I received a voicemail from an Aerotek recruiter telling me he received my resume and to call him back as soon as possible about a position because they were in a time crunch. I called him, answered a few questions about previous experience, and made arrangements for an interview the next day, a Wednesday.
Like a previous glassdoor.com reviewer, I noticed all the staff at Aerotek were very young but seemed professional. The young man who interviewed me asked me a few questions about previous jobs I've had and my knowledge about the field in which I would be working. He also asked me to explain a few terms on my resume pertaining to the field of work I was in. He told me this position was for someone who planned to stay for the long haul and retire from this company, a defense contractor for a local military base. He told me why some of the recruits they had previously placed in jobs with this defense contractor didn't work out. One had been fired for being chronically late and the other decided to move back to Texas to be with his family. He told me about the work hours, pay, and that I'd be working for Aerotek 90 days and would then be picked up by the company and could negotiate for higher salary.
He asked when I would be available to meet with the on-site boss, and the earliest I was available was the following Wednesday. The interview ended on a positive note, and he told me he was glad to find someone with specific knowledge in the field in which they were looking to hire. I left the interview feeling like I had an excellent chance for this job.
I assumed he would call in the next day or so to confirm the date and time and give me directions to the work location. On Monday I hadn't heard from him, so I called and left a message asking him to call me and confirm the interview. He called Tuesday and said he wanted to talk to me about my resume and job opportunities.
I returned his call, and he said nothing about me interviewing with the defense contractor. Instead, he asked me if I knew anyone from my previous job who would be a good candidate for this position. I said most of my former coworkers were already making more than what this company offered and wouldn't be willing to leave federal service for a contract job. Then he asked me if I knew of any good places where he might find for candidates for this job. Being caught totally off guard and not knowing what to say, I told him to read tech reports in that field and contact the authors. It was very strange and somewhat insulting to be asked to help him find someone for a job I was initially a candidate for.
Looking back, I wonder if he knew I didn't have the exact experience for the position and interviewed me only to find out if I had contacts he could use. This reflects poorly on Aerotek and the defense contractor they are hiring for. Surely the defense contractor isn't aware of this practice. This isn't the first bad experience I've had with a staffing company, and I'll never interview with another one.