I'm a PhD student in my final year. Regularly, I get spam advertising bogus journals, unknown conferences, or sites that want to list my CV. Recently I received an e-mail from a recruiting firm. The content of the e-mail is partly wrong and partly very generic. However, there is an attachment that is very specific for my speciality. For example, from the content of the e-mail:
Dear IT Professional
(I'm not in IT and I'm not a Professional; I'm a PhD student)
(...) I am emailing to ask if you would like to be considered for the long term contract which is summarised in the attachment. (...)
As far as I can see, this is nothing more than informing me of a job opening.
(...) at this stage, you have been selected from many hundreds of records on the basis of examining a summary of your skills and/or speed reading your CV (...)
So, some software decided I'm more on-topic than someone working in the humanities. This still doesn't mean very much.
However, the attachment describes very specifically my quite narrow field of expertise; it includes an element that probably less than 25 people worldwide have experience with. So topic-wise, they have targeted the right person.
The weird thing is: there is no mention of the employer whatsoever. The e-mail speaks in terms of their client. It is signed by the recruiting firm. It describes in vague terms in what region the employment will be, but precisely enough that I can guess (certainly in combination with the job description) the employer with 99% certainty. Indeed, the employer's name is mention on Pactums website and Pactum is mention on the employer's website. So it's likely not a scam. Then why the mystery?
Why would any company, organisation, university, or other employer, attempt to employ people through a recruitment company that sends out job openings that are completely opaque as far as the employer is concerned? Why the mystery? Why doesn't the employer advertise the position on their own website?