For context, I am not actively looking for work although I was recently, so my CV is still floating around. This recruiter found it and approached me.
I am a senior manager, the role title on offer is the same as my current one and the salary range he mentioned is around what I'm making now. I was curious so I asked him for more information so I could do my own background. I work in supply chain so it is literally my job to find out quickly if opportunities are worth pursuing.
At first I assumed that this recruiter wasn't actually representing the company and was planning to sell them my CV once I was on board. However my wife's friend is a recruiter and she says this is a fairly common practice, for some reason some companies don't want it to be known they are hiring, and also some recruiters are afraid to lose their commission if the candidate goes to the company directly.
The best solution for this is apparently that I should waste my time applying for a job without knowing who I'd be working for.
Perhaps if I was out of work I'd be more prepared to go along with this kind of bullshit, but really I think the name of the company is the bare minimum of information you'd need to decide if you want to apply for a job.
As an aside, I turned down a very good job offer recently because the fit wasn't good enough for me to leave my current position. The recruiter, who up until that point had been nothing but sweetness and light, completely freaked out and told me I was making a huge mistake and would regret it. Left me voicemails, sent texts and emails trying to bully me into reconsidering.
I'm sure there are good recruiters out there, but the ones I've dealt with have been the fucking worst.
