Recruitment Strategy? Beware and Be Aware!
A few days ago, a call from some guy with a no-nonsense businesslike voice woke me up. With my just-woke-up bedroom voice, I answered his questions with uh-huhs and hmmms because I wasn’t feeling quite human that time. I was still somewhere between homo erectus and homo neanderthalensis, but I was human enough to actually understand English! Anyway, I knew that
- he spoke in a hurry because he’s supposed to have meeting in a couple of minutes and he couldn’t “stay long”
- he’s from some US-based multinational company (well, that’s how I remember him put it)
- he seemed to be recruiting me for some job [training] that I’d be “perfect for” in their expansion program
- his long speech was injected with words such as “outsourcing,” “marketing,” “business,” “leadership” and other blahs I couldn’t quite catch
- he knew I had just woken up (because I said it) but still went on as if I was a full-pledged human (although he did sound quite awkward after hearing that)
Since he didn’t offer any more details than his hurriedly-said name and some bullshit, and I wasn’t really interested despite the “financial compensation” (I have such an expressive voice, you know), I promptly forgot almost everything he told me after we said our goodbyes. Besides, I was a bit suspicious on how he came across my number (should have asked, I know, I know)…my Sun Cellular number, which is, like, so 10 years ago and super obsolete already because no one ever texts me there (actually, no one texts me in my Globe number too, poor me).
Turns out I’m not the only one who has been lured into this. Apparently, a bunch of other bloggers have also been tapped and received a similar call.
From Tita Dine Racoma’s How to Detect Misrepresentation in JOBS
Immediately, there were doubts that came to mind—questions that could detect misrepresentation: (a) he would not give the name of his company, (b) he didn’t ask me to bring my resume, (c) he didn’t know that I was retired, (d) the meeting was supposed to be an interview, not for a soft launch, (e) the interview was supposed to be telling them about myself, not listening about them, (f) meeting was after office hours, (g) his company would not communicate by email, and many more.
From Dr. Tess Termulo’s New Recruitment Strategies?
I decided to give him a little spin.
“I’m in primary care,” I said. I know not much people use the term “primary care”, but instead, use “general medicine” or “GP”, which stands for General Practitioner. And then came the blunt reply, “Ano ‘yun?”
“You don’t know what primary care is?” I asked him, trying hard not to laugh. If this person is someone who’s recruiting a doctor to be a health consultant in a company, he should know what “Primary Care” is. And to that question, he did not answer, but just continued on his gibberish how I WOULD WANT to be joining their company.
BA Racoma, Maki Eduardo, Celeni and Ana Alcala have relayed similar experiences.
I wouldn’t go as far as saying that this is a scam. I tend to agree with the term Tita Dine used: misrepresentation in jobs. But this type of recruitment is downright misleading. And in my books, legit or not, it’s very annoying and full of shit.
And how the hell did they come up with the bloggers’ numbers? Is a blogger giving them out, or worse, selling them?
I believe there’s someone out there who doesn’t really belong, like an alien or something (no, not the same planet as mine). Someone called me as well, but of course, I only said a few 2-word phrases to him/her. And there were lots of 2-word phrases I could think of when he/she called me.
I actually don’t know anyone who was recruited with this strategy. Geez.
I’ve been through this crap before, so I think I know what this is. It’s probably an MLM company trying to recruit members.
How did they get your number? Easy. All new members are required to give the company a list of fifty names and telephone numbers. So someone you know sold you out
Sorry.
Neil, I wonder what some of those 2-word phrases are.
Poyt, you!!!
JoyfulChicken, onga eh, I read about it somewhere. LOL! Natawa ako sa sorry mo
Surprise, surprise.
I’m sorry to say but I’ve been recruited to THAT company exactly a year ago. I’ve been a part of “them” for almost a month and spent good money. The funny thing is that I really felt cheated at first but I still went through with it anyway. The company do have really good marketing and recruitment strategies that was too hard to pass up at the time.
But I left. I found it kinda unethical how they recruit new members. It was like you said, “downright misleading”.
But man, some friends are freakin’ rich now because of it. Oh Well. :P
I was gunna say “Facebook! Thats where they got your number!”. Then again Im not even sure if you have a Facebook account
I am more mad at the person or blogger who “sold” our numbers. sheesh. This person sold out for money without thinking of us. That person should have asked permission. People who want to get rick quick get poor quick too. karma na lang.
Wow. But that sort of call doesn’t surprise me because it happens all the time over here… =/
[...] Latest Links: Prudence and Madness’ New Recruitment Strategies by Companies. Ris’ i almost fell for that one: NUskin Maki Eduardo’s http://noneed4ink.com/?p=322 Shari’s Recruitment Strategy? Beware and Be Aware [...]
Someone sold other bloggers’ numbers…we just don’t konw who that person is. I hate that company and it’s recruiters. They called me on a sunday afternoon for their ‘job offer’. How stupid.
My brother said they usually force you to list so many numbers as you can if you want to get out of their seminar or have attended it. For the person who signed the numbers it may be good since s/he can get out or go away but for the people who receive those stupid calls, it’s very irritating.
I wanted to make a Google bomb on the address of that company before, but I guess the Google bomb is falling into place lately.
Fix your link to “New Recruitment Strategies”… It’s going to http://http//tesstermulo.com/2.....companies/
(Double http, Double http)
I would’ve loved to get a call like that… then I’d put him through an interrogation just for kicks (because I have no life, har). A long time ago, I infiltrated a pseudo religious cult just so I could write about it them in my university student newspaper… but that’s a long story…
Whoever sold your info, tsk tsk.
Hehe, ako man nagugulat kapag may tumatawag sa akin? Where the hell are they getting my number? Sabi ng classmates ko baka daw from our school since they knew we we’re graduating back then.
Anyway, ako naman iritable ako sa ‘pleasing personality’ sa job requirements (like receptionists, baristas, etc..).. bakit hindi na lang nila ilagay ‘must be physically attractive’ eh ‘yun naman meaning sa atin nun eh.
And I remember one time I passed my resume for an email support job ad.. they called me up and they keep on insisting if I could fill in a voice support post? Duh? I specifically applied for what they posted and yet they’re giving me a different one.. They shouldn’t have posted that email support ad in the first place, I was so disappointed that I had to turn it down.
people are getting pretty creative when it comes to scams
hmm
they are incorporating useless ideas that they can’t even defend themselves..
sana mabiktima din ako. yung tawag lang. wakekeke
[...] Updated!!! Prudence and Madness’ New Recruitment Strategies by Companies Shari Cruz’s Recruitment Strategy? Beware and Be Aware! Ris’s i almost fell for that one- NUskin (Mine) Maki Eduardo’s The Sunday Phone Call BA’s [...]
I believe my sister got the same call. Tsk, tsk. These people should learn their lessons not to mess with bloggers
Will it be okay to exchange links with you?
they’ve got their ways to track down your number. even here in the states, we do have people calling non-stop trying their luck if someone’s actually gonna bite on their baits. tele-marketers, those 1800 numbers that shows on our caller ID, nakakainis diba?
sometimes I think the phone company sells our phone numbers, cuz no matter how often my family change numbers, they still seem to be able to track us down.
good gosh. buti ka nga once palang eh. even on my cellphone, i get calls like that. hah.
and specially telemarketers from the PI. haha. they’d call me in the middle of the night here, shempre tanghali dyan, super saya pa sila mag HI, hello chuva. Nakaka pikon minsan.
oh well. sana di na maulit yan!
its good you didnt entertain such offer.
i wonder when will they call me haha
Yes, today this calls has become a common thing in our daily life….
Agree. Agree. Thank God hindi pa ako nabibiktima nang ganoon
Yeah esp nowadays that everyone like to go abroad
Nabiktima na rin ako niyan. Nirere-efer kasi ang mga numbers galing sa ibang tao. Like kung ayaw mo, hihingi sila ng mga numero ng mga kakilala mo na sa tingin mo ay interested sa work na ino-offer nila.
Mr. Ewan: “Sabi ni (name of classmate ko) responsible ka raw at goal-oriented, totoo ba yon?”
Ako: “HINDI!!!!!!!! *Pasigaw. Leche yung classmate ko na nagbigay ng number ko. Grrrr..Pero OK lang.*
Alam ko na kasi na scam yun kasi yung mga boardmates ko naloko na rin nyan. Binad-trip ko na lang ang tumawag. Bwahahahaha. Asa siya.
Lol. Scams are mutating like viruses. But every time they mutate, they always get stupider and easier to detect as such. Sadly, there are still people who can’t tell if something is just a plain scam or not.
I want to experience that. Haha. Just to know how they’ll entice me and how obvious is their scam.
It kinda sounds like a scam to me rather than just ‘misrepresentation’. Their recruitment strategy bothers me. Most companies(at least the ‘real’ ones) would hardly take that path of recruitment strategy. Sa mga Human Resource Dev’t related subjects ko, wala akong naencounter na ganyan na pagrecruit ng staff/employees. Ano yan, random picking up of numbers na tatawagan nila? You see, he won’t even give the name of the company(*taas kilay*). In business, that is downward unethical.
In the case of misrepresentations, it’s true that there are businesses who “beautify” some not-really-looked-up-to jobs. One instance stated by one of my teachers. There are some manufacturing businesses who use “product specialist” in replacement to “factory worker”. Ang gandang pakinggan ng product specialist, parang mataas ang sueldo. Meron pa nga eh, ginagamit nila yung term na ’secretary’ para sa typist.
Sa mga ibang tao dyan, ingat na lang. If you receive calls regarding jobs, isipin niyo muna kung nagapply nga ba kayo o hindi at kung anong company pinag-applyan niyo(including the position). If it does not match, magduda na kayo.
I got a similar phone call early this year or late last year, I think. It was really random and I was actually nice to the girl. She said that my then Thesis groupmate gave their company my number (and this groupmate wasn’t really a groupmate; barely exchanged 3 words with her in person) and they were calling me in for an interview. I got the company name, address, and contact phone number. I asked for a website, something I can check out so I had an idea what the hell it is they do, since she never told me. She said that their website wasn’t “up” yet for public, just their employees.
So I google their company and come across their very public website. MLM, no thanks.
the problem with all these stupid strategies to get people to join this company, join this service, is that you would have to be awfully stupid to fall for them, because they sound so fake. Actual legit companies/services would not withhold information, and they’d know all the terms involved in the job, etc.
Still, it’s odd about them getting random numbers. We get it all the time on our home-phone though, and we’re meant to be ex-directory, meaning random companies and the such shouldn’t be able to find our number! ugh, the mind boggles.
[...] Recruitment Strategy? Beware and Be Aware! by Shari [...]
Could it be that they got our numbers from the business cards we put inside the fishbowls during blog events for the raffle? ‘Coz, we don’t get those cards after right? I don’t know. Maybe somebody picked those up and then relayed it to some company.
Good thing I’m not the type to answer calls from people I do not know?
creepy! got a phone call like that 2 days ago…was suspicious since the guy kept talking about what a great opporunity it will be for a professional like me…blablabla…and he never asked me to bring my resume! I also barely knew the “referral person” he got my number from! he did mention the company name (Pharmanex) but didnt bother explaining what the company did thanks for posting your experiences. saves me my time and effort!