A reader writes:

I was recently approached by a headhunting firm for a high-level position at a well-known firm. The work is right in line with what I do, so I responded enthusiastically and sent them my resume. I got back a response that said, in part:

“While your experience is exceptionally strong, the resume in its current form does not quite do justice to the true scope and impact of your career. At present, it reads more like a detailed inventory of functions and responsibilities than a focused executive narrative that immediately communicates the scale of your leadership and results. Given how high-level this search is and the fact that the process is moving relatively quickly, I would recommend using a professional to refine the document rather than trying to make these changes piecemeal yourself. The objective would not simply be to make the resume look better, but to bring forward the value already present in your career so the hiring team gets a much clearer picture of the scale of your experience, leadership, and measurable impact. If you’re open to it, I can connect you with a career branding specialist who specializes in executive positioning and works directly with candidates on documents of this level. They can help restructure the resume so that your experience is presented with the executive weight it deserves.”

Is this a scam? Has this whole process really just been a front for selling their resume-building service? Or is this kind of thing normal when searching for a high-level position? The position they approached me about is a level or two higher than where I’ve been (though I’m definitely qualified to do it).

There’s a good chance it’s a scam, but that’s not a 100% certainty.

Things that add up to seeming suspicious: They contacted you, rather than you applying to them, then told you that your background is “exceptionally strong” but your resume isn’t good enough … but hey, that can be solved by a paid service and we conveniently have someone ready to sell that service to you. And oh, it’s moving quickly, which creates pressure. That’s a well-known pattern for scams. (In fact, look at this account of a very similar email.)

That said, it’s also possible that you’re a good candidate for the job and the recruiter genuinely believes your resume undersells you (especially if you’ve mostly focused on functions and not achievements). At the executive level, recruiters sometimes do help candidates reposition their materials. But they don’t generally try to sell you a resume-writing package before they’ve even spoken with you about the role, so that adds to my suspicion.

One option is to respond with something like, “I’m definitely open to discussing how my background should be positioned for the role. Before engaging anyone on resume work, though, could you tell me more about the position — including the reporting structure and scope of the position and whether you’ve been hired by the employer to represent them?”

You could also ask, “Is the career branding specialist a service your recruiting firm provides at no cost to candidates?” (I strongly suspect they’ll say it’s not, but you might as well find out for sure.)

And you could say, “I’m happy to discuss what aspects of my background you think should be emphasized for this role, but I’d prefer to handle any resume revisions independently rather than hire a service.”

But you should also independently investigate the recruiting firm and see if they’re legitimate recruiters. Don’t use the contact info they gave you to do this; instead, google the name of the firm they say they work for, go to their website from there, and see if you can find the recruiter in their directory, or call the firm’s main number and say, “I’m a candidate who was contacted by Jenson Rhubarb regarding a search for (company/position). I’d like to verify that he’s the person conducting this search.” If the firm does use this business model, that won’t necessarily tell you anything, but sometimes scammers pretend they’re part of a firm they don’t actually work for.

Also, the National Resume Writers’ Association has launched a job-seeker safety center specifically addressing fake recruiters.