Why would a recruiter who rejected me now be interested in me?

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

I was urgently looking for a job in the past 3-4 months, and during an interview, and, from the first question thrown by HR lady, my gut told me I didn't get the job.

I received a rejection email a month and a half later.

Thankfully, I found a job at the right moment.

Yesterday, the lady who kind of kicked me out of the interview, contacted me yesterday through LinkedIn, pretending she didn't know me and that my profile looks good, and I may apply through sending her my resume again.

I find it strange, because the same scenario happened with this company: When I desperately am in need of a fresh job, they reject me, and, when I finally find a job and prepare to settle, they suddenly are interested in me, but need me to go through the whole hiring process again.

Indeed, they require the full salary details document, and I always feel bad when I hand it to them (I feel like that's all they want).

Why would this recruiter contact me to start the process over again

manpreet 2 years ago

Yesterday, the lady who kind of kicked me out of the interview, contacted me yesterday through LinkedIn, pretending she didn't know me and that my profile looks good...

It's entirely possible, and I would even say probable, that she wasn't pretending anything. When hiring, a company will go through lots of candidates. Especially someone in a position like HR, or a recruiter, who are generally involved in ALL hirings, not just hiring for one department.

Maybe she legitimately didn't remember that you had applied before.

Why would this recruiter contact me to start the process over again when I am no longer actively seeking a job (I disabled the open to new jobs flag on LinkedIn)?

I'm constantly getting contacted by recruiters through LinkedIn as well, and I'm definitely not looking for a job. They don't necessarily care about the "open to new jobs" flag because they know a certain percentage of people will still respond even though that flag wasn't set. Simpy put - not everyone is as diligent as you about making sure that flag is set correctly for their current attitude.

I received a rejection email a month and a half later.

Just as an aside, the fact that you were rejected the first time doesn't mean they hated you or even that they thought you were insufficient for the job. All it means is that they found someone else who they liked better. Maybe that person didn't work out, or another person left, and now they're prepared to reconsider you.

Don't take the rejection personally. If you're not interested in going back for seconds, just ignore the offer or politely decline.