Wednesday, March 17, 2010

shady recruiters

I deal with recruiters frequently, lately. Being an independent consultant is about 92% consulting work with the current client and about 8% securing the next client.

As an example: I just accepted a new contract position yesterday. My recruiter had me scheduled for an interview today with another company, which she cancelled as soon as I said yes to the other position.

This afternoon, I got a call from an internal recruiter at the company my interview was cancelled with today. She says they have this position open that I may be interested in. I told her I just accepted something else, but keep me in mind if anything opens up in a few months.

I know she already heard from MY recruiter this morning. My recruiter told her I had accepted something else and she cancelled my interview.

So the internal recruiter stops my "thank you" mid-sentence and says... well, what if we made it a fulltime employee position? I immediately think she's being shady and just trying to fill a position that someone in her office is hounding her for.

I ask how she came across my resume. She tells me I applied for a different position last year at the company. Which is likely true, but still. This was the same position my recruiter said would only be a 3 month job. So when my recruiter cancelled my interview, the internal recruiter looked into her database for old resumes and found mine. Called me directly, and offered to flip a contract position to an employee position. Which just- it doesn't happen like that usually.

It seems like it's not right. And, as a wise man from Iowa once told me: If it's not right, it's wrong.

4 comments:

Rassles said...

See this whole thing? Makes me realize I know nothing about anything. Sure, I watch a lot of movies. But real life--recruiter? Consulting? I don't get it. It's all so foreign to me.

Anonymous said...

Recruiters indeed can be shady. They will do what they have to in order to fulfill their quota:)

minijonb said...

I had to deal with two really shady recruiters about seven years ago and I swore I would never work with that crowd again. It's been enough time that I might try again, but your story has me weary.

Le Mimi said...

Stick with what you've got --- there are better bars in that neighborhood. And a wise woman (ME!) once said, pick a job based on proximity to after hours entertainment.