Another Recruiter Sullying Our Good Name

I think Sandra posted a blog a few days ago about an embarrassing email (obviously automated) looking for a lower level candidate sent to a C-level candidate/friend of hers. So naturally a few days later, I got a similar email.

I am 24 years old, 2 years out of college and still in my first job (as a recruiter, which I love). I in no way shape or form even remotely qualify for this position, not to mention I don't have any of the certification requirements. My experience is essentially as a bartender and an intern in college and 1 year as a recruiter.

I am debating sending a response telling her how lazy she must be to not even have read my resume to see if I qualify, but I thought it would be interesting to hear everyone's thoughts on how I should word this (unless you think I should just hit delete and ignore the email altogether). Here is the email:

Megan Flynn

Hello!

HIM Manager / Director Bring your Him or coding experience to one of the leading hospitals in Pennsylvania. Looking for a top HIM/ Coding professional with supervisory experience for the Perm Position. This position will lead to a director level position for the “right person”. This is a great opportunity to work with one of the more innovative hospitals in the country. You will help plan and coordinate all services provided by the Health Information Department. Responsible for supervising and maintaining the Medical Records department including helping with goal setting, planning, policy and procedure development, quality assurance and improvement, and supervision and competency of staff.

Experience: Two years in coding or Health Information Management hospital setting with supervisory / administrative experience required.

Certification: American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) OR Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) Prefer ICD-10 Certification as well

If you are interested in the HIM Manager / Director position, please send your updated resume along with salary history to kathyw@thorgroup.com. Thank You.

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on February 17, 2012 at 2:35pm: perhaps we should all email kathyw@thorgroup.com and ask her what the hell...? :)

Comment by Megan Flynn on February 17, 2012 at 2:38pm: I forgot to mention that I live in Maryland (not Pennsylvania) and I don't even know what HIM is, and I have absolutely no coding experience. It just blows my mind!

Comment by Kyle Schafroth on February 17, 2012 at 3:15pm: Wow...blind shotgun approach if I ever saw one. Aside from the option of just hitting delete - I suppose there's the standard wisdom of, "You never know what might lead to something later on" or "who knows what's what?".

Personally I would probably just send something like a generic "thanks for reaching out however I'm not currently looking to make a career/industry change". It'll be generic enough that you probably won't have Kathy W inundating you with follow-up emails and in a subliminal way hints at Amy's, "What the hell..." question.

If you don't feel like taking the time though, I think just an 'ignore & delete' approach is suitable. It's obviously not a personally crafted email so I highly doubt this person is heavily tracking who she reaches out to.

Just my thoughts though - others probably have better (and more amusing) solutions.

Comment by Kelly Blokdijk on February 17, 2012 at 6:35pm: Lazy, clueless & pathetic!

I'm feeling a bit feisty, so here's my reply:

Dear ___

I'm extremely flattered that you felt despite lacking 100% of the stated qualifications that my talents are strong enough to be an appropriate fit for this search. As much as I appreciate all of the time and research you clearly put into reviewing my background, at this time, I don't believe such a drastic change in career or geographical location would make sense for my current interests.

While I'm sure you might encounter some prospects gullible enough to believe the claim that this job is considered a "perm" position; as a practicing recruiting professional I am well aware that no such thing exists. Therefore, even if I was interested and qualified I would be reluctant to move forward out of concern that this entire message is a reflection of a questionable organization.

Signed ___

~~~~

Just for fun of course. I would probably just ignore and delete and not bother replying to someone that dense.

KB

Comment by Sandra McCartt on February 17, 2012 at 9:57pm: Dear Kathy or whoever you are. You have to be an automated spam machine or i would never have received this email.

I am curious. Since i am a recruiter in another city why would you or your spam bot send me a job description?

Are you so desperate to fill this position that you fired it out to every email address you could find on the internet with absolutely no idea of who whould be receiving it. However i did do a copy and search for a company job description that matches your email and voila i found the company and contacted them. They have asked me to see if i can find a real HIM Manager/Director for them as they indicate that although they have several recruirers trying to fill this position they are getting some very strange resumes. Based on your email i can understand why that might be.

I want to thank you for provding me with the information to get this listing. It appears that this is going to be a very good client. We of course do not split fees with firms who send mass emails but it was just fabulous to receive yours. Please keep these emails coming, it has saved me a great deal of time not having to make cold calls

You indicate in your email that this position requires the "right person". My second question is why would you want to contact "the wrong person" when you are looking for the "right" one. I guess all recruiters have their own style but it appears this "wrong person" turned out to be Ms. "right for this client.

Thank you again for providing me with the information to obtain a new client. I submitted two candidates today. Both are interviewing next week. I will email you and let you know how these go and if i fill the position i will be sure to let you know so you can send me further opportunities to build me desk. I am genuinely grateful for your assistance. May the reruiting gods smile on your bot .

It is so great to be the "wrong", "right" person.

Comment by Megan Flynn on February 18, 2012 at 2:36pm: I was actually considering sending Kelly's until I read your response Sandra -- LOVE it! I wish people like this didn't exist. It makes it that much harder on the good ones!

Comment by Marley on February 20, 2012 at 10:34am: Thank you for sharing this, feels like I've been seeing more and more emails like this lately. Shared this with my team as an example of what NOT to do, with the added motivation of "do YOU want to end up on a recruiting blog?" :)

Comment by Sandra McCartt on February 20, 2012 at 12:50pm: @Marley I call that the "let me show you how to be a "star" speech. Course it's kind of like the guy who picked up the elephant poop in the circus. He did a really crappy job but wouldn't quit because he didn't want to leave show business.

We are and will see more of this because of the misguided thought process that getting your name out there in any way possible is "branding". Well this one and all those automated tweeters who "data dump" bulk emails and a string of tweets on every available space are certainly branding themselves as the dumbest nerd in the jungle. It never occurs to them when they are tapping away in their little bubble that what they are emailing and tweeting is making a complete fool of themselves.

I guess the good thing about it is..we know who they are and we know to stay away from them. Don't think for one minute that candidates are stupid enough to buy into this garbage. All it takes is one email like this for a candidate to feel th same way we do.

Brand that, Bear Hugger.

Comment by Trish Ferrett on February 21, 2012 at 10:18am: Whoa... is it at all possible that the aforementioned offender simply made a mistake? Gracious... let any of us in this forum without the sin of a stupid e-mail blunder cast the first stone. In my 15 years of recruiting, I've made mistakes. BIG ones. Get a grip, folks. True, we are all challenged to be super efficient, super perfect, super... in each and every way. However, dear recruiters, we are all... and I DO mean ALL, human beings.

Also... you should be cautious to never, ever, ever, ever, ever (gasp!) EVER... burn a bridge, particularly in this profession. One smarmy email could really limit your career options when you need them most.

That being said... how about a gracious, but direct:

Dear colleague, I appreciate your kind email, however, I do believe that this must have been sent in error as I too, am a recruiting professional. If there is any way that I may be of assistance in your search, please let me know as I am always willing to network--even if this position is not in my field of expertise. Kind Regards, XXXXX

Let's be kind... and professional... and not catty.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on February 21, 2012 at 10:47am: Very PC Trish and perhaps a lot to be said along that line, however, when you have received and your candidates have received 50 of these automated and totally impersonal bulk emails it is clear that it was not a mistake made by a person to person communication.

As to burning bridges. In this industry it is prudent to burn bridges with email spammers ,lest we be identified with them. In my book they are in fact not a "dear colleague". They are a blight on our industry and should be called out for bad business practices.

Being kind and gracious has it's place but not toward those who foul the nest. Sorry I totally disagree with offering to network with spammers who make recruiters look like fools.

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