The other side of the hiring desk, pt 4: How to work with a recruiter without becoming a stalker

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Today, another in a series of my interviews to share tips for impressing a recruiter! Our topic: following up. When does follow up become stalking? Here is some more advice from my friend and colleague Stephanie A. Lloyd, a Talent Strategies Consultant and Owner of Calibre Search Group in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a National Careers + Workplace Columnist for Examiner.com and also blogs at Radiant Veracity. You can also follow Stephanie on Twitter.

How can job seekers follow-up successfully. When does “follow-up” become stalking?!?

I’ve been dealing with this recently. I’ll start with an example of what *not* to do.

A candidate emailed his resume to me on Tuesday and called immediately “to be sure I’d received it.” He said that he wanted me to “find him a job.” I told him I needed time to review his resume against current openings and asked him to please give me a week before following up as I’m inundated with such requests.

He called the next morning and wanted to know if I’d reviewed his resume. I had not, and asked him again to give me a few days. I suggested that he follow up with me on Monday. On Friday he emailed stating that he would call shortly to “discuss what jobs I had for him.” I replied immediately stating that there is no need; I’d reviewed his resume and didn’t have anything for him at the moment and would keep him in mind for future openings. I suggested doing a search on LinkedIn for other financial services recruiters, reach out to them, and let them know the type of opportunity he’s seeking.

He immediately called and wanted to “discuss why I didn’t have anything for him.” I explained that my open positions are based on my clients’ needs and that right now his experience and skill sets are not a match for anything I’m working on. He proceeded to argue with me and kept telling me that he has “valuable skills” and will do “anything.”

I told him that if I don’t have a position that’s a fit, I don’t have it – and I can’t just pull one out of a hat! He became increasingly annoyed and wanted me to send him a list of my current searches so he could “see if he’s a fit for one of them.” I told him no, that I’ve got his resume, and I’ll keep him under consideration for future opportunities as they arise. He then offered me “a few hundred bucks” to find him a job. (We’ve covered this before…that’s not what recruiters do!!)

This job seeker was pushy and disrespectful. He acted with a sense of entitlement and frankly, based on his attitude and behavior, I would be extremely reluctant to present such a candidate to any of my clients.

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Next: How SHOULD you follow up?