Cold calling tech recruiters: anything I should know?
September 9, 2013 12:27 PM Subscribe
Is there anything I should know, or be wary of, when responding to a cold-calling recruiter?
For the first time in a long time, I'm looking for contract work (software engineering). I've been in touch with a recruiter that I know from a past job, along with many other contacts, but nothing has panned out as yet. Meanwhile, I'm getting emails to my LinkedIn account from cold-calling type recruiters who presumably have found my profile via a keyword search. I'm considering responding to them, but don't know what to expect or if there's any reason to think it might be a bad idea. Anything I should know?
For the first time in a long time, I'm looking for contract work (software engineering). I've been in touch with a recruiter that I know from a past job, along with many other contacts, but nothing has panned out as yet. Meanwhile, I'm getting emails to my LinkedIn account from cold-calling type recruiters who presumably have found my profile via a keyword search. I'm considering responding to them, but don't know what to expect or if there's any reason to think it might be a bad idea. Anything I should know?
Stop over thinking and start responding. Just be skeptical until a recruiter proves to be trustworthy. A lot of them are full of shit. The ones you want to work with the ones working on a retained search, so be sure to qualify that up front. That means they are being paid by the company to find somebody. The non-retained guys are cold calling you, then usually cold calling the company and trying to get you an interview.
posted by COD at 12:37 PM on September 9, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by COD at 12:37 PM on September 9, 2013 [4 favorites]
I landed my current job from a cold-calling recruiter. I don't think it will hurt to speak to them, just make sure you are clear about what you are looking for.
posted by katrielalex at 12:43 PM on September 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by katrielalex at 12:43 PM on September 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
Some of them are annoying, but they are genuinely looking to fill positions. I've had interviews at several places through them.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 12:59 PM on September 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 12:59 PM on September 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: It has been my experience that the more specific they are when they first contact you, the more likely they are to be legit. Generally, they won't actually name the prospective company in the first email, but they might give some specifics (general size, location, type of business, etc.). And then if you ask for more specifics directly, a good recruiter will provide as much info as they are allowed to share without any issue.
On the other hand, if their approach is generic, like "I have several open positions that fit your skill set -- call me to discuss!" then that means they're just spamming a ton of people who had a particular key word in their profile, and they are talking to whomever responds. This sort of person will likely be a waste of your time. When you speak to them on the phone, it will be immediately obvious that they never even read your resume, you just happened to be among the search results for whatever they searched for.
And it should go without saying, but just in case: Never, never, never pay ANY of these people one thin dime. The legit ones are paid by the hiring company, not you. If someone ever asks you to pay for their services, just hang up on them. They are scammers.
posted by spilon at 1:43 PM on September 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
On the other hand, if their approach is generic, like "I have several open positions that fit your skill set -- call me to discuss!" then that means they're just spamming a ton of people who had a particular key word in their profile, and they are talking to whomever responds. This sort of person will likely be a waste of your time. When you speak to them on the phone, it will be immediately obvious that they never even read your resume, you just happened to be among the search results for whatever they searched for.
And it should go without saying, but just in case: Never, never, never pay ANY of these people one thin dime. The legit ones are paid by the hiring company, not you. If someone ever asks you to pay for their services, just hang up on them. They are scammers.
posted by spilon at 1:43 PM on September 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
yep, I had an interview and offer from a cold-call recruiter. But it turned out to be a for a company that had a horribly high turnover rate and I declined the offer. Then about 2 weeks later, I got another call for the same position by someone else in his office. So in that situation, it really wasn't the recruiters' faults, it was the company.
posted by dawkins_7 at 1:45 PM on September 9, 2013
posted by dawkins_7 at 1:45 PM on September 9, 2013
Best answer: Here is a bad scenario:
1. Recruiter A. finds you because you have hotlang on your resume.
2. A. tells you that he was hired to fill two high-paying positions: one with BigCo, another with GiantCorp. In reality, neither of those companies have hired A. - he had simply seen job posts from these two companies.
3. You give A. your resume because you would love to work for either BigCo or GiantCorp - best companies in town!
4. A. submits your resume on his letterhead. The hiring managers would love to interview you - people with hotlang are hard to find! However, A. is not on their approved vendor list so they have to pass.
5. Recruiter B. finds you because you have hotlang on your resume.
6. B. tells you that he was hired to fill two high-paying positions: one with BigCo, another with GiantCorp. Unlike A., B. is not lying: both these companies have contracts with B.
7. B. submits your resume on his letterhead. They are still looking because people with hotlang are hard to find! However, they can't call you in because you are in the system under a different recruiter's name. You are effectively locked out of BigCo and GiantCorp for up to two years.
One way to avoid this scenario is to confirm via email that the recruiter will only send your resume to companies that have specifically retained him, and only after you've exchanged emails where you confirm that yes, you are ok to have your resume submitted for position X. Of course, unethical recruiters can lie about that too but it does give you some leverage.
Good luck!
(For what it's worth, I've always had good luck with recruiters. They tend to work with companies that have money, insulating you from all sorts of problems.)
posted by rada at 6:48 PM on September 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
1. Recruiter A. finds you because you have hotlang on your resume.
2. A. tells you that he was hired to fill two high-paying positions: one with BigCo, another with GiantCorp. In reality, neither of those companies have hired A. - he had simply seen job posts from these two companies.
3. You give A. your resume because you would love to work for either BigCo or GiantCorp - best companies in town!
4. A. submits your resume on his letterhead. The hiring managers would love to interview you - people with hotlang are hard to find! However, A. is not on their approved vendor list so they have to pass.
5. Recruiter B. finds you because you have hotlang on your resume.
6. B. tells you that he was hired to fill two high-paying positions: one with BigCo, another with GiantCorp. Unlike A., B. is not lying: both these companies have contracts with B.
7. B. submits your resume on his letterhead. They are still looking because people with hotlang are hard to find! However, they can't call you in because you are in the system under a different recruiter's name. You are effectively locked out of BigCo and GiantCorp for up to two years.
One way to avoid this scenario is to confirm via email that the recruiter will only send your resume to companies that have specifically retained him, and only after you've exchanged emails where you confirm that yes, you are ok to have your resume submitted for position X. Of course, unethical recruiters can lie about that too but it does give you some leverage.
Good luck!
(For what it's worth, I've always had good luck with recruiters. They tend to work with companies that have money, insulating you from all sorts of problems.)
posted by rada at 6:48 PM on September 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I've been contacted enough times by drive-by recruiters that I can give you a couple guidelines. First, get some information before you send your resume. Talk to them, ask some questions, etc.
* When they send you the job description, see if you can find it online. I've gotten the distinct impression that some recruiters are just collecting resumes for some database (marketing? spam?). I've seen the same job posted repeatedly on shady looking sites.
* Bad website, don't go with them. Period. No one is hiring a recruiter with a bad website.
* If they're not local, it's a bit of a red flag. This isn't *necessarily* bad, but watch out if you and the company are in New York and the recruiter is in LA.
* If you're American and the recruiter is outside the country (and the company isn't headquartered there) it's super fishy. It's also really common.
* If you're in America and the recruiter's English is poor, they may not be inside the country. See above. I tend to ignore people obviously not inside the US.
posted by cnc at 10:21 PM on September 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
* When they send you the job description, see if you can find it online. I've gotten the distinct impression that some recruiters are just collecting resumes for some database (marketing? spam?). I've seen the same job posted repeatedly on shady looking sites.
* Bad website, don't go with them. Period. No one is hiring a recruiter with a bad website.
* If they're not local, it's a bit of a red flag. This isn't *necessarily* bad, but watch out if you and the company are in New York and the recruiter is in LA.
* If you're American and the recruiter is outside the country (and the company isn't headquartered there) it's super fishy. It's also really common.
* If you're in America and the recruiter's English is poor, they may not be inside the country. See above. I tend to ignore people obviously not inside the US.
posted by cnc at 10:21 PM on September 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
I hope this goes without saying, but don't give them your SSN and don't pay them anything.
posted by radioamy at 12:13 PM on September 11, 2013
posted by radioamy at 12:13 PM on September 11, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
What do you have to lose?
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:30 PM on September 9, 2013