Reply to: Contacts from Pimps

[FIERCE TANK BATTLE]

Pimps have to rack up a certain number of minutes working on leads every week, so they'll call you and waffle about tulipe just to fill the quota. They also need X new leads per week, so they'll try to weasel names out of you so they can chuck them into the system and at some point in the future someone (probably not even them) will try to phone them under some bulltulip pretext.

[GigiBronz]

Those ones are alright - set some time to talk about what you're up for, where you've been, they get a feel for your personality etc.

Don't take up the offer to meet recruiters in person unless you're in the area and genuinely need to kill some time - nothing good ever comes of it.

Word!
Thought of going for it out of boredom.
Most recent was with one of big agency names.
Ended up being on the training ground for one of their newbies.
Next day... received a with list of roles, none of which what i’ve asked for.
There isn’t any loyalty in this game on either side... why invest in a relationship?

[simes]

Strange!

What was the motivation behind that call then? If not asking any questions to boost his contact sheet, it would appear to be a successful waste of time...

[PCTNN]

Does anyone actually respond to this kind of thing from Pimps?


I have read your profile with interest and I am keen to understand your profile further so I can direct relevant opportunities in your direction.

I propose having a conversation to ascertain what opportunities would be of interest to you personally.

When do you have time for us to speak

Personally I prefer the ones who say "I have a gig at x location at n per day - are you interested?" but maybe I missing something.

Got one of those yesterday afternoon.

Some pimp I never spoke to before, from an agency I hadn't dealt with for 2-3 years, called me after work to know more about my current situation.

He asked:
- Where I am contracting at the moment
- What my desired day rate is
- In which cities/areas I'd be willing to work

Didn't have any gigs, didn't ask for any references details, just said he'd be getting in touch if/when he has gigs that match my profile. I say I'm not going to hear from him ever again.

[edison]

Perhaps not applicable to the level you mentioned but many recruiters have quotas for contacts, etc. Hence the LI requests, irrelevant job ads via e-mail, unsolicited calls, etc. If I get such a call I always turn it around by asking them about their role (some have no idea what I am asking), how long they have been with the recruiter, their specialty, and what placements they recently made. Many times out of ten it turns out they have recently joined the front-line grunts desk and haven't a clue.

Good tactic! I expect most of the time they'll reply they've just moved from working in an estate agent or a bar or they're a new grad.

Having once worked as a young-ish graduate for a pimping type financial advisor firm, I know these types of work can be difficult and not a rewarding career move for many young people, especially with the current industry downturn. Most leave within a year.

[PerfectStorm]

Those ones are alright - set some time to talk about what you're up for, where you've been, they get a feel for your personality etc.

Don't take up the offer to meet recruiters in person unless you're in the area and genuinely need to kill some time - nothing good ever comes of it.

[ruasonid]

You'd think that would be the case but not always perhaps. I recently had two Partner level recruiters approach me on LinkedIn and once connected they refused to answer any of my messages even after one scheduled a call with me and then didn't call.

These were not new recruitment monkeys who've switched from flipping burgers for a living and I find to hard to believe they would ever bother with CV harvesting. One of them even advertises that he deals with roles up to £1m p.a. package (and I'm nowhere near that league.)

Strange times.

Perhaps not applicable to the level you mentioned but many recruiters have quotas for contacts, etc. Hence the LI requests, irrelevant job ads via e-mail, unsolicited calls, etc. If I get such a call I always turn it around by asking them about their role (some have no idea what I am asking), how long they have been with the recruiter, their specialty, and what placements they recently made. Many times out of ten it turns out they have recently joined the front-line grunts desk and haven't a clue.

[edison]

You'd think that would be the case but not always perhaps. I recently had two Partner level recruiters approach me on LinkedIn and once connected they refused to answer any of my messages even after one scheduled a call with me and then didn't call.

These were not new recruitment monkeys who've switched from flipping burgers for a living and I find to hard to believe they would ever bother with CV harvesting. One of them even advertises that he deals with roles up to £1m p.a. package (and I'm nowhere near that league.)

Strange times.

Or their LI profiles are as phony as their tans?

Not in this case. One works for a big recruitment firm that I've known for years. The other works for a boutique firm who are one of the top players in executive search. Between them they know about 50 of my contacts, mainly CIOs and IT directors.

[ladymuck]

You'd think that would be the case but not always perhaps. I recently had two Partner level recruiters approach me on LinkedIn and once connected they refused to answer any of my messages even after one scheduled a call with me and then didn't call.

These were not new recruitment monkeys who've switched from flipping burgers for a living and I find to hard to believe they would ever bother with CV harvesting. One of them even advertises that he deals with roles up to £1m p.a. package (and I'm nowhere near that league.)

Strange times.

Or their LI profiles are as phony as their tans?

[edison]

They usually want to quiz you on previous roles to build up a profile of that company. Any names they get from you are a bonus.

Basically it's all information gathering in order for them to approach the client and get on their books.

Don't stand for it. Usually you'll find it's the new recruits who are given this role.

You'd think that would be the case but not always perhaps. I recently had two Partner level recruiters approach me on LinkedIn and once connected they refused to answer any of my messages even after one scheduled a call with me and then didn't call.

These were not new recruitment monkeys who've switched from flipping burgers for a living and I find to hard to believe they would ever bother with CV harvesting. One of them even advertises that he deals with roles up to £1m p.a. package (and I'm nowhere near that league.)

Strange times.

[l35kee]

They usually want to quiz you on previous roles to build up a profile of that company. Any names they get from you are a bonus.

Basically it's all information gathering in order for them to approach the client and get on their books.

Don't stand for it. Usually you'll find it's the new recruits who are given this role.

[simes]

Does anyone actually respond to this kind of thing from Pimps?


I have read your profile with interest and I am keen to understand your profile further so I can direct relevant opportunities in your direction.

I propose having a conversation to ascertain what opportunities would be of interest to you personally.

When do you have time for us to speak

Personally I prefer the ones who say "I have a gig at x location at n per day - are you interested?" but maybe I missing something.

In a word, No.

But I do sympathise with all Lead Generation activities. Indeed I empathise, having done this in lifetimes' past.

But No.

[Paralytic]

If you could get me across some names of previous Mangers that would be extremely helpful.

Send him first names only, and don't name clients.

"My previous managers were Bob, Jim, Samantha and Suzy. HTH".

[BigJohn]

The cheek of it!

After a speculative call with no role just introducing himself, the pimp sends me this!

“Thanks so much for your time today, I really do appreciate it.

I have updated your info onto my system with your up to date CV

If you could get me across some names of previous Mangers that would be extremely helpful.

I think you are a fantastic candidate and I want to actively try and find you some opportunities so it would help with that greatly.

Look forward to hearing from you.”

[CheeseSlice]

For agents who call me, once or twice (like 2% of the time) they're genuine. They haven't produced any gigs for me yet, but I've had calls with no phishing, they kept in contact every few weeks and checked I was still available. I think some agencies that work in select markets or with specific roles keep a 'hot list'.

The rest of the time is a waste of time. Up to you. When the market is like this I entertain a few calls just out of boredom. You get good at spotting the tricks and the noobs. Can be useful for saving yourself time in future, cutting calls short etc.

If its an email like that one, I just delete them even when the market is awful.