Frustrations of Recruitment Industry - Can we tell "Fake" candidates apart ?

[TampaChinnodu]

   

I recently came across a comment on LinkedIn that asking for Work Authorization documents, DL etc. was illegal. I obviously replied to it that cashiers at checkout ask for DL before letting one buy alcohol or cigarettes, is that illegal too? That comment prompted me to write this article which was on my mind for a long time - an everyday journey of a typical IT recruiter.

We work so hard to get one client and all we need is one fake candidate that will throw us under the bus and ta-dah, we lose the trust of our client if not the client itself. Few such instances and you bid farewell to the client. This is an everyday challenge and struggle of a typical IT recruiter who is trying to identify one genuine profile to match the client requirements.

1. Fake documents - We often feel like we can join FBI or CIA for the amount of time we spend looking at each verification document under the magnifying lens like I-797, driver's license, OPT EAD, GC EAD, passport. If I had not known better, I would be easily fooled. There were instances when I pulled up my own license to see if I had that 'watermark' or this 'organ donor sticker' in the right place, because the morphing is done so well that there's no more telling them apart from real ones. I've had people who were referred by friends call me asking me to find a job and when asked for their ID, they would not shy away from asking "Do you want the real one with real DOB or the fake one that my marketing team prepared to substantiate my experience and work authorization?" If I had not gotten immune up until this point, I would have screamed over the phone.
2. Fake Resumes - Have you ever had someone ask you "Can you send me the copy of my resume that you have?" What does that tell you? That they have multiple versions of resumes, which are tailor-made to suit the job requirement. They would not discuss a thing until they see the version you have. Sometimes they cannot seem to remember what's mentioned on their own resumes, because most of the content is borrowed from other resumes.
3. Scheduling interviews - The candidates give you slots for interview and seldom pick up the calls during that slot. Your client is waiting on the conference bridge and the candidate never shows up. Why would they give a slot when they know they will not take the call? No one forced them. They later give excuses like they were suddenly called into a meeting / pick up a child from daycare / stuck in traffic / phone was out of charge etc. I don’t remember called into an “unscheduled” meeting unless there was some serious production issue or systems crashed, but somehow most of these people have meetings scheduled “suddenly”. Did you ever think about it that these candidates are out of project and looking for a job? What meetings are they talking about?
4. ***** interviews - "Thumbs up" if the candidates would not give you the interview slots right away and says that they have to check their "calendar". Guess what they mean by “calendar”? Their ***** of course. When a candidate is out of project, shouldn’t it be their sole mission to take interview calls at any time and get a project ASAP? Then if a candidate who is out of project says that they are available only during 12-1 (lunch time) and after 5 PM, isn’t that giving out that they are depending on someone to do their interview and that special “someone” is on project and can only help you during their lunch time or after office hours?
5. Skype calls – Did you come across candidates that are okay to do a telephonic interview but not Skype calls. I even had a lady tell me that doing a Skype call is an invasion of her privacy. Seriously?
6. Lip sync – Until few years ago, little did I know that this is done outside of movie or television industry. I still remember the day when one of my clients mentioned that a candidate has lip synced during a Skype interview. In movies, actors act it out and then the audio is embedded on top of it. Doing it on a Skype – acting and audio has to be done in tandem. How’s that possible? Still beats me to this day but I learned to wrap my brain around it just like with many other fictitious practices of desperate candidates who would spend so much time doing all of the above. If they were to spend the same time pursuing certifications in the skills that they have been trained on, I am sure it would pay them well in the long run.
7. LinkedIn - Did you ever think LinkedIn was optional for professionals who switch projects often? It's a different thing if you choose to stay under the rock and away from any kind of social media and that's perfectly fine. If you are in the IT space, I didn't think we could be Amish about it, but yet, if you ask any of these "fake" candidates as to why they do not have a LinkedIn, they will almost convince you with their lies like "I didn't think I needed it", "I am not into social media" etc, but these folks will have a Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and all sorts of social media presence with minute by minute updates. It goes to prove that they do not want to be on LinkedIn because they have something to hide. The other extreme case is of those with presence on LinkedIn which is a mere reflection of their resume, but yet, they would not have many connections except for a handful of family and friends, absolutely no recommendations, no connections to colleagues from the clients they claim to have worked with. It's a morphed LinkedIn account like their fake IDs.

Yes, one may ask if giving their "fresher" resume would fetch them a job. I say “Not easy” and it is what it is. Why is that so? Guess we are all responsible for that in some way. Clients want experienced candidates fresh out of the mill and do not want to train anyone on job, candidates want a job, we want to be able to close positions for our clients. This is a vicious circle and all of it combined has made the market the miry clay it is today. I wonder if we are at a point of no return or is there?

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[TampaChinnodu]

desi recruiters gola gola sesthunnaru linkedIn lo ee madhya 

[lucky7]

assallu yevaddu original lo yevadhu fake ooo yevarrakki ardam kavadam ledu. 

8 years exp anni linkedin lo peduthunarru, basic unix commands ravatam ledu. ippudu recruiters not even believing linkedin profiles and some blogs.