Thursday, February 10, 2011

A Very Pushy "Keen" Recruiter

GH of a keen agency called me about a contract at a remote control/PC peripherals maker in Mississauga. He did not give me the name but the job ad made it abundantly clear that is was the RC company and that they are gearing up for G00gle TV product.

I replied to his ad and said I know their director of eng. who had contacted me on LinkedIn one year ago. GH became interested and peppered me with calls in the night (9 pm) and then at work asking all sorts of questions he should have asked in one session.

Then he insisted to see me downtown Toronto for a face-to-face interview. As the traffic and parking to his premises are onerous for me and I am on a work schedule I refused and I proposed to meet him close to home. He agreed and we met at a Go [suburban train] station.

The interview was short and unsatisfactory: he did not actually read my Resume tho according to him he's been recruiting for 10 years, asked questions with answers found in the Resume [this may be a valid tactic to check that one actually wrote his/her own Resume but I doubt that].

Also he requested that I come for an interview with the RC company at his premises downtown. The contract was for 3 months and I made it clear to GH that I only take 6+ month contracts. He then sold it as "3 but will be extended to 6".

Now I have interviewed with the RC company in 2006, I know my way to their location and it's weird that they chose the recruiter's premises. I agreed to meet with them downtown but I requested that I have a pre-screening phone call so I can assess them and see whether I am interested.

That did not sit well with GH who recommended his client not to see me. This is dangerous as it may be mis-representing me and I have no control as to what's been said about me. In many ways GH reminds me of a used car salesman from Upstate NY. One thing I am sure of is that I added GH and his outfit to my "avoid" list of recruiters.

I could go direct but having not clicked in 2006 I doubt I would click now.

-ulianov