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 Caitlin Carruthers on February 21, 2012 at 6:50pm: Interestingly, I googled "Kathy Thor Group" and the first result that came up was this thread, so if Kathy is a real person, I'm hoping she doesn't google herself regularly. The next three are all LinkedIn profiles for 'Kathy Williams, Sourcing Manager'; 'Kathleen Williams, Account Manager'; and 'Kathryn Williams, Sourcing Manager', all from Thor Group, Michigan. I find it highly unlikely that Thor Group's Michigan office has a Kathy, Kathleen (Kathy) and Kathryn (Kathy) Williams, two with the same job title, therefore I think it's pretty safe to assume she is not real. There's no point in emailing a bot as all it does is encourage more spam. If Kathy did appear to be real, I'd probably still delete the email, all the while mentally composing the snarky response I'd really like to reply with.

Comment by Connie Hampton on February 21, 2012 at 6:58pm: I'm with you Trish and I have a template in my "drafts" for just these occasions.

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on February 21, 2012 at 6:58pm: Kathy, Kathleen AND a Kathryn? Oh this just gets better and better. We should be nice to all three of them lol. I have to check this out... I wonder if they have the same picture too.

Comment by Linda Ferrante on February 21, 2012 at 8:06pm: Interesting read here! I don't know how real Thor, or Kathy, are, but one of her former employers (according to her LI profile) is real. Her recommendations look pretty real, too. If she really sent this email out, I would hope that she is thoroughly embarassed about the response it's generated! I have never, ever, sent out an email like this. I've sent emails asking for referrals, but never with such a blind attempt.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on February 21, 2012 at 8:32pm: And about all those recommendations you find on some of these so called recruiters profiles. The one i mentioned who has set up 50 phony profiles. Lives and operates in the Dallas area. She has lots of recommendations from all of these phony profiles she has set up herself in other names\. Some with large companies in their background. Will anybody ever know that the recommendations are not real. They wouldn't have except that another recruiter tried calling one or two and discovered that they were not real. Then he got intrigured and called all of them. All 50 bogus.. But hey she had some great recs from people who had worked at big companies...who had never heard of them. Most people looking at the profile would think she was a whale of a recruiter. Most folks would never think to check out if the recs came from real people. They must be real , they have a linkedin profile and a facebook profile. Our industry is full of liars, cheats and scammers. And many wizard of OZ recruiters who are just a sham behind a phony profile and a cartoon avatar. The oldest dirty trick in the book is to set up a shiney profile on linkedin or facebook , lure in recruiters who still believe in the tooth fairy and go so far as to do a phone interview to find out where a job is then go after it. That shiney profile disappears, the resume is bogus and suddenly the phone number on the resume is the wrong number. So if a candidate you find on linkedin tells you via email that they will have to call you , they call and number is blocked, you have probably just been scammed by a recruiter.

Comment by Megan Flynn on February 21, 2012 at 10:22pm: Just an example of one of the recommendations on Kathy W's profile (noteworthy: it is also on "Kathy Williams" profile.. who happens to have the same picture/profile/recommendations):

“Kathy is a very detail hard worker. Who has a passions for recruiting and helping customers find the right people for their company. And assisting candidates with not finding a job but, find a career that balance family and work. Human Resources is about changing, affecting and bettering lives. Kathy does that daily."

Not to be nit picky - which I'm sure many of you will think I am after reading this post - but would you want this as a recommendation on your profile? Again, maybe this is the recent college graduate (with a degree in Journalism) in me, but seriously? This person couldn't be bothered with proper grammar, spelling and punctuation, but you want them recommending you as a professional? If Kathy is real, she should be embarrassed about her professional appearance at this point and while I feel somewhat guilty of making her look bad (lesson learned: I won't ever post the persons contact information again), perhaps she should be a little bit more cautious before sending an email, accepting a recommendation, etc.

Comment by Trish Ferrett on February 22, 2012 at 9:18am: All I'm saying is... keep it classy, recruiters. You never know who is behind an email address, or who might google you--and those individuals could hold your future in the palm of their hand. If you're going to be hacked at the principle, then fine... vent away... but attacking the individual and making really caustic and abrasive statements like "dumbassisland" just might keep YOU from getting the next gig. If you want to elevate the profession, be the role model--not the one laughing and pointing.

Comment by Elise Reynolds on February 22, 2012 at 10:38am: This is a lot of emotion for a errant spam, I typically just delete them. I don't feel defined by other recruiters less than stellar practices.

I am not sure why she sent this inappropriate email to Megan. It might have been a mistake or careless spam or maybe she is lurking on this message board snickering at all the ruckus she has caused?

The idea that you should not be a recruiter if you sometimes make an email error is nonsensical to me. I know that when I have two people with similar names in my contacts I sometimes will accidentally click on the wrong name because it is next to the right name. Not saying this was a simple email error. I am a mother so any fantasies about perfection were squelched long ago.

Right now I have (IMO) more relevant problems with spam because I have some India based recruiting companies sending me emails every day even though I have asked them several times to please take me off their distribution. I bet if I asked Kathy to take me off the list she would! The way I deal with it is I have directed any of their emails to go directly to the junk folder.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on February 22, 2012 at 11:22am: There's a nice young man downstairs with a mask and a gun.

Please ask him nicely to leave, we don't want to piss anybody off or make anybody think we aren't hospitable.

Comment by Trish Ferrett on February 22, 2012 at 11:26am: How appropriate, with the Oscars coming this weekend! Is there a category for recruiters?

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