A recruiter contacted me yesterday via LinkedIn. Strangely, the name of the sender didn’t match the person who claimed to sign the e-mail. After some back and fro, I received the following e-mail (names abbreviated to protect the guilty): My name is R.; I’m using C.’s account in linkedin to find candidates for the positions that are available in Europe. Dear R., Thanks, but no. I already mentioned that I’m not interested in working with your company. Working with recruiters requires trust. Confusing identities does not serve to establish that. You even seem to have your own account, so I recommend you start using it. On a side note, since I founded my own company last year, I’m not currently looking for employment opportunities. Inquiries about contract work will be welcome. Kind regards Peter
Over the year, one does get in touch with a sizeable number of headhunters and recruiters. Here is a brief list of basics I would expect from them, for their credibility and my convenience:
- I like to know who I’m dealing with, preferably it should always be the same person. (There’s more to that than always using the same name, thank you very much.) For smaller search firms I prefer a personal contact. While it doesn’t play the numbers game it certainly generates better results in the long run.
- Please supply basic information about the position, not just “an important managerial position with a global IT firm”. Likewise, I like to know why you think I’m an interesting candidate, don’t just send me template text that you think I’m wonderful. (I know that.)
- When you’re asking me to supply my resume I would like to know how you intend to use it. If you have an online form for CV data then keep it relevant and make it short. Better yet, use a generic format such as the Europass CV. If you are asking me to upload my entire CV then the format will be PDF.
