Hi,A while back, I received an unsolicited 'cold' call from a headhunter. I responded by politely informing them that I am happy at my firm and not looking to move. The conversation ended there.Since then, my plans have changed and incidentally, today I got an another unsolicited 'cold' call from yet another headhunter (lets call him headhunter X). It was during business hours so I asked to call back to my mobile. I guess my tactic will be to proceed with caution and try to meet face-to-face with this headhunter X before I give him my CV or any of my info at all. I'd appreciate your input / advice / points for my situation. For example, how far can I push this headhunter X to reveal to me precisely how he got my work phone number and my name?As a sidebar, a few extra datapoints to add texture to the topic1. I figure that with a small but non-negligible probability, this call can be the result of a current colleague providing my phone number to the headhunter with an aim to... facilitate my move elsewhere, a-la competitive spirit taken a bit too far.2. Could also be upper management testing the loyalty of their grunts via recruiters. But seems a bit far-fetched and obtuse, so I guess this is unlikely.3. It so happens that I am in the early stages of a dialogue with an another recruiter. If this was not early stages, more likely than not I would have said "no thanks, bye" in response to today's unsolicited phone call.

Most likely, they found you on LinkedIn, and then called your company's main phone number. There should be an option to go through the company directory and connect to a specific person.

QuoteOriginally posted by: rusti999Most likely, they found you on LinkedIn, and then called your company's main phone number. There should be an option to go through the company directory and connect to a specific person.Could be.Do I just deal with him like any other headhunter then?I mean, so far I was under the impression that most fruitful relationships with headhunters start out either one of two ways 1) you want to move and you initiate contact with the headhunter (most likely because the headhunter was referred to you as a good one). 2) the headhunter is on a mandate with a firm, is looking for people who have a very particular skillset / background, and as a result, initiates contact with you.If it turns out that the headhunter X that called is not under a mandate and is not calling with a specific role in mind, should I construe this as a negative signal?

Are you saying that you never received unsolicited calls before? They are very common. Don't read too much into it.Also, you almost never meet headhunters face-to-face. Their main purpose is to get you an interview. They are not deeply interested in your background, they just need someone to fill some job. Good ones will also give you some advice. The market for quants is pretty bad right now, and consequently it is also bad for quant headhunters. They are also desperate and hence may resort to playing a numbers game. You can generally send a headhunter your CV without consequences, but be clear that he/she is not to send it to anyone without your consent.You can also use multiple headhunters, but again make sure that they send your CV to different firms. As you might have guessed, "the headhunter is on a mandate with a firm" scenario rarely happens. Headhunter will usually have a list of contacts at different firms to whom they might send your resume. In case you are a good match for an advertised position and you are contacted by a headhunter specifically about this position, you are very lucky. This happens more at senior level, I guess.

QuoteOriginally posted by: qqqqqThe market for quants is pretty bad right now, and consequently it is also bad for quant headhunters.Seems pretty good for quant developers though, I've been getting 1-2 cold calls a day recently for development roles whereas all summer was quiet.

If they don't provide a role that fits your profile in some way in their first communication just ignore them.It means they don't know dick about you and can't be bothered to search for you on Linkedin provided you list at least where you've worked and which teams.They are just waisting your time. Politely (or explicitly) tell them to fuck off.I've had some muppets call me and ask for my mobile number to speak after work whereas that's most likely the top item in google if you enter my full name.

This forum has it very own resident recruiter. If Dominic cant help you I doubt anyone else can.

QuoteOriginally posted by: qqqqq Are you saying that you never received unsolicited calls before? I did from headhunters but I replied "no thanks" because at the time, I was not interested in moving.QuoteOriginally posted by: qqqqq They are very common. Don't read too much into it.QuoteOriginally posted by: HansiI've been getting 1-2 cold calls a day recentlySeems like a common occurence then, goodQuoteOriginally posted by: Hansi they don't provide a role that fits your profile in some way in their first communication just ignore them.Good point. This unsolicited call was in the middle of the working day, with my boss sitting next to me, whereas my mobile number is easily available via the internet once you type in my name in Google. So, so far the signals I am getting is that this is a muppet outfit... Unless they have a concrete role, will let them go. Thanks all for your comments, they are very helpful

QuoteOriginally posted by: wkwQuoteOriginally posted by: qqqqq Are you saying that you never received unsolicited calls before? I did from headhunters but I replied "no thanks" because at the time, I was not interested in moving.Some say it's the best time to talk to them, because A) you have most leverage in the negotiation and B) you're most likely not to wave away any red flags about the (possible) new job.

Headhunters are extremely reluctant to identify how they got your name, I'd politely but flatly refuse.That's usually not because they got it in a "bad" way but because that's proprietary info and if it was a colleague of yours they would not want to cause them trouble.The short version is that the fact that you work for X and do Y is pretty much public knowledge.Getting your work phone number is not exactly rocket science, so much so that the HH may not even know how he got yours, since at some firms there are people who do this for him.I've heard of the idea of "loyalty testing", never seen it in practice. It would be very dangerous for them to do this, since there is a "leaving mindset", once people start thinking about a leaving that tends to grow, so they would cause the problem they are trying to stop.

QuoteOriginally posted by: wkwFor example, how far can I push this headhunter X to reveal to me precisely how he got my work phone number and my name?The day I joined the company I work with now, I got one call from a HH and one from some guy from Marcus Evans (or similar) before I didn't even know my landline number.

Only a very unserious person at your own company would call you up and tell you "Hey, ever thought how you could make more money somewhere else?" without being bothered by the possible consequences of such a distraction. You could ruin an employee permanently that way.And you wouldn't get any useful information. Since even the most loyal employee will be curious. Your answer might be something like "Tell me how good looking I am, I get a kick out of hearing it from people who can't have me because they will NEVER treat me as well as my current employer. But I will tease them just to punish them for being mean in the past when they told me I was worth nothing."

You are just overthinking it ...Calling on your office reception and asking to transfer to you is very simple. Besides ,I have recently come to know that headhunters when move to a different company take all the details of the guys along with them.. Dont worry about these things . This is how they are earning their bread.

Thanks, you are right, overthought it, by about a mile