Professional Head Hunters?
Posted by SpikeSep 2
Even though I’m quite content at my current job, my resume remains online at the usual places because, well, you never know, right? Tomorrow Bill Gates could call me up saying he wants to get rid of Steve Ballmer and he found me on Monster and decided I’m the best possible replacement. Okay, that might be a bit of a stretch and honestly I don’t have any excuse especially since I haven’t used drugs in decades and rarely drink alcohol any more, but a boy can dream, right?
At any rate, the stuff that comes to me via email as a result of these web sites is worthless in every way except for entertainment value.
Case in point: an email inquiry that arrived today. My CV makes it pretty clear that I’ve got 24 years experience in my field. This was for a very, very junior position requiring just one year’s experience. Okay, I get a lot of those. This one came from an agency in Singapore, where you’d think they might have at least some competency in English.
We are currently seeking experienced professionals in Hong kong for an project with an bnaking client.
Oddly enough, I don’t have much experience in the bnaking field.
The job description included this:
Familar with Base SAS programming and use of SAS Enterprise Guide (EG)
Trust me, SAS does not appear anywhere in my CV. I don’t think the sequence “sas” appears anywhere in my CV – I have been to Kansas City once but didn’t think that was worth mentioning there.
And then this:
Good knowlegde in use of MS Excel and MS Access
Honestly, next time I’m out of work (which will be hopefully never again, at least until voluntary retirement) I think I’ll look for a job as a head hunter. Apparently you don’t need any “knowlegde” to get that kind of position.
6 comments
Comment by Friend of Casey on September 2, 2010 at 10:52 am
I think a lot of your disappointment stems from the fact that you’re confusing recruitment agents (sketchy cv processing mouth-breathers) with search directors (mandated, retained types with industry focus, specificity and deep industry contacts and knowledge). Stay away from the Monsters, the Robert Walters, the Executive Access types and try the likes of Heidrick & Struggles, Spencer Stuart, etc, and indeed the specialized boutiques who specialize in your industry.
Comment by jisampedro on September 2, 2010 at 1:00 pm
That´s really professional as you have described. I wonder if people review their grammar before sending an email, these errors aren´t acceptable at all. Maybe sometimes they just pick very random the cv´s and see if they are lucky to got someone that can adjust to the requirements…
I also sometimes receive offers not really appropiate for my profile, just go straight to the recycle bin, ups sorry.
Comment by Spike on September 2, 2010 at 9:10 pm
I’ve dealt with the Heidricks & the Struggles, yes. I’m not currently looking, these are just finding their way to me.
Comment by Combover on September 3, 2010 at 10:15 am
I receive these and I’m in a completely different organisational function. These are just spammers trying to get numbers in their database.
Comment by Friend of Casey on September 3, 2010 at 10:58 am
Well that’s the thing. If someone were looking for someone like you, you’d get a discreet call from a proper search firm. Else you’ll be getting inveterate cv collectors who basically are trying to leverage YOUR cv/profile to obtain mandates from potential clients (“Oh look Mr Head of HR for huge MNC, I have access to these people and you can hire them if you pay me!”)
Comment by Private Beach on September 8, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Some years ago I was handling recruitment of IT staff for a major bank in Hong Kong. Almost all the recruitment agencies I dealt with just threw large numbers of CVs at me rather than identify those that truly met the job requirements – very often the same CVs that we received from the other agencies. In many cases, the same candidates also applied to us directly, enabling us to save paying an agency fee.
One of these agencies also offered me a kickback on the agency fee (an offer I ignored) – the only time anyone in Hong Kong has ever tried to bribe me. There are professional recruiters out there, but they’re very much in the minority.