Why do recruiters cold call me saying they have a potential job opportunity then never send through the full spec?

Question

I am a Software Developer that recently moved to the UK and naturally I am in the market for a new job. It is going well and I have a few interviews lined up. However, due to having to put myself out there my CV and phone number is publicly available on various job sites. So that being said recruiters have been cold calling me with potential jobs. They will usually start and say something like "Hi I have seen your profile on 'xyz' and I have a few positions that I think that you might be a good fit.". The conversation normally goes on and they ask the standard questions like :

1. What technology are you looking to work with?
2. What is your expected salary?
3. Are you currently in talks with any other companies?

They then go on to outline a job that they are currently recruiting for and usually state the technology I'd be working with, company name and location. So it seems fairly legit at this point, then they say they will send through an email with the full description and for me to let them know if I want to go ahead. This has happened a few times where they never end up emailing the role. Often they do this using a private number but I have had occasions where they didn't hide the number, I followed up and they said that they haven't sent it yet and plan to do that soon which doesn't seem to happen.

I have come to the conclusion that they don't actually have a job for me however I am not sure what they are trying to achieve?

Are they trying to find out about competing job adverts? Or is it possible that they have decided to not go ahead with me as a candidate after that initial phone call and just not told me? I am just finding it strange.

Answer 1

I have come to the conclusion that they don't actually have a job for me however I am not sure what they are trying to achieve?

To be honest, there is no benefit for you in learning what they are trying to achieve. We can only speculate on the true reasons, but so far seems this has had no benefit for you.

Are they trying to find out about competing job adverts? Or is it possible that they have decided to not go ahead with me as a candidate after that initial phone call and just not told me? I am just finding it strange.

Both of them could be possible. Instead of investing your time in finding that answer, it's better if you use it to continue applying and job hunting.

If you feel that you have only been receiving calls from recruiters that then ghost you, consider finding alternative sites or places where to showcase your contact and information. Also, try to be more aware on future calls like these (that seem suspicious), so you can move on and avoid breaking your head with odd calls.

Answer 2

Because they don't have any specific job opportunity for you. They want to shove you into the first job they can wether or not it is a good fit, claim the finders fee and do the same to the next person.

While there are exceptions to this, those aren't the ones cold calling you.

Answer 3

It's spam. So what these recruiters do is they have a database they match a job to and it fires out emails and phone calls until they get a hit. They don't really know what job they sent to you, so they ask you what you want to work with, send an updated resume, etc, then they match it to a job.

I'm a bit surprised they didn't send you a job that is 100s/1000s of miles away from where you live. That's usually what happens to me. However, I'm more than positive they updated their database to include your updated information. It's a win-win for them regardless if you take a job because they sell your name for other "recruiters" to spam you.

What I do now is whenever a recruiter cold calls me or sends email, I just hang up or send to spam. Saves me a lot of time. It has considerably reduced but I find it takes years if not decade before you're fully scrubbed from the database. I had posted on Monster about 15 years ago using my parent's home number - I since have my own phone - and they STILL get calls from recruiters about some hip job they found for me 1000s of miles from my parent's house.

Answer 4

Hmmm... they are stringing you on as a poor fitted candidate. So they keep you in their back pocket knowing you aren't a good fit and will engage you once better candidates have fallen through. In short, move on and don't expect anything here.