In a previous post, I spoke about the need to be cautious of recruiters who ask for a fee to place you or “connect” you with prospective employers (post here ). Recruiters are paid (or at least should be) by the client with which they place candidates. There should NEVER be a fee charged by a recruiter to a candidate to be sent on interviews or to meet with clients. EVER.
There are a number of such scams I will be addressing in upcoming posts, but for this particular discussion I want to address a scam some recruiters use with respect to job boards (i.e. Monster, CareerBuilder, etc.) The ruse proceeds as follows:
A recruiter advertises a job, or by some method entices you to submit your resume. The recruiter then sifts through the received resumes, and chooses what he/she deems to be the “cream of the crop.” He/she then makes sure the best resumes are not already posted online, substitutes your personal contact information with his/her own, and posts the newly modified resume on one or multiple of the aforementioned sites. Without you knowing, you just gained a job “agent” who is now in a position to field calls from interested companies on your behalf. The reason: the recruiter will now be in a position to charge a commission to the company if they indeed end up interviewing you and want to hire you. All the while, it will seem to you that he/she truly connected you with a “client.” Not the case at all.
Now this may actually end up being to your benefit if you actually end up with a job after all is said and done. But far more often than not, these tricks backfire, and end up doing damage to you as a job seeker. Your resume may end up banned by the company, and thus any possibility of a job prospect in the future. You also have no idea what the recruiter is saying about you, or how you may be misrepresented. One of the most damaging however come as a result of having your resume posted online when you are conducting a confidential job search. Although it isn’t your name, the rest of your work history and background are front and center for your HR department to view. It’s pretty east to connect the dots.
I have also seen this same type of tactic used in a slightly different way. Instead of posting your resume online, the recruiter applies directly to advertised positions with your qualifications and his/her contact information; all without your knowledge. The ruse is the same, and so are the risks of negative results for you.
For a number of reasons, I am not a proponent of posting your resume on job boards. You are following smart protocol, but at the same time running the risk of being exposed to this scam. Unfortunately, there is not an easy remedy for this issue. Unless you have access to view resumes on sites such as CareerBuilder or Monster, you will never know if it is posted on either (or others) without your knowledge. One of the biggest signs to pick up on is if a recruiter that you have never met or spoken with suddenly has a job interview set up for you. Reputable recruiters will at least take the time to screen candidates before submitting to clients. My suggestion is to develop a relationship with one or two recruiters, and avoid applying blindly to ads that don’t’ identify the recruiting agency, or that don’t identify the name of the company. If the ad description is vague, or refuses to name itself, it is probably a good idea to steer clear. Don’t let desperation come in the way of being savvy about your job search, especially when there are people out there ready to take advantage.
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