AIBU was the recruiter awkward or should I have done what she asked?

[dellsell]

I’m not currently looking for a job, but my CV is online and people can reach out to me. On Monday, a recruiter contacted me with a link to one of their job openings. I expressed my interest but requested a call to ask some questions before I filled out their (lengthy
) application form. She responded by asking if I could send my questions via email, so that she could discuss them with the hiring manager and get back to me. She mentioned that there were certain questions she might not be able to answer as she was not based at the school, so it would be easier if everything was in an email.

While I understand her position, I prefer a phone call because I think it’s difficult to gauge the company’s culture through email. Sometimes, it’s better to have a casual chat over the phone and let the conversation flow naturally. I told her that a phone call would be more convenient for me and asked if that would be okay, which she agreed. However, I just finished a call with her, and she was quite rude and stand offish imo, ending the call with, "As I mentioned in my email, I can't answer every question since I’m not based at the school, so I’ll need to find out and get back to you”…..

Was I wrong? Surely, it is her responsibility to know this information? I have never experienced being denied a phone call during a job search before, in fact, recruiters / employers have always been happy to talk over the phone. I find the entire situation really strange. To be honest, it has put me off the job. Just to add, she was employed by the company, not through an agency.

I think you can see this would not be a good cultural fit. I don't think she was wrong to ask for the questions, not do I think you were wrong to want an informal call.

I think it's probably the hiring manager's responsibility to know that information and she is a more junior member of staff who gets the ball rolling. I have had similar before and just emailed across the questions and THEN followed up with a telephone call once I have had the answers. If she was rude to you then that's one thing, but I think she was probably following a process knowing that she was not the person with all of the information at hand, but that this initial part had been delegated to her by the hiring manager.

Basically, she wanted you to do the work of compiling a list of questions that she could just forward to the employer. Like doing her job for her.

Was it a recruitment consultant who contacted you?

Does the job actually exist because sometimes they just want your information on file & use fake job details to get it.

You could have sent the questions and asked for her to give you a call to provide the answers. I'd be standoffish if you made me give you a call when I'd already told you I didn't have the information. It's her job to get the answers, which she said she would, not know everything off the top of her head.

If she works for a large Trust central team then she won't be able to answer very specific questions. She would need to arrange for you to speak to someone at the school or ask the questions on your behalf.

Her email signature mentioned recruitment resourcer I think. The job is real, she sent me the link to it on their careers page.

From my understanding, recruiters are generally employees on a minimum base wage, who get commission for matchmaking essentially. You’re not dealing with an expert in the field or someone who has any more knowledge than you do. You’re probably asking a total layperson those questions, who has merely read the same job description they sent to you. There’s little incentive for them to be diligent beyond that. So I’m just thinking that your experience isn’t unusual but part & parcel of dealing with recruiters. Don’t let this one shoehorn you into a role that you’re unsure about.

I am wondering if she is somewhat limited…a hands tied…type of situation where she is uncomfortable/ uncertain/ worried about/ overstepping her bounds and responsibilities. She’s trying to recruit you while also making sure she doesn’t say anything that later attributed to her could …you know…get her in trouble.

Altho I have a senior role at work and often asked to step in and help others with incidents or situations or unique problems I absolutely will no longer take patient complaints for this reason. I hand them the ombudsman number. It’s a volatile situation and I don’t want one complaining patient saying…well that lavenderbrown said….because I know that will come back to haunt me .

If she's a recruiter, ie a third party, then she probably won't know all the answers to your questions. I don't think she was unreasonable. Better to get back to you with all the info rather than just some of it.

If your aim was to use the call to get a feel for the organisation, and she told you she isn’t based at the organisation, then insisting on the phone call seems pointless.

If she’s an external recruiter which it seems like she was? Having a phone call wouldn’t help you in terms of the culture and she’s probably just doing initial sifting. She was just trying to avoid wasting both of your times

I used to do recruitment for my employer. I would liaise with the candidates to arrange interviews and answers any basic questions about the structure of the interview itself. But I would not be able to give technical answers about the role as it is the hiring manager who knows all that stuff.

So I can see why she felt she would rather get the list and forward it to the person who actually wants the employee.

Neither of you were wrong really. But as a first impression it feels like you're already not happy with there practices. At this early stage it's probably a sign it's not for you.

But the call was between you and the recruiter, not the school or workplace, so his furs that help you understand the culture? I think she was perfectly reasonable asking you to email your questions so she could become informed and not waste more time.

She asked you to send the questions by email so she could check with the school and give you accurate answers, which is a reasonable request. By pushing for a phone call instead, you set her up to be unable to give you much beyond what she’d already said in writing. She didn’t need to be rude, but from her perspective it probably felt like you ignored the process she’d already explained and she felt aggravated.

That's a good point. The recruiter was based in a completely separate building and possibly organisation. Like they are an agent or they work at the LA. So the culture would not be expressed in any calls with this person. They are just administrating the process.

This.
Unless I've completely misunderstood your OP, she doesn't work at the school so wanted to be able gather the relevant information for you.
Surely thats reasonable? You could have still spoken to her after receiving that info.
I'm not sure how you can judge the work culture from a recruiter not employed at the school.
You said school but also mentioned company which didn't make sense to me unless to me. Are you talking about a private school foundation or schools Trust?

If she is an external recruiter, working remotely, she won't be able to answer questions about a school she's never visited any more than you can. And she won't be thanked by very busy school management teams for asking them stacks of questions on behalf of someone who hasn't even applied for the job yet. If the form is too onerous for you to take a punt on, can't you see that your questions are too onerous for her to answer? Neither of you wants to put in a huge amount of effort with low chance of a result.

But it's just the recruiter. You're not going to get an idea of workplace culture on a phone call with the recruiter?

So what are you going to do?

if you like the sound of the job, seems like cutting your nose off to spite your face if you don’t do as she’s requested

She’s been hired by the school to recruit
She knows she won’t know the answers in all likelihood and saving everyone’s time

What questions were you asking op?