# What did this guy want? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 5, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-guy-want/566504 "2011-01-05T17:24:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-guy-want/566504/21 "2011-01-05T21:18:44Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > If he was a legitimate headhunter, why didn’t he know the OP’s correct name? Because he got the name and number by a referral, most likely in a conversation with someone that knows Adam. Evan / Adam, not that far off. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-guy-want/566504/22 "2011-01-05T21:32:59Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > IMHO, in busines being polite and cordial will never come back and bite you in the ass. Being a dick and calling someone an asshole, may make you feel better at the time, but will burn that bridge forever. Some bridges are built to be burned. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-guy-want/566504/23 "2011-01-05T22:20:45Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > You don’t pay them. The hiring company pays their fee. So don’t get the impression that they are working to help you find a job. You are the product they are getting paid to find. You’re not _supposed_ to pay any reputable recruiting company. However, there are companies out there that will try to get you to pay them to “try” to find a job for you. This may have been what this call was. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-guy-want/566504/24 "2011-01-05T23:02:51Z")
Huh. I’m a lawyer, and I get calls like that twice a week. But my name, number, and basic resume are available online, and headhunters are common in my field, so I guess I could see how it would be strange if you are in a filed where they aren’t so common. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-guy-want/566504/25 "2011-01-05T23:15:34Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Huh. I’m a lawyer, and I get calls like that twice a week. But my name, number, and basic resume are available online, and headhunters are common in my field, so I guess I could see how it would be strange if you are in a filed where they aren’t so common. You get calls twice a week from recruiters that can’t get your name right, are ambiguous about how they got your name and number, and ask probing questions about your retirement plans? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-guy-want/566504/26 "2011-01-06T01:22:35Z")
I threw my business card into one of those “Win a free lunch” baskets at a lunch counter and, a few days later, started getting headhunter calls on my work number. I can’t prove causation vs correlation but I suspect they passed my card along. The guy didn’t even try to say he heard about me from a friend or fellow employee or anything, just that he had my number. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-guy-want/566504/27 "2011-01-06T01:33:15Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Huh. I’m a lawyer, and I get calls like that twice a week. But my name, number, and basic resume are available online, and headhunters are common in my field, so I guess I could see how it would be strange if you are in a filed where they aren’t so common. I’m in a somewhat related field as Rand Rover, and when the economy was strong I’d get these sorts of calls all the time. They dropped off for a while, but I can tell the economy is strengthening because they’ve started to pick up again. I’m at probably one a month now. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-guy-want/566504/28 "2011-01-06T01:33:34Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > You get calls twice a week from recruiters that can’t get your name right, are ambiguous about how they got your name and number, and ask probing questions about your retirement plans? > > Stranger He didn’t say they were calls from \*good \*recruiters. ---
**Author:** ![sugar\_and\_spice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@sugar\_and\_spice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugar_and_spice)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-guy-want/566504/29 "2011-01-06T01:55:08Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Back when I had my resume out on several boards I would get 2-3 calls a week from recruiters, most of them legitimate. They would introduce themselves, ask me a couple of small details about my resume or background (mostly to ease into the conversation or confirm that I’m not bogus) and then talk in overview about specific positions they were looking to fill, or if they had nothing specific, ask me about the position I am looking for. Time is money to these people, and they don’t waste it by giving vague, non-specific answers to direct, easy questions like “Where do you get my resume?” and “Who referred me to you?” (I’ve never had a recruiter fail to divulge that information up front or with minimal prompting.) Not that I’m anyone in demand but my experience has been the same. They almost always introduce themselves by saying “Hi I’m \_\_\_\_ and I saw your resume on [dice.com](http://dice.com)” or whatever. He probably wasn’t out to scam you but you probably didn’t loose anything either. IME finding headhunters who are willing to talk with you on the phone is the easy part, or at least it’s easier than actually finding a job. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-guy-want/566504/30 "2011-01-06T03:57:07Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > I’m in a somewhat related field as Rand Rover, and when the economy was strong I’d get these sorts of calls all the time. They dropped off for a while, but I can tell the economy is strengthening because they’ve started to pick up again. I’m at probably one a month now. Yep, and sometimes they are from good recruiters, and sometimes they are from bad ones and sometimes they are cold calls, and sometimes they scribbled a note down Evan? Johnson at XXX-XXXX…and now two weeks later can’t remember who they were talking to when they scribbled down something like your name. Sometimes you can get lunch out of them… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-guy-want/566504.md?page=1)