Even when my company isn’t advertising any open positions, we get a steady flow of unsolicited resumes. One type of resume is particularly strange, though. The subject line reads “Resume of John Smith is attached”, with “John Smith” being replaced by the applicant’s name. The message doesn’t mention any specific position, and the resume itself is similarly untargeted to our company and industry.

I’m guessing that these rather clueless individuals hired a placement firm to find them jobs. The placement firm then uses the same template for all their outbound communications. I once received three messages based on the template in the span of a few hours, so this scenario seems likely.

If you’re working with a placement company that uses these tactics, be aware that you’re part of the problem. Their senseless spamming makes you look guilty by association, and probably results in very few actual job interviews. So, when looking for someone to help you find a new job, make sure you understand their tactics before you sign up. After all, if a company is gullible enough to fall for these spammy tactics, do you really think they’re going to provide a good work environment?