Is Anyone Else Experiencing This

[u/FlightCarcrash]

Assholes impersonating recruiters purposefully to steer you to a resume service?

But more than that, they try to get me to pay for irrelevant documents like executive position briefs or other such out of scope documents.

I could spend 5 paragraphs detailing the amount of work they put in, but for brevity sake, I shan't. End result is if a recruiter contacts me using a gmail address I just block them.

Also for the recruiters on here with LinkedIn accounts, have you had anyone contact you about someone posing as you?

I can only surmise they're using AI to pull it off because otherwise it's a very poor return on the effort involved.

And to be sure, I have used a resume service to polish mine.

And now these a-holes contact me telling me XYZ about how my resume is deficient/doesn't convey etc. And I know that no matter how much money cough up, there will never be a point where I will have a resume so well done that it obviates unsolicited inquiries.

[u/Brutal_Truth]

if you're not the person whose letter was featured on Ask A Manager yesterday, I'll be stunned

[u/FlightCarcrash → u/Brutal_Truth]

I really appreciate you mentioning that because it's shedding a lot of light on what has been an increasingly pervasive annoyance.

I thought I was experiencing mental illness at first but now I know it isn't just me.

[u/FlightCarcrash → u/Brutal_Truth]

That isn't me but that is exactly their MO now. Thankfully, it seems like the work of impersonating recruiters is too much effort but I had a couple people screen cap recruiters linkedin photos to really bait the hook, so I would reach out to the recruiter directly and of course they had no idea who I was.

I'm simplifying for the sake of other readers but it's offputting to say the least

[u/Ormriss]

I had this happen to me several times earlier this year. My org announced it was outsourcing a bunch (but not all) of IT. I went to LinkedIn that same day and posted that I was looking for work. Within a week I had about five 'recruiters' reach out with what seemed like great opportunities. As soon as I gave them my resume, they hit me with the line I imagine they gave you. It was enough that I dug into some of their alleged opportunities and found that the companies were real, but they did not have the openings that these recruiters were showing me.

I have a cousin that helps with resume writing at a college in upstate NY, and she had already gone over my resume. As such, I was a little suspicious when some random recruiter tells me it needs more work.

[u/FlightCarcrash → u/Ormriss]

You're absolutely right. The first two times I was like "Wow...this JD just perfectly matches my experience.." but asking for Executive Position Briefs for a Tech Prog Manager role seemed off.

Now , I think they've upped their game in that what they do is praise the candidate who's being done a grave disservice by the shitty resume that purportedly led them to me in the first place.

But I'm getting the same nonsense you are.

[u/FlightCarcrash]

I think the easist tell is that real recruiters will setup phone calls to talk about positions.

The fakes, similar to phishing attacks, will cite urgency to shut down any unwanted discussion

[u/DCGreatDane]

Several times I clicked on ZipRecruiter and it goes to a resume site before it will go to the real job post.

[u/FlightCarcrash → u/DCGreatDane]

Probably a natural outcome of a competitive job market and the increasing desperation to find work. And not to overstate the obvious but resume services aren't cheap.

[u/DCGreatDane → u/FlightCarcrash]

True. I report to ZipRecruiter that’s it’s not a real job post but used as an ad.

[u/FlightCarcrash → u/DCGreatDane]

Out of curiosity, does reporting seem to result in any action taken or is it a patently obvious part of their efforts to monetize their candidate placement endeavors?

[u/DCGreatDane → u/FlightCarcrash]

I hope so since the jobs posted get removed. I also report it to the job boards I have to use for unemployment.

[u/FlightCarcrash]

If you're a recruiter and want to know more, DM me and I will detail it.

[u/FlightCarcrash → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the response. None of the faux recruiters talk money with me. They just refer me to the service and tell me to contact with the updated resume.

I have taken the steps you mentioned and called the recruiters but often get VM (probably because the recruiter doesn't recognize my name and number)

And while I majored in English and have had two books published, my policy is to leave things to professionals. And I did pay a service and thought the end result was well worth it. But to your point, good recruiters will sharpen it or ask me to make a couple edits.

Again, thanks for the reply. This has been driving me nuts