I hope it's the promotion you've been looking for

[venta]

Today at work, our nice admin lady popped out to tell me I had a phonecall. This hasn't happened before: personal calls would come in on my mobile, and I have no cause in my ordinary line of work to talk to customers. However, <Mystery Name> from <Mystery Company> was on the line and, in the absence of our usual support person, had asked for me by name.

After some flapping (who? and what were they going to ask? because I'm not meant to be customer facing, I've not yet learned the company song and might say all kinds of inappropriate things), I took the call in an empty office.

It turned out to be a headhunter, acting on a "personal referral". He wasn't hunting for anything in particular, it turned out, more representing a (to quote their own website) "pro-active recruitment service". No, I wasn't interested.

I asked who had referred me - I don't even know whether I believe such a person existed, he might well have just pulled my CV off an agency site, leftover from last summer's jobhunting. He said that people were "understandably apprehensive" and therefore referrals were in strictest confidence.

He asked if I had any friends or colleagues who might be interested in hearing from him and I said that I wasn't willing to give out other peoples' contact details without their permission, since some people do not like it. He expressed surprise, and said he'd virtually never met that attitude.

"So why are people 'understandably apprehensive'?" I didn't ask.

So now I'm curious: I take it as read that giving out people's details is liable to piss them off. Maybe I'm wrong.

[Poll #1136892]

On the plus side: most of this conversation took place when he rang me back at home this evening. I'm not looking to change jobs right now, but thought I'd hear him out in case he was going to offer me a part-time job with a telephone number salary. He rang me back. At the time he said he would. This already puts him ahead of any of the recruitment agencies I spoke to while I was actually jobhunting last June.

Comments

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

If he understands that people are "apprehensive" about you knowing that they were the culprits in handing him your contact details, then how could he have "never" met the attitude of people not wanting to hand over their friends' details because it might piss them off?

[venta.livejournal.com]

Well yes, that was rather my point! Couldn't be arsed to take it up with him, though.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

I would charitably speculate that he meant people were apprehensive because they don't want their employer finding out that they give referrals to recruiters, rather than because they think the person they refer will mind. The recruiter probably doesn't know whether the referer works for the same company as the referent, who might shop him to the boss.

how could he have "never" met the attitude of people not wanting to hand over their friends' details

Discarding my above theory, perhaps because he generally only deals with other weasels, who are perfectly willing to do things which will piss off their friends, provided it can't be traced back.