"dirty rotten job searching tricks"

I prefer not to comment on blogs that are blatant marketing posts on any site, by people who are too damn cheap to buy an ad. Phil Rosenberg makes a career out of posting half a blog with a link to his site to try and drive traffic to his site. I wasn't born at night and it sure wasn't last night. Being called out for moderating comments it appears he has decided to let comments through on this site rather than try to get them posted on his own blog.

A few words to you Phil. If you want to promote your services to candidates as a job search coach. Buy an ad, you cheap bastard.

If you want to post on a site for recruiters hoping that some recruiters might refer someone to you. It might be in your best interest not to post something that by your own headline is a " dirty, rotten, trick".

There are about a million reasons why job seekers should not resort to "dirty rotten tricks", not the least of which is trying to go around someone who can and will represent that job seeker directly to a hiring manager or have the ear of an internal recruiter. Obviously if a company had a problem paying a fee or did not want a recruiter to interview and screen candidates, the company would not have listed the job with a recruiter. I've been around since Lincoln was a cadet and tennis balls were square. I can promise you that advising any job seeker to go around HR, a recruiter, internal or external has resulted in more disappointment or problems for job seekers than any other stupid advice that failed recruiters turned "job each coaches" ever gave anybody.

Here is the call I got last week.

Candidate: I saw an ad a recruiter was running, I figured out who it was, so I sent my resume to the general manager, he sent it to HR, they won't return my calls nor will the GM. Somebody told me they were interviewing with this company through you. Can you get me an interview?

Me: no, sorry, you have already contacted them and have obviously called them until they have eliminated you.

Candidate: why, I have the experience they want?

Me: I don't know, if I had submitted you I could answer that question. I do know that they listed this spot with two recruiters and have asked us to screen, reference check and do indepth interviews because they don't want to do that internally.

Candidate: but why do they not want to save paying a fee?

Me: don't know guy, I guess they are willing to have us qualify candidates. In the future I would suggest that if you see a recruiter running an ad you assume there is a good reason the company is using a recruiter and contact the person who can get you presented and get feedback for you.

For you Phil, maybe your headline should have read, "dirty, rotten, tricks that can result in job seekers shooting themselves in the foot"

Buy an ad you cheap bastard.

Comment by Joshua Lee on June 14, 2012 at 5:24pm: Sandra - I've been a fan of yours since our first interaction. :)

Comment by Sandra McCartt on June 15, 2012 at 12:10am: thanks Joshua, All of us need all the fans we can get. I appreciate your comment.

Comment by Cora Mae Lengeman on June 15, 2012 at 8:54am: My comments weren't posted either! I am so surprised! I was only stating my opinion....

Which clearly differed from his. You are right on Sandra! I almost feel bad to anyone that adheres to his sleazy advice.

If I was in Texas I'd join you for that drink! In honor of being a real recruiter and not a looooser!

Comment by Sandra McCartt on June 15, 2012 at 10:00am: I can only assume, Cora, that Phil's business must be so bad that he can't risk any dissenting opinion, can't afford to pay for an ad and has to resort to promoting candidates to take the same desperate measures he is taking to get his name out.

I would suggest that the result of his advice to a job seeker who pays him could be judged by how well his blog here is working for him. The response he has offered up that of course recruiters would think this is bad because we are recruiters begs the question of why any idiot would post something on a site for recruiters suggesting that job seekers go around recruiters.

I don't know about other recruiters but I very often tell a candidate to check out an opening I may know about that is not listed with a recruiter or suggest they apply with a company I know hires people with a candidate's background. If they tell me they know someone who works there I suggest they go online, fill out an application or send their resume to HR or the internal recruiter. Then a call to someone who may know them advising that they have applied is more professional than trying to get in the back door first. If they know someone well it never hurts to contact that person to see if there is an employee referral program would the person they know like to refer them.

It's my take that the employment process starts with the person or department who has that responsibility whether it is a recruiter or the internal HR department. I have seen very few situations where a truly qualified candidate does not get an interview.

Comment by Peter Ceccarelli on June 18, 2012 at 2:38pm: So Phil's been McCartted! In this regard, not a good thing for Phil. He'll need to move to Greece now. I understand that with 25% unemployment, he'll have a huge audience to sell his bag of tricks to. He's just gotta learn him some Greek now, and we ain't talking feta!

Comment by Sandra McCartt on June 18, 2012 at 3:31pm: LOL, There you have it. Cheesy deal, no matter what language it comes in. Maybe Phil can do trade deals ..cheese for cheese. who doesn't like a bit of stinky cheese now and then?

Comment by Peter Ceccarelli on June 18, 2012 at 5:47pm: You need your own nationally syndicated column. Dear Abby has been gone a very long time.......so Dear Sandra could fill a very big void!

Comment by Sandra McCartt on June 18, 2012 at 6:41pm: So have Cheech and Chong, maybe a combo of C&C/Dear Abby for recruiting. :)

Comment by Joshua Lee on June 18, 2012 at 7:40pm: I wrote and responded to Phil several days ago and he conveniently left it off the string. I like how he filters his postings to only the stuff he wants people to see. I essentially called him out saying that he has bad information and even worse advice for candidates. He's providing a disservice to the candidates, clients and recruiting industry. Why would a company hire a recruiter? Partly to weed out unwanted solicitation from unqualified candidates. It's precisely the reason the recruiter is there often times. By advising they try to play super sleuth and discover the hiring manager and contact them directly, he's doing exactly what the company is paying good money NOT to occur. What a fool....seriously..... good thing this is a public forum of recruitment professionals who speak about their experience and skills and that we are here to learn from one another and educate ourselves on the best practices within our industry as a shared community of bloggers and contributing ideas and thoughts. Also, that much of what we say is mere opinion.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on June 18, 2012 at 7:59pm: Correct Josh, none of us are professional journalists just drop shippers of personal opinion. Perhaps by filtering comments, Phil thinks he is "managing his brand". I would opine that the only thing transparent about what he is doing is trying to market his career coaching. Without paying for advertising...cheap bastard...there is a dirty, rotten marketing tip for career coaches. Write half a blog, link it to your site, moderate comments so no one disagrees with you. Never have so few irritated so many so quickly.

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