another recruiter to avoid

I'm sure that I'm not unique among Infosec professionals in that I receive a LOT of unsolicited email from recruiters. If I'm not actively looking for a job, I delete much of this email, often without reading it. Sometimes, if I think of it as something I'd be interested in if I were looking, I file it. Almost never do I respond to it, unless the position looks so good that I'd actually consider changing jobs to pursue it. I think my response, or lack of it, is pretty typical, and in general, I've found that recruiters assume that if you don't respond, that means you're not interested. After all, if we answered every unsolicited recruiter email, we wouldn't have any time to actually do our jobs.

But every once in a while I get email from some real gem who just refuses to take lack of response for their answer. They'll send several emails, a week or so apart, ending in something I'd expect after ghosting a one-time date from match.com (not that I've done that). That's just...inappropriate. And a little sad. I don't want to work with a company whose recruiters do this, because gawd only knows what other sorts of crap they'll pull (and with an Infosec career that's old enough to drink, I can afford to be picky).

In August I was treated to the following email from a woman named Laura Garcia Hacek who works for a company called XCelerate Solutions. If you click on the link and scroll down halfway, you'll be able to see Laura herself with a quote about how wonderful the company is.  

Hi Mary,

I found your information on LinkedIn and it looks like you have some of the skills we are looking for an Information Assurance/Security Specialist role in Chantilly, VA.

This opportunity requires an active TS SCI clearance. 

Here's a sneak look at the requirements.  

(SNIPPED)

Does this pique your interest? I would love to talk to you more about it. Please let me know when we can talk. 

Not the right time or opportunity? Please share with your network and I will be happy to send you $1,500 referral bonus if we hire someone you send my way and we hire. I look forward to hearing from you!

 The email's subject line, by the way, was Are You the Wonder Woman or Iron Man of Information Assurance?, which was eye catching enough that I did actually read the email. However, I am not in the market for government (i.e. cleared) jobs at this time for what I hope are obvious reasons, so when I saw the "TS SCI" I closed the email, filed it, and did not respond. The fact that she addressed me as "Mary" when my LinkedIn profile says "Mimi" really puzzled me also.

And then I received three more emails, each spaced five days or less apart. The last one read:

Hi again Mary,

So, I've been trying to reach you for a couple weeks now, and getting no love in return. :(

I wouldn't have been reaching out if I didn't think that this would be something very relevant to you based on all the stuff I've seen you're working on.

Maybe this isn't the right time, but I'd love to at least connect to gauge if this could be something interesting to you in the future.

My phone is xxx-xxx-xxxx, and of course you can just reply to this email to let me know!

What. The. Fuck. How desperate is she, right?

I finally did respond to this last email, to tell her that based on her behavior, I did not want to work with her company, and not to email me again. I haven't felt this creeped out since I was actively dating.

Recruiters, take note: if they don't respond after Email #2, MOVE ON.