Suspicious recruiters, or just incompentent ones
Suspicious recruiters, or just incompentent ones
(OP)
Recently I uploaded my resume to Monster, not that I'm actively looking, but I'm open to opportunities for a variety of reasons. Since then, not a day goes by when I get an email or phone call from a recruiter. This would be great, except that 99% of the positions they offer have either nothing to do with my experience and skills, or are in a location that is different than the ones I specified. I'm not talking a few miles, but several states away!
I'm just baffled, did they even bother to read my resume? I bet they just look for key words and then make assumption. For example, I've worked on design of semiconductor facilities (piping, chemical systems, high purity systems, etc.), recruiters thinks I'm an excellent match to actually work in cleanrooms as a microchip fabricator. Or, my resume says I managed a team, recruiters think I'm an excellent match for a project manager. I also supported design of PV facilities, I just got a proposition for an electrical engineer (I'm ME) to work on 12kV PV interconnections (whatever that means). I've done a lot of thermoplastic piping design, here's one thinking I'd be great modeling plastic parts. My resume clearly says I'm European, yet here I have a proposition that requires US citizenship and security clearance. Come on!
Also, 3/4 of the mails and phone I get come from Indian recruiters. Whether they're based in the US or not, I can't tell.
Thoughts? What's going on? What's their purpose? Are they the new "Dear Beneficiary" scammers?
I design aqueducts in a parallel universe.
I'm just baffled, did they even bother to read my resume? I bet they just look for key words and then make assumption. For example, I've worked on design of semiconductor facilities (piping, chemical systems, high purity systems, etc.), recruiters thinks I'm an excellent match to actually work in cleanrooms as a microchip fabricator. Or, my resume says I managed a team, recruiters think I'm an excellent match for a project manager. I also supported design of PV facilities, I just got a proposition for an electrical engineer (I'm ME) to work on 12kV PV interconnections (whatever that means). I've done a lot of thermoplastic piping design, here's one thinking I'd be great modeling plastic parts. My resume clearly says I'm European, yet here I have a proposition that requires US citizenship and security clearance. Come on!
Also, 3/4 of the mails and phone I get come from Indian recruiters. Whether they're based in the US or not, I can't tell.
Thoughts? What's going on? What's their purpose? Are they the new "Dear Beneficiary" scammers?
I design aqueducts in a parallel universe.





RE: Suspicious recruiters, or just incompentent ones
RE: Suspicious recruiters, or just incompentent ones
Many, maybe most, appear to be working in a boiler room, being directed by computers and predictive dialers.
It didn't used to be that way, but that's cold comfort. Sorry.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Suspicious recruiters, or just incompentent ones
The job description for a recruiter nowadays looks like this:
A. Must talk so fast in a voicemail with a thick foreign accent such that when a native English speaking American listens he/she is unable to make out the name, company, or phone number even after playing the message over several times.
B. Must know how to send and receive emails and use an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) key word matching program.
C. Must speak from a script and not stop even if the listener tries to interrupt to say he/she is not qualified.
D. Must be able to convert food, water, and air into bodily waste and CO2.
E. Must not read your resume before calling you to waste your time. They call without even knowing what engineering discipline you're in!
Now some recruiting jobs are good opportunities for non-STEM graduates to work in a profitable industry and many of these college graduates do a great job. But these people at least read your resume and will not call if it looks like you're unqualified. But so many recruiters are "fresh off the boat" with no college education and largely without common sense.
H. Bruce Jackson
ElectroMechanical Product Development
UMD 1984
UCF 1993
RE: Suspicious recruiters, or just incompentent ones
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RE: Suspicious recruiters, or just incompentent ones
STF
RE: Suspicious recruiters, or just incompentent ones
RE: Suspicious recruiters, or just incompentent ones
Ha! I forgot this one: recruiter calls me for a position as a civil engineer to work on design of wastewater treatment plants. I tell him I'm not a civil engineer. He says it doesn't have to be civil engineer, it can be any type of engineering. LOL!
Glad I'm not the only one.
I design aqueducts in a parallel universe.
RE: Suspicious recruiters, or just incompentent ones
We recently had some layoffs here and, having been in that situation 5 years ago, advised my former colleagues to set up a 'job search only' email because 5 years later despite unsubscribing from various job boards I still get flooded with emails daily for opportunities across the country
RE: Suspicious recruiters, or just incompentent ones
ElectroMechanical Product Development
(aka Electronic Packaging)
UMD 1984
UCF 1993
RE: Suspicious recruiters, or just incompentent ones
I agree that the recruiters are just combing for keywords on monster, indeed, etc. Recently, I had to change my resume to remove keywords that are specific to the industry that work in. I wanted to work in a completely different industry, so I talked with a friend to see what job functions were equivalent and used those keywords on my resume. Sure enough I stopped getting head hunter emails or phone calls related to my current industry.