A third-party and self-described "specialized" recruiter contacted me on LinkedIn with a vague pitch about this executive role. Surely, if they were vague but still sufficiently upbeat they could tempt me into donating an hour of my time for a call, right?
After I asked the recruiter for a position description a third time, they stopped dodging the question and admitted that document didn't exist. They were literally recruiting without knowing the job for which they were recruiting. Oy vey.
Apparently, EM wants a joint SaaS and physical goods background for this VP role. There are no physical goods in software-as-a-service, of course. It's software. And charged as a service.
I informed the recruiter that I didn't possess this divergent set of experiences, per my unread resume. I'm not a purple squirrel or rockstar-ninja-extraordinaire; I'm but a mere Harvard Business School graduate with C-level experience in SaaS. Sometimes, the filthy rich employ me so that I can make them richer still.
Admittedly, I left my conversation with the recruiter possessing more questions than answers. Why would a CEO think it's appropriate to recruit at the executive level without a position description? Why would a "specialized" recruiting firm? Is the CEO exploiting recruiters contracted on contingency by sending them on a wild goose chase? And if so, does he exploit his actual employees in the same way?
I know executives tend not to leave reviews on this site. But I always felt it was important. If this is how Elemental Machines hires its executives, what could we expect when it's hiring more junior staff?
Look, I won't call this a trash company. But it currently employs a trash recruiting process.
May the odds be ever in your favor.
