[conspire] Interesting recruiting development (was: Re: Interesting recruiting develoipment)

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Michael Paoli (Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu):

> Yep, that's generally my response/position.  I've dealt with many,
> and never had recruiter/agency ask for - or at least "require",
> SSN or any portion thereof, or any part of birth date - at least until
> not only is an employment offer on the table, but after I've accepted.
> And in that case, that info. only - or mostly only - goes to and on
> employer's hiring paperwork and the like - usually not anything of
> the agency's (unless of course the agency *is* the employer and it's some
> kind of pass-through) ... in any case, that still happens *after* I've
> accepted offer.

*ding*

That last bit, IMO, is vital.  An _employer_ has motivation to seek and
insist on confidential information about a prospective employee -- and
in a limited number of particulars also an entitlement.  

Recruiters are primarily motivated to beat out other recruiters in securing 
~50% of your future salary.  Because:

> Lower quality recruiters/agencies are often "throw anything and everything
> against the wall and see what sticks".  They'll submit candidates
> relatively haphazardly if they think they're anywhere within the
> ballpark of ... well about 2 or 3 orders of magnitude of ballparking.
> They also often want to do the candidate "exclusively" - they want you to
> use no other recruiters/agencies.

[I'm snipping, here, your specific points about exclusive
representation, but commend them to readers.]

So, here's how the game is played (elaborating only slightly on what I
wrote on this thread earlier today):  These recruiters, i.e., in
particular the ones Michael P. is talking about, use possession of your
resume in .docx format plus whatever special personal information you
are willing to give them to hurl out an application in your name...
pretty much everywhere -- without asking your permission, without
notifying you.  Sometimes, they have the utter nerve to alter your
resume, in so doing.

And then, they periodically check _all_ of the job openings they're
tracking, to see if they've been filled, and (somehow) find out whether 
the chosen candidate is one they represent (and whose resume was thrown
at the opening).  If so, they try to prove to the employer that they
proposed you first, before any other recruiter did and before you
attempted to apply independently -- so that they can grab ~50% of your 
salary, as per your contract with them.

I've only ever gotten terrible job opportunities or temp jobs (which are
not necessarily terrible, in context) from recruiters/agenices.  Your
mileage may differ.[tm]