ATS Cramming

So, I got laid off from my job of almost 10 years and I've been on the search for a new job.  Since then, I've had several pings from resume writers on Linked In, but they were up-front about what they were selling.

Yesterday I got a new "wrinkle" which I've affectionally termed ATS Cramming.

ATS: Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

ATS Cramming : A scam involving an alleged recruiter (party A) and an alleged resume creator (party B) in which party A claims to have a position they want to consider you for and asks for your resume.  When they get it, they make the false claim that your resume won't work in their automated system and they need an ATS friendly resume and direct you to party B.  When you submit an ATS friendly resume you already have, they claim it doesn't work, and direct you back to party B.  The whole point of the scam is to direct drive sales for party B, which may or may not produce a resume.

Here's the lead in scam email, from BBB case (listed below) which is word for word identical, except for the name, to the one I received:

Hello, I hope this message finds you well. My name is Darlene Stewart and I am an Executives Search Director in PE Recruiting Inc. a reputable Global Recruitment Firm. I am reaching out to see if you would be interested in exploring new opportunities. One of our clients has retained us to fill various senior level positions in one of their recent acquisitions. I was referred to you by an outside talent sourcing firm and based on your previous experience I think you are a very credible candidate. If you are interested and want to learn more, please reply to this email with a copy of your resume as soon as possible. I will forward it, along with a brief introduction to the client and will contact you back to complete the NDA and get started. Note: We are a retained search firm and get paid by the employer. You will not be asked to share any confidential information or pay any fees. Company Size: $2.5B Best Regards, Darlene Stewart Executives Search Director PE Recruiting Inc. 745 5th Avenue, 5th Floor New York City, NY

https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker/lookupscam/691058 

https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker/lookupscam/651383

PE Recruiting (https://www.perecruitinginc.com) claims association with Harvard Group International.  As of this writing, I have not received a response from Harvard confirming this.

The Phase 2 email, after you've send your resume looks like this..

The role is aligned with your experience. Unfortunately your resume does not parse correctly into the Candidate Management System. In order to move forward, I need your ATS compatible resume ASAP. You may contact https://cmsresexp.com for ATS Compatible Resume.

For reasons of confidentiality and non-disclosure, I am not able to share any details of the position or company with you at this time. I will check my schedule and let you know a few time slots for a brief phone call after the initial process.

Best Regards,

Clay Martin

Sr. Recruiting Specialist

PE Recruiting Inc.

IF you already have a tried and true ATS resume and send it.. you get:

This did not work as well. Issue is not related to the file version. Your resume needs to be optimized by the recommended team. The recommended team is https://cmsresexp.com

Best Regards,

Clay Martin

Sr. Recruiting Specialist

PE Recruiting Inc.

So, all roads lead back to you paying CMSRESEXP for a resume if you want to find out what this super-secret mysterious once in a lifetime opportunity is. (Hint: That opportunity is you)

On Linked In, I actually found an article about this:  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beware-fake-recruiter-cms-resumes-alex-eckelberry/

Other recruiting scams worth reading about: https://www.techlicious.com/tip/how-to-avoid-fake-job-scams/comments-/CP3/ 

and https://www.howtogeek.com/410387/scam-alert-fake-job-recruiters-tried-to-catfish-us-here%E2%80%99s-what-happened/

The "resume site" which I'm not sure does or does not produce a resume for someone who pays (I didn't) so cmsresexp.com could be an actual going concern.  I didn't find any scam reports that didn't involve both parts.  But clearly the 2-part scam casts some serious doubt about their business practices.