51. Apparently I’m an excellent fit for the role, there’s just one problem

Today I received a message via Linkedin from somebody from an “Executive Search Firm”.

Apparently after seeing my Linkedin profile they thought that I’d be an “excellent fit for the role”.

Needless to say I was flattered.

I asked for some more details about the role and received a pretty quick response. So far so good.

Once I read the brief description of the role I knew that it wasn’t for me.

Let’s go back in time, about 5 years back. I was working for an organisation as a VP heading up a few different projects. One of those projects was subsequently spun-out into its own entity not long after I left.

So the role that I would have been an excellent fit for was with the entity that was spun-out, as an AVP (effectively a demotion from my previous role)

So while I was flattered that I had been “headhunted” (although I think that is too strong a term to use in this case) I felt sad that the recruiter hadn’t taken the time to really read my Linkedin profile. If they had then they would have realised that I had already worked at the organisation in a more senior role (although I hadn’t worked at the subsidiary).

Only after I highlighted the fact that I knew which organisation they were hiring for (based on the description that they provided) did the recruiter realise that they should maybe review my profile properly. Only then they realised that I not only had I already been a part of the organisation but that I had been part of the founding team.

I just feel that it was a very basic error to make and one that could easily have been avoided. Sadly it reflects on the professionalism of the agency in that they approach people for a role without really understanding their background.

Or am I being too harsh?