AIBU to think this is unprofessional & should I do anything?

[krasnayaploshad]

A recruitment agency consultant sent an email to my work email to tell me about a job role & inviting me to apply.

I'm not very happy about this as it's an agency I've never dealt with before so how did they obtain my work email? Other agencies will contact me via LinkedIn & if this consultant saw my profile on there, why not send me a message that way? For all the consultant knows, I could have a PA who has access to my emails.

I've had a look at the company's website & the consultant appears to be very junior & I can find no sign of the job role so it makes me think they are (a) a bit clueless on appropriate ways of contacting people & (b) just fishing for more candidates to have on their books.

AIBU to think this consultant is out of line sending unsolicited job adverts to my work address? If so, would you do anything?

[Comeatmefam]

Yes it's unprofessional and yes should have been through LinkedIn.

Complain.

[Comeatmefam]

(Companies can and do check your emails - it will probably say that in your contract. So there is a real but small risk bosses could get wind of it and think you were looking to leave).

[CarryOnDancing]

Inviting you to apply is just a mild form of headhunting. I've known people to have their packages improved because their manager has got wind that someone is trying to poach them. Theyimproved the package to encourage them to stay but also to say thanks for their loyalty.

It seems a pretty standard thing to me and not something I would get annoyed about.

I guess it depends on what level job you have as to what quality level the recruitment consultant will be.

Personally I wouldn't do anything about it.

[slartybartfast]

send it to spam?

[TestingTestingWonTooFree]

This might be unpopular, but I think some recruitment agents are parasites. They take a load of money for providing a service that's only required by their existence. I acknowledge that some are good, who tailor what they offer to the needs of individual recruiters and candidates and they could save you a load of time.

A friend of mine who runs a company told me he recently had an unsolicited email from and agent offering him a candidate (they weren't advertising). On the same day the same agent also sent an unsolicited email to one of my friend's employees (in the same role) trying to poach him for another company. My friend complained to the agency head office and said he'd never use them if this is how they do business.

Complain if you like, I'm not sure it'll get you very far.

[AlpacaLypse]

Since you did not approach them, and email trail would prove this, I doubt this would lead to difficulties at work.

However I certainly wouldn't actually use such an incompetent agent! And might well say so loudly and clearly to whoever might be interested

[pukkapine]

are all work email addresses similar? DH was headhunted in this way... the industry 'knew' of him/his reputation... a couple of places then worked out what his email address would be from the standard format. It's quite normal. It's no reflection on your or your professional standing if someone within your current company sees that email is it? Just shows you're considered employable elsewhere, not a bad thing for them to know.

[WillYouDoTheFandango]

They have probably worked with someone who works at your organisation in the past and so have figured out your email based on their email. Eg if theirs was [email protected] they could work out that yours was [email protected].

I get them all the time, the worst are the ones who ring the main switchboard and ask for you. That's embarrassing to explain to the PA.

[nicename]

Was it to you personally or part of a wider mailer?

In ye olden days, a tame recruuiter would call their contacts to get names of likely candidates to contact for jobs.

In one job I had, the twit of a recruiter sent out a barely disguised cv of mine to some potential employers. One being my boss who knew exactly who the cv belonged to (duh, pretty specialised set of qualifications and experience). He was not amused.

[FairyPenguin]

I agree with Testing and Alpaca. Have had numerous approaches from recruitment agents in the past - they would call up the switchboard then ask to be put through to X and then ask if they were interested in a job. Then proceed to do this working their way through our very small team who all sat in earshot of each other, within minutes! Very funny watching the people who were job hunting try to surreptitiously arrange a follow-up phone call! Same with emails - as most company email addresses are consistent format, they can take an educated guess at it if they have your name.

I have only ever complained about an agent once, when they put my cv forward for a job I was already interviewing for through another agent. It did no good. I just bad mouth them to anybody I know is job hunting.

Oh actually there's also the time an agent called my manager to ask if he wanted them to recruit for the vacancy he had. Except there was no vacancy yet so he was confused. I'd just told the agent I'd accepted a job offer through another agent and so no longer needed their services, so they were trying to get in before anyone else did. Then I resigned a week later so my manager knew it was my fault! Awkward.

[krasnayaploshad]

Thanks for the replies so far. At the moment I'm deliberating between ignoring the email (& making a mental note never to use the agency!) or replying with some constructive feedback.
For those that say to complain, would you complain just to the consultant or cc in the directors of the company? The website has the directors' email addresses listed

Oh & I forgot to mention that I'm not looking for a job so it's not as if this consultant got hold of my interest via the grapevine.

Testing I'm starting to think the same as you as my experience lately of unsolicited approaches has been rather poor. It now makes me wonder what goes on when I'm actively looking for a job.

[HolidayCriminal]

I get loads of emails like this, semi-professional phishing. I don't like it & it's fraught with pitfalls as you say. It's a new way of doing things & I wouldn't think anything of it .

[krasnayaploshad]

X-posted with a few people.

nicename - the email was addressed to me personally

fairypenguin I've had that a few times too - recruiters calling the switchboard & asking for me. Don't any of them realise how common open plan offices are these days???

Even when I've changed my LinkedIn profile to remove "contact me for job opportunities" it still hasn't stopped. I understand it's tough for agencies but they should respect other people's wishes. Maybe that's naive of me.

[FairyPenguin]

I have actually explicitly written "I'm not currently looking for a new role." on my LinkedIn profile. It hasn't stopped the approaches, but I now just ignore them rather than reply. They send them out in bulk and don't follow up anyway.

[peggyundercrackers]

Treat it as spam email and ignore. Personally I've got better things to do with my time than reply to spam email...

[TwittyMcTwitterson]

I wouldn't do anything. Possibly, it's spam and it wasn't realised it was your work email. A few times a year, I get 'cv of the week' to my work email. No idea how or why.

[WilsonFrickett]

I was a recruitment cosultant for a year. It was the worst year of my life. Just because they are called consultants and deal with people's lives, they are given a level of respect that they don't deserve. They are sales reps, pure and simple. Ignore it in the same way you'd ignore an email from someone wanting to cure baldness. It's spam, pure and simple.

Unfortunately it's spam which can sometimes have repercussions on people (eg bosses seeing emails) but I think there's no point in complaining, it will be ignored. Only the most 'salesy' of recruitment consultants will have survived the recession - they are too busy chasing sales to care about their email ettiquette.

[BrownSauceSandwich]

Don't tie yourself in knots about it... You might find that everybody in your workplace got the same. We get a bunch of these in work: companies looking for our niche skills will send mailshots to everyone on our staff list, so we just forward them to IT support to be added to our spam filter. It's really no more incriminating than a cold call from a double glazing salesman... at least, not if you don't respond.

A couple of times, I've been targeted in a more selective way by people we have professional links to (eg: collaborators, or training providers). On those occasions, I forwarded them on to the boss, because I felt they were abusing their relationship with the organisation.

[krasnayaploshad]

Thanks everyone.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't spam in the usual sense as it was addressed specifically to me, outlined some aspects of the job that tie in with my experience & signed off with the consultant's name & direct contact details. I was the only person in my dept to receive it - yes, I asked if anyone else had received it.
However, you're right that the email should be treated as spam as it was unsolicited & I think fishing for contacts to build their database.

[wobblyweebles]

I wouldn't bother complaining to the agency. They all do similar...

[Mumoftwoyoungkids]

I get these all the time - as does most people in my profession (actuary). Often by phone call. We have competitions to see how quickly we can get them off the phone without being rude. (I'm winning in my team with 47 seconds but I did have the slight cheat of the phrase "7 months pregnant".)

It's hilarious when other team members get calls from them as you can always tell.

I also remember meeting up with a load of old school friends one of whom spent the entire night boasting about her mahhhhvwllous house, fiancé, life, career etc. She was just in the middle of a big long boast about a "headhunter" calling her when dh (pretty innocently I think - he'd been talking to someone else) said "oh god - not you too - mumoftwo spends her life whining about them calling her so much". She shut up for a good 10 minutes!

[NightFallsFast]

I would ignore.

I found it particularly rude when I was a junior hospital doctor and people from agencies told switchboard they were doctors in order to contact me through the bleep/pager system. This often meant leaving a patient in order to find a phone to answer the bleep etc. I'm feeling angry just thinking about it!

[krasnayaploshad]

Mumoftwo I love that competition
nightfallsfast that's terrible!