say "oh i have this job but you're not a good fit" they say "i don't have any jobs in your area right now". i don't think it's right to call someone just to fill a quota of interviews full well knowing they have no roles for that person

ETA: my frustration is not directed towards you, just the process.

Message edited 8/6/2010 6:26:39 PM.

Re: Vent - Recruiters

Posted by Blu-ize

Posted by karabara

i know they need to formatted one eventually, but before they tell me about the job? what differenc does formatting do at that point? ugg!

thanks for your good wishes

they need to see that you can present something that looks professional.

Re: Vent - Recruiters

Posted by karabara

Posted by Blu-ize

Posted by karabara

i know they need to formatted one eventually, but before they tell me about the job? what differenc does formatting do at that point? ugg!

thanks for your good wishes

they need to see that you can present something that looks professional.

that is a good point. i didn't consider that

Re: Vent - Recruiters

I used to be a recruiter for my uncle's head hunting firm. The reason they don't give the name of the company is they don't want you to contact them directly. The firm is hired to screen applicants and refer what they perceive to be good matches to the client. Clients often don't have the time and/or staff to do this themselves, and the firms are paid based on successful placement.

I think some recruiters are awful, for sure. And most could use a sensitivity class. But it is in their best interest to fill the positions with candidates that make the client happy. So your best bet is to have a great resume and make an appointment to see the recruiter in person. We would never send a resume to a client for a person we hadn't met and interviewed ourselves first. Don't wait until they call you, ask if you can come in and tell them a bit about yourself. You need to sell yourself to them, esp in this market.

And they definitely do want to see your resume first - you wouldn't believe some of the things people have on resumes. Again, they are doing much of the leg work for the client. A client would think poorly of a firm who sent them bad resumes.

ETA: I never heard of quotas for interviews/resumes. But I was in this years ago, so maybe things have changed.

Message edited 8/8/2010 10:13:18 AM.