Custom Resumes, Cover Letter, LinkedInProfiles. Job Search Tips, Career Advice
Questions to Ask the Recruiter During the Screening
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Does this post add value to your business day? I post about job search best practices and issues related to the job market 2x per day M-F. Click "Follow" on my profile - Allan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abrownresumewriter/ (posting job search advice 1 – 2x daily)
Screening the Recruiter
Be sure to take a view minutes and "screen the recruiter" who sends you an unsolicited request for a resume for a position that you are "qualified". Use Google and LinkedIn. If you cannot get any relevant information about the recruiter or agency name, do not respond. More than likely, it is for a "fake" job.
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Does this post add value to your business day? I post about job search best practices and issues related to the job market 2x per day M-F. Click "Follow" on my profile - Allan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abrownresumewriter/ (posting job search advice 1 – 2x daily)
Quote - The perspective of a great recruiter (i do not know the author but I really love this quote"):
“Acquiring the right talent is the most important key to growth. Hiring was, and still is, the most important thing we do. Great companies don't hire skilled people and motivate them, they hire already motivated people and inspire them."
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Does this post add value to your business day? I post about job search best practices and issues related to the job market 2x per day M-F. Click "Follow" on my profile - Allan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abrownresumewriter/ (posting job search advice 1 – 2x daily)
Recruiter Scams - Part 4 - Fraudulent Messages
More about recruiter scams...
What to look for in a fraudulent message:
What to do if you receive a fraudulent message:
Does this post add value to your business day? I post about job search best practices and issues related to the job market 2x per day M-F. Click "Follow" on my profile - Allan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abrownresumewriter/ (posting job search advice 1 – 2x daily)
Your email prompted me to create this posting:
Does this post add value to your business day? I post about job search best practices and issues related to the job market 2x per day M-F. Click "Follow" on my profile - Allan
"Bad Actor Recruiters" - Scammers
Article about “bad actor” recruiters that I published this week
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beware-fake-recruiters-how-identify-cyber-thieves-allan-brown-lgyuf
Challenges of AI in Recruiting
“When teams lean too heavily on AI, decisions can become overly data-driven, missing important context such as potential, growth, or how someone might contribute to a team beyond what's listed on paper.” - Source: Gallagher and Kennedy
Does this post add value to your business day? I post about job search best practices and issues related to the job market 2x per day M-F. Click "Follow" on my profile - Allan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abrownresumewriter/ (posting job search advice 1 – 2x daily)
While ATS systems scan resumes for qualifications of employment, this systems are far from perfect. Many are filled with bugs and most have different criteria that is weighted to determine qualifications of employment. In short, contrary to popular belief, not all ATS systems are not created equal.
Therefore, for recruiters to make an impact, relationship building and creating an understanding of the candidate's intent, skills, successes, not to mention the compensation package negotiations, and whether or not the candidate is the right "culture fit" cannot be fully automated.
Given the information above, this makes networking more important than ever. Relying solely on submitting resumes into ATS systems is not going to yield the response rate you, as a candidate desire on your hunt to find the right opportunity.
Does this post add value to your business day? I post about job search best practices and issues related to the job market 2x per day M-F. Click "Follow" on my profile - Allan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abrownresumewriter/ (posting job search advice 1 – 2x daily)
AI and Recruiters
Using artificial intelligence (AI) for writing your resume is viewed negatively by recruiters. While AI-generated content can be a time-saver, recruiters and hiring managers are becoming more adept at detecting the use of AI in resumes and cover letters. Submitting AI-generated materials without differentiation from the original content (aka - detected by the reader (recruiter) or the applicant tracking systems ATS)) could lead to rejection.
This is particularly true when multiple applicants submit identical or highly similar materials, which could raise concerns about plagiarism.
Does this post add value to your business day? I post about job search best practices and issues related to the job market 2x per day M-F. Click "Follow" on my profile - Allan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abrownresumewriter/ (posting job search advice 1 – 2x daily)
More TikTok - Recruiters
https://www.tiktok.com/@allanwritescareers/video/7325502173708635422
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SPECIAL NOTE: I am now taking on speaking engagements to groups about the following subjects:
Resume Writing
Interviewing
Ageism in the Workplace
Career Management
ATS Best Practices
Job Search Strategies
as well as accepting invitations to critique resumes, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles at trade shows, workshops, seminars and various other events. Please contact me via ajbresumes@gmail.com or 415.519.9659 for more details.
Reverse Recruiting
**Please note that I am not an advocate of this method but it is part of the marketplace so I want to make job seekers away of the model, which is the opposite of the traditional model of retained / contingency recruiting**
Through good economic times and bad, recruiters have usually operated the other way around: Companies pay them to find talent for tough-to-fill positions. Now, though, job seekers are hiring a new crop of what are called reverse recruiters to help them crack a competitive market.
Jane Doe, 36 years old, signed up for reverse-recruiting service Refer last year after receiving an email pitch from the company. Refer’s AI agent connected her with an executive at Golden, a volunteer-management company, which was looking for a platform engineer and data scientist. Doe got the offer after several interviews. She then paid Refer 20% of his first month’s pay once it landed in his bank account.
It was “refreshing,” she said, not to be lost in a sea of candidates sorted by an applicant-tracking system (ATS).
The reverse-recruiting model is another sign of the mounting challenges for white-collar job seekers. For the first time since the pandemic, there were more unemployed people than open roles as of late 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average job search is now approaching about six months, according to December federal data.
Reverse-recruiter models vary, but many require job seekers to pay them part of their salary once they accept a job. Others charge a set rate to submit applications on a candidate’s behalf. Such services typically go beyond career coaching or résumé reviews, and sometimes involve the recruiter applying on behalf of the candidate.
Source: WSJ.com
SCREENING THE RECRUITER
Be sure to take a view minutes and "screen the recruiter" who sends you an unsolicited request for a resume for a position that you are "qualified". Use Google and LinkedIn. If you cannot get any relevant information about the recruiter or agency name, do not respond. More than likely, it is for a "fake" job.
Recruiters
Definition: Social Engineer (as related to online predators (in this case, recruiters who contact job seekers out of the blue):
A social engineer is someone who uses psychological manipulation and deception to trick people into divulging confidential information, granting access to systems, or performing actions that compromise security. Unlike traditional hackers who exploit technical vulnerabilities in software, social engineers exploit inherent human behaviors and emotions, such as trust, curiosity, fear, and the desire to be helpful.
FOR JOB SEEKERS: If you are contacted by a recruiter unprovoked, do the following:
1. "Google" the name of the recruiter. If there are no results are limited results, the recruiter is a "social engineer"
2. Check to see if the email is from a company domain. If it from a "gmail or hotmail domain, it is likely a social engineer
3. If the sender indicates a company, "google the company". If there is not website, it is properly a fake.
If it seems suspicious, then it probably suspicious. Delete and block immediately.
Reverse Recruiting
**Please note that I am not an advocate of this method but it is part of the marketplace so I want to make job seekers away of the model, which is the opposite of the traditional model of retained / contingency recruiting**
Through good economic times and bad, recruiters have usually operated the other way around: Companies pay them to find talent for tough-to-fill positions. Now, though, job seekers are hiring a new crop of what are called reverse recruiters to help them crack a competitive market.
Jane Doe, 36 years old, signed up for reverse-recruiting service Refer last year after receiving an email pitch from the company. Refer’s AI agent connected her with an executive at Golden, a volunteer-management company, which was looking for a platform engineer and data scientist. Doe got the offer after several interviews. She then paid Refer 20% of his first month’s pay once it landed in his bank account.
It was “refreshing,” she said, not to be lost in a sea of candidates sorted by an applicant-tracking system (ATS).
The reverse-recruiting model is another sign of the mounting challenges for white-collar job seekers. For the first time since the pandemic, there were more unemployed people than open roles as of late 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average job search is now approaching about six months, according to December federal data.
Reverse-recruiter models vary, but many require job seekers to pay them part of their salary once they accept a job. Others charge a set rate to submit applications on a candidate’s behalf. Such services typically go beyond career coaching or résumé reviews, and sometimes involve the recruiter applying on behalf of the candidate.
Source: WSJ.com
Recruiter's Best Strategy
(Please note that this post is about real, professional recruiters who are easily to verify and not the scam artists that send you emails and InMails...)
Recruiter's time is valuable. They are driven, organized, poised and do not want to waste time. They do not want dozens of resumes. Too inefficient. They want 4-5 strong matches. They are using artificial intelligence (AI) and other tools to identify the best candidates.
Therefore, make sure your LI profile is up-to-date, filled with the right keywords and that you are active on the platform so they can find you.
Job Boards / Networking / Recruiters
Don't limit your search to online job boards - you will be lucky to get a 3% response (not interviews, just a response).
Don't limit your search to recruiters - they work for someone else, not you and you will be lucky to get a 3-5% hit rate. Besides, they only have a very limited number of jobs within their portfolio.
Instead of dedicating time to inefficient channels, try networking instead. Connect with people in your field, attend industry events, and leverage your personal and professional connections. Networking can lead to valuable leads and opportunities that may not be advertised publicly (AKA - the hidden job market).
If you do not understand the term "hidden job market", send me a private message.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abrownresumewriter/ (posting job search advice 1 – 2x daily)