The Joel on Software Discussion Group

Is it common for a company to tell a recruiter *not* to give it's name out to potential candidates?  I just applied for a position and had a recruiter contact me, but when I asked for the company name he told me that the company has specifically asked not to be named.  I've heard of recruiters deliberately withholding the company name, but never the company itself saying "Don't tell anyone who we are".

Maybe they're afraid of being bombarded by resumes?  Should I take this as a possible red flag?

And who told you the company was with-holding its name?  The Recruiter, right?

And you believed him?

Golly, you're gullible.

I didn't say I believed him, now did I?  Of course I didn't believe him; I wanted to see if this is a common thing or if I should chalk it up to typical recruiter BS.

"Maybe they're afraid of being bombarded by resumes?  Should I take this as a possible red flag?"

I'm so sorry -- that you phrased the question as if it would be a 'red flag' for the company involved implied to me that you believed the recruiter.

Why in the shitter would a company not want its name to be revealed by a recruiter?

triple-dot:

It could be that it would give away to competitors that the hiring company is up to something.  Hiring company might prefer to reveal who it is only to qualified applicants.

I would still want to know who hiring company is.  Unless the position was near-perfect, I would probably pass on it.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

If hiring really was that sensitive (e.g. if it was Microsoft suddenly hiring a lot of Linux kernel hackers) then I doubt that it would be done through a recruiter.

My guess is that it is yet another silly recruiter game - they are probably trying to populate their database with some fresh victims.

99% chance recruiter is lying. Since 90% of recruiters lie compulsively, this is not surprising.

1% chance the company requested this because they are irrational.

In both the 99% and 1% scenario, it's best to pass.

Why pass?  Let them present your resume, go in for the interview and find out what's up.  Just costs a little time, and _maybe_ turns into a great job.

When I've applied for a job through a recruiter that has actually ended in an offer, I've found the company name gets revealed pretty much immediately. Otherwise it makes it a bit difficult to turn up for an interview.

What's probably happened here is that the recuiter's realised you're probably not a perfect match (read: you only have 3 of the 5 magic buzzwords, none of which really relate to your ability to do the job), but wants to keep you hanging around in case another position turns up and he can get its commission. Or, there is no position and the recruiter is just harvesting resumes in the hope that something magically falls out of the sky.

I've seen very small companies do this when they are looking to replace their "IT guy". They get very paranoid about the person finding out and doing damage or leaving before the company has a replacement in place. If this is the case it's a company you should avoid. Small thinking will be a part of the culture.

I wouldn't take it as anything.  You apply, if you're selected for an interview, then you go in for the interview unless you have no interest in the company.  Sure, the recruiter is probably lying, but it could be anything.  It makes no sense to pass because of something this silly, I have had decent jobs come out of idiotic recruiters.  Sure it's a little strange, but the world is full of irrational behavior and if you try to figure it all out you won't have time to think about anything else. 
If you do get the interview, though, you can always bring it up to the hiring manager in casual icebreaker conversation.  They are generally annoyed with the recruiter anyway and will probably tell you why.

Well, 99% of the time, if you find out the name of the company, and contact them directly, then the recruiter doesn't get his 15% to 30% of your first year's salary.

Either way, YOU don't suffer, unless the hiring company doesn't WANT to pay the recruiter that 30%, in which case they won't hire you.

Anyway, that's why the recruiter would not want to tell you the company's name, to insure that ANY contact you have with the company goes through the recruiter.

Where do you guys find recruiters, on LinkedIn?
I'm a newbie on the job market.

odds are the recruiter is lying and doesn't want you to go around them.

if it is an employee job, it does not matter who submits you. the economy is slow, so just let them hit the forward button on your resume.

"Where do you guys find recruiters, on LinkedIn?
I'm a newbie on the job market."

If you have your resume out in the public (DICE, hotjobs), recruiters find you pretty quickly.  Alternatively you can contact a local recruiting office directly, they always love to add a resume into the stack.  They may even interview you without any openings so they know your skill set better.

"If you have your resume out in the public (DICE, hotjobs), recruiters find you pretty quickly.  Alternatively you can contact a local recruiting office directly, they always love to add a resume into the stack.  They may even interview you without any openings so they know your skill set better."

Thanks!

I've been wondering what it would be like to open a recruitment office in my country (Croatia). We have zero tradition of using recruiters -- there are some companies doing that, but they deal only with top and mid level management. My guess is that they dare not going into knowledge-heavy areas such as IT, since they don't know shit about them.

@Berislav

Ha! That certainly doesn't deter any recruiters in the US. They know less than nothing, most seem illiterate at best.  (5 years of java is not the same as 1 year of perl, but that doesn't deter them from sending a resume any way).

Your biggest issue will be local customs.  If companies don't want to pay for your service, it will be hard to change their minds.

I've only had this happen once in a decade, so (from my experience) this is not common.

Chances are the agency is fibbing, often for fear that either other agencies are contacting them 'pretending' to be candidates to find out who their clients are or that you will approach the client either directly or through another agent.

You can always explain that you need to know who the client is before having your CV presented. While you respect <cough> that the client wishes to retain their confidentiality, you need to be comfortable that the client is a company that you would even want to work for.

It is standard practice for recruiters to not reveal the company name until an interview is scheduled.  Whether that's the recruiter's decision or the company's decision doesn't really matter. 

Companies hire recruiters because they don't want to deal with looking for candidates, digging through a pile of resumes, etc..  Companies that go through recruiters obviously want hiring to go through recruiters and thus it wouldn't be surprising that the company wouldn't want the recruiter naming them.  Maybe this particular recruiter gave the company name out in the past and the company got annoyed by direct calls from candidates so they told him to stop doing that. 

In any case, if the job sounds interesting and they offer an interview, go for it.  I can't imagine how this could posssibly be considered a red flag.

Dave76: "It is standard practice for recruiters to not reveal the company name until an interview is scheduled.  Whether that's the recruiter's decision or the company's decision doesn't really matter."

I want to know who I might be working for.  There are companies that I definitely would not want to work for.  I want to know before my resume reaches them.

Do not suggest that I send a list.  The list is subject to change over time anyway.  It is far easier for me to decide whether company X is acceptable than to dredge up every company that I would not want to work for.

"Companies hire recruiters because they don't want to deal with looking for candidates, digging through a pile of resumes, etc..  Companies that go through recruiters obviously want hiring to go through recruiters and thus it wouldn't be surprising that the company wouldn't want the recruiter naming them.  Maybe this particular recruiter gave the company name out in the past and the company got annoyed by direct calls from candidates so they told him to stop doing that."

Unfortunate for them, but I still want to know who the company is.  They would know who I was.  Turnabout is fair play.

"In any case, if the job sounds interesting and they offer an interview, go for it.  I can't imagine how this could posssibly be considered a red flag."

It is a red flag, because the prospective employee is being denied the opportunity to apply to the company of his choice.  What shenanigans might this be hiding?

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

"It is a red flag, because the prospective employee is being denied the opportunity to apply to the company of his choice.  What shenanigans might this be hiding?"

Let me restate.

"It is a red flag, because the prospective employee is being denied the opportunity to *not* apply to a company that he might not want to work for.  What shenanigans might this be hiding?"

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko