Job-Hunting: Are You Scaring Recruiters?

Oversharing With a Recruiter

I know what you're thinking: You know how to keep your emotions in check in a professional setting. You would never let your desperation show in front of a recruiter.

But there are other ways that oversharing can underwhelm a recruiter.

"I'm screening a candidate and we get to the point where I ask why he left his position and he starts with, 'Well, I would never say this in an interview, but my boss was a raving lunatic,'" said Lindsay Olson, a partner and recruiter with Paradigm Staffing, a public relations and communications staffing firm in New York.

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"I leave the conversation with many doubts the candidate wouldn't find a way to slip a comment or two in during the interview."

In other words, if you wouldn't say it in the actual interview with the employer, don't say it to a recruiter or staffing agency.

Saying You'll 'Take Anything'

"A lot of times when I talk to candidates, they say, 'Oh, I can do anything,'" said Alisha Siecinski, a recruiter with iMatch Technical Services in Seattle.

But no recruiter wants to hear this.

For one thing, "Whether they can do it is very different from have they done it," Siecinski said. "In this market, they might not be able to get a job doing what they want to do if they're better at something else."

For another, you're making the recruiter's job harder. The more specific you and your resume are about the kind of position you're qualified for, the easier it is for a recruiter to sell you to their clients.

Then there's the matter of appearing a bit too eager to interview for a full-time staff position that's a huge demotion and a $25,000 to $50,000 pay cut from your last job.

"That tells me that they're not looking for a long-term job right now and that they might leave when the market gets better," said Rebecca Warriner, owner of Woodland Recruiting in Mercer Island, Wash., which specializes in high-tech positions.