Whenever we start to get desperate, we job seekers often dig ourselves ever deeper into the trench of despond. Then the phone unexpectedly rings and a friendly, chipper voice on the other end lures us with the promise of employment. We perk right up, momentarily drop our defenses and put on our best corporate voice.

Warning: You may have just fallen prey to the bottom-feeder, the recruiter straight out of central casting (or is that hell?), a master at playing on our false hopes. Is it worth your time to just play along?

Do you believe in miracles?

Telltale signs you might as well hang up right now

  • When they’re vague about where they found your résumé
  • Talk too fast
  • Have no interest in meeting with you in person, but can’t wait to submit your résumé, pronto, to a client in need of a warm body
  • Play coy about revealing the client’s name
  • Tell you they’re on retainer, that the listing is unadvertised and exclusive to them. Later, of course, you discover the posting on Monster
  • Start picking your brains to determine if you might have already been scooped by another recruiter or have ever applied on your own
  • Feign polite interest when you try to talk up your value and unique skill set
  • First order of business: Finding out what you’re looking for by way salary
  • Second order of business: Asking if you’re willing to settle for less? — say by about $20K to $30K, maybe even more
  • Assure you up and down that there’s no room for negotiation
  • Demand to know if you’re still interested
  • Make you feel chastened, cheapened and even more desperate to give in
  • Ask you to tailor your résumé to fit the job description, even when that means stretching the truth
  • Keep sending you emails to hurry it up; the deadline is imminent
  • Follow up with an urgent email the next day, or two or three, asking you to supply a cover letter or complete a lengthy questionnaire
  • Call you yet again about  something else they forgot to mention, like the need to add five references, including full contact information for each

All that effort and in return only silence. You never hear from them again. Don’t fall into this trap. There are far better ways to use your energies, which I’ll be discussing in my upcoming blogs.

— Judy Margolis