On December the 23rd I got an email from a headhunter (starting with “sorry for contacting you out of the blue…”) that had seen my LinkedIn-profile, and was very eager to hear if I was interested in a exploration geologist position, starting in mid January – or if I knew someone who might be. It was very urgent to fill the position

I replied, politely, that the location was wrong (which was true). Then, in the eventing of the 23rd, she emailed back, asking if she could have my resume for future possibilities, and repating the question if I knew other candidates.

May be I have read to much of Nicks writings, but there were some factors that made some small alarm bells ring:

- She contacted med just before the Christmas celebration (we start on the evening of the 23rd in Scandinavia, with main celebartion on the 24th). If not slightly impolite or odd, it does sound a bit desperate.

- Such an important position has to be either demanding a very specific skill set or lots of experience – and, yes, the same position was advertised on LinkedIn, demanding 10+ years experience. My profile shows clearly that I have only two. Didn’t she read the profile?

- She wanted a resume for her database. Nice – but everyting is in my profile already.

- In my country, people usually have a one month (most private sector) or up to three months (public sector, including me) notice before leaving a position. The rules can be deviated from, but it seems a bit naive to think that I can just jump off my job like that. I notified her of that in the first email, in the next she said she was aware of it, but that people who were redundant could probably start earlier. True – but I am not (again, read the profile!), I have lots of work to do, and although I am looking for a new job due to a necessary relocation, I need to finish my present project.