How to vet out a company/interviewer that approaches you trying to recruit?

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So this is kind of an interviewing question in reverse.



I'm a final-year university student and a yet-to-become-successful entrepreneur. Last week I was in the university library, talking with another student about a potential business opportunity we've been throwing around. We we're discussig marketing and sales funnels and how we would go about launching the particular product we've been thinking about trying. It's not something I have Ph.D in or anything, and my degree is actually in engineering, but I know a bit more than the average scmuck about product sourcing, internet marketing, sales metrics, etc.



Anyway, during a lull in the conversation, this guy walks up and says that he overheard us talking, and asks a few general questions about what we were discussing and what we were studying. He was polite enough, so we talked with him for a few minutes and gave him a bit of background about ourselves (nothing strictly related to the enterprise we were considering).



He eventually asked me if I might be interested in a job. He said he's got a friend looking to expand a company into the city where we live, and that based on what he heard me saying, I might be someone they'd be interested in. Apparently it's some online-data business that analyzes something called the "Bounce" of users navigating between websites. I'm still in the student-intern phase of my life career-wise, even though I'm interested in starting my own business ultimately, and thinking that it might be a way to get some experience in marketing, I gave him my number in case his friend was interested. He didn't extend the offer to my friend (politely), who is more on the technical side of things.



Today I received a call from him. He said that they might actually be interested (when I asked him, he said he's part of the company, don't know why he didn't specify that before). He asked if I was free to do a quick interview this coming week. We're going to meet at a local Starbucks in a few days, dress is formal. He said it's just to ask a few questions, get a feel for who I am and whether or not they'd be seriously interested in me. He asked me how available I'd be if they were interested, and I said that I'm mostly interested in skill-building and learning at this stage, so it would depend on the what the offer is. I specifically told him that at this point I'm not committing to anything, but would be open to an initial interview. Forgot to ask what the name of the company is.



So firstly, is this kind of headhunting normal? To me it feels a little bit odd (don't want to say shady, but odd). However, most of my experience as a mid-20's student-transitioning-to-career is with submitting job applications and then hoping for a formalized invitation to interview. I'm used to having some idea about what I'm applying for before I go in. No one's ever approached me before specifically trying to recruit me for anything except clubs and network marketing schemes. Is this outside the norm for headhunting, or a reasonably normal way to try and recruit someone you randomly came across in an unexpected setting?



Secondly, how should I go about vetting the offer and the company? I wish I'd asked for the company name, and I'll be researching it once I learn it, but I plan to make the interview two-sided. For those of you who have experience as consultants or high-value employees, what would you want to know if someone came around trying to recruit you? What would you ask the interviewer to get an idea of how the company operates, why they want you, what to expect, etc? What would you need to know to decide whether it was a good decision or not?









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    So this is kind of an interviewing question in reverse.



    I'm a final-year university student and a yet-to-become-successful entrepreneur. Last week I was in the university library, talking with another student about a potential business opportunity we've been throwing around. We we're discussig marketing and sales funnels and how we would go about launching the particular product we've been thinking about trying. It's not something I have Ph.D in or anything, and my degree is actually in engineering, but I know a bit more than the average scmuck about product sourcing, internet marketing, sales metrics, etc.



    Anyway, during a lull in the conversation, this guy walks up and says that he overheard us talking, and asks a few general questions about what we were discussing and what we were studying. He was polite enough, so we talked with him for a few minutes and gave him a bit of background about ourselves (nothing strictly related to the enterprise we were considering).



    He eventually asked me if I might be interested in a job. He said he's got a friend looking to expand a company into the city where we live, and that based on what he heard me saying, I might be someone they'd be interested in. Apparently it's some online-data business that analyzes something called the "Bounce" of users navigating between websites. I'm still in the student-intern phase of my life career-wise, even though I'm interested in starting my own business ultimately, and thinking that it might be a way to get some experience in marketing, I gave him my number in case his friend was interested. He didn't extend the offer to my friend (politely), who is more on the technical side of things.



    Today I received a call from him. He said that they might actually be interested (when I asked him, he said he's part of the company, don't know why he didn't specify that before). He asked if I was free to do a quick interview this coming week. We're going to meet at a local Starbucks in a few days, dress is formal. He said it's just to ask a few questions, get a feel for who I am and whether or not they'd be seriously interested in me. He asked me how available I'd be if they were interested, and I said that I'm mostly interested in skill-building and learning at this stage, so it would depend on the what the offer is. I specifically told him that at this point I'm not committing to anything, but would be open to an initial interview. Forgot to ask what the name of the company is.



    So firstly, is this kind of headhunting normal? To me it feels a little bit odd (don't want to say shady, but odd). However, most of my experience as a mid-20's student-transitioning-to-career is with submitting job applications and then hoping for a formalized invitation to interview. I'm used to having some idea about what I'm applying for before I go in. No one's ever approached me before specifically trying to recruit me for anything except clubs and network marketing schemes. Is this outside the norm for headhunting, or a reasonably normal way to try and recruit someone you randomly came across in an unexpected setting?



    Secondly, how should I go about vetting the offer and the company? I wish I'd asked for the company name, and I'll be researching it once I learn it, but I plan to make the interview two-sided. For those of you who have experience as consultants or high-value employees, what would you want to know if someone came around trying to recruit you? What would you ask the interviewer to get an idea of how the company operates, why they want you, what to expect, etc? What would you need to know to decide whether it was a good decision or not?









    share







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    CMB is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.





















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      So this is kind of an interviewing question in reverse.



      I'm a final-year university student and a yet-to-become-successful entrepreneur. Last week I was in the university library, talking with another student about a potential business opportunity we've been throwing around. We we're discussig marketing and sales funnels and how we would go about launching the particular product we've been thinking about trying. It's not something I have Ph.D in or anything, and my degree is actually in engineering, but I know a bit more than the average scmuck about product sourcing, internet marketing, sales metrics, etc.



      Anyway, during a lull in the conversation, this guy walks up and says that he overheard us talking, and asks a few general questions about what we were discussing and what we were studying. He was polite enough, so we talked with him for a few minutes and gave him a bit of background about ourselves (nothing strictly related to the enterprise we were considering).



      He eventually asked me if I might be interested in a job. He said he's got a friend looking to expand a company into the city where we live, and that based on what he heard me saying, I might be someone they'd be interested in. Apparently it's some online-data business that analyzes something called the "Bounce" of users navigating between websites. I'm still in the student-intern phase of my life career-wise, even though I'm interested in starting my own business ultimately, and thinking that it might be a way to get some experience in marketing, I gave him my number in case his friend was interested. He didn't extend the offer to my friend (politely), who is more on the technical side of things.



      Today I received a call from him. He said that they might actually be interested (when I asked him, he said he's part of the company, don't know why he didn't specify that before). He asked if I was free to do a quick interview this coming week. We're going to meet at a local Starbucks in a few days, dress is formal. He said it's just to ask a few questions, get a feel for who I am and whether or not they'd be seriously interested in me. He asked me how available I'd be if they were interested, and I said that I'm mostly interested in skill-building and learning at this stage, so it would depend on the what the offer is. I specifically told him that at this point I'm not committing to anything, but would be open to an initial interview. Forgot to ask what the name of the company is.



      So firstly, is this kind of headhunting normal? To me it feels a little bit odd (don't want to say shady, but odd). However, most of my experience as a mid-20's student-transitioning-to-career is with submitting job applications and then hoping for a formalized invitation to interview. I'm used to having some idea about what I'm applying for before I go in. No one's ever approached me before specifically trying to recruit me for anything except clubs and network marketing schemes. Is this outside the norm for headhunting, or a reasonably normal way to try and recruit someone you randomly came across in an unexpected setting?



      Secondly, how should I go about vetting the offer and the company? I wish I'd asked for the company name, and I'll be researching it once I learn it, but I plan to make the interview two-sided. For those of you who have experience as consultants or high-value employees, what would you want to know if someone came around trying to recruit you? What would you ask the interviewer to get an idea of how the company operates, why they want you, what to expect, etc? What would you need to know to decide whether it was a good decision or not?









      share







      New contributor




      CMB is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      So this is kind of an interviewing question in reverse.



      I'm a final-year university student and a yet-to-become-successful entrepreneur. Last week I was in the university library, talking with another student about a potential business opportunity we've been throwing around. We we're discussig marketing and sales funnels and how we would go about launching the particular product we've been thinking about trying. It's not something I have Ph.D in or anything, and my degree is actually in engineering, but I know a bit more than the average scmuck about product sourcing, internet marketing, sales metrics, etc.



      Anyway, during a lull in the conversation, this guy walks up and says that he overheard us talking, and asks a few general questions about what we were discussing and what we were studying. He was polite enough, so we talked with him for a few minutes and gave him a bit of background about ourselves (nothing strictly related to the enterprise we were considering).



      He eventually asked me if I might be interested in a job. He said he's got a friend looking to expand a company into the city where we live, and that based on what he heard me saying, I might be someone they'd be interested in. Apparently it's some online-data business that analyzes something called the "Bounce" of users navigating between websites. I'm still in the student-intern phase of my life career-wise, even though I'm interested in starting my own business ultimately, and thinking that it might be a way to get some experience in marketing, I gave him my number in case his friend was interested. He didn't extend the offer to my friend (politely), who is more on the technical side of things.



      Today I received a call from him. He said that they might actually be interested (when I asked him, he said he's part of the company, don't know why he didn't specify that before). He asked if I was free to do a quick interview this coming week. We're going to meet at a local Starbucks in a few days, dress is formal. He said it's just to ask a few questions, get a feel for who I am and whether or not they'd be seriously interested in me. He asked me how available I'd be if they were interested, and I said that I'm mostly interested in skill-building and learning at this stage, so it would depend on the what the offer is. I specifically told him that at this point I'm not committing to anything, but would be open to an initial interview. Forgot to ask what the name of the company is.



      So firstly, is this kind of headhunting normal? To me it feels a little bit odd (don't want to say shady, but odd). However, most of my experience as a mid-20's student-transitioning-to-career is with submitting job applications and then hoping for a formalized invitation to interview. I'm used to having some idea about what I'm applying for before I go in. No one's ever approached me before specifically trying to recruit me for anything except clubs and network marketing schemes. Is this outside the norm for headhunting, or a reasonably normal way to try and recruit someone you randomly came across in an unexpected setting?



      Secondly, how should I go about vetting the offer and the company? I wish I'd asked for the company name, and I'll be researching it once I learn it, but I plan to make the interview two-sided. For those of you who have experience as consultants or high-value employees, what would you want to know if someone came around trying to recruit you? What would you ask the interviewer to get an idea of how the company operates, why they want you, what to expect, etc? What would you need to know to decide whether it was a good decision or not?







      interviewing recruitment





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      Check out our Code of Conduct.






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