Why would someone try to hide information about the company they are hiring contractors for?

Question

A friend put me in contact with someone who is hiring contractors. Aside from the job title, the person hasn't given any real information. I directly asked what the name of the company was and to see a job description. He replied he doesn't know me yet and would like to have a phone call first. (I have no problem with a phone call, but our schedules/time zones aren't matching up and we've missed each other a couple times).

Last year I was "offered a job" by someone who I felt misrepresented the relationship between us and the company who work was being done for. I didn't know he wasn't an employee of the company we were working for.

Why would someone not want to send all the information like company name and a proper job posting or description?

Just to be clear, I don't know if he's a recruiter or not.

Does this answer your question? Why are company names hidden from job postings by third party recruiters? As mentioned there it's usually to avoid situations like this: Can I just go directly to a company when a recruiter tells me about an opportunity — Lilienthal, Jun 09 '21 at 21:23
@Lilienthal in part, I still don't see why a general job description can't be given. Also to my knowledge this person wasn't a recruiter, but I can see why they would try to hide it if they were. — JazzgeMica, Jun 09 '21 at 21:32
That person is most likely a third party recruiter with no exclusive relationship to the company in question. In other words, applying through that person will add a 30-40% markup to your desired salary for that company. And the client company, wanting to save money, will be much less likely to hire you because of that. — Stephan Branczyk, Jun 09 '21 at 21:37
OK thanks. What is meant by "I don't know you", obviously we don't know each other yet but that is point of looking for someone to do a job. — JazzgeMica, Jun 09 '21 at 21:49
Even startups that are in "stealth" mode have a web page with a domain name (even if that domain name later changes). I agree with Fattie. This guy is most likely an idiot with a vague idea, no real business plan, and probably no real budget either. Either that, or they're a third party recruiter. — Stephan Branczyk, Jun 09 '21 at 21:57
"I don't know you", in this context, means "I don't trust you". — jiheison, Jun 09 '21 at 23:08
@JazzgeMica This may be more relevant then: Why would recruiter reach out to me on LinkedIn with an "opportunity", then ask for a call before giving me details of the opportunity in writing? Of course we can't really know for sure why these recruiters behaved the way they did. It could be that the job description would tip you off about the company for instance. Or they're just fishing for profiles. (see Why do headhunters try to get the resume or cv by all means?) — Lilienthal, Jun 10 '21 at 18:07
@Lilienthal yes that first link is a very good fit. Feel free to delete this question or mark as a duplicate, thanks. — JazzgeMica, Jun 10 '21 at 20:12
Thanks for the confirmation @JazzgeMica! I've added it to the duplicate links here. — Lilienthal, Jun 11 '21 at 13:15

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 09 '21 at 21:55

Because he is afraid that you might apply for a job with the same company by yourself.

He is probably a recruiter who gets an intermediation fee if the person he puts in touch with the company is hired. Often they haven't been charged by the company for the task, they just found a job ad or they got an unofficial information and they want to propose some people to the company. In such cases until the very last moment neither the company nor the applicant know the name of the other.

Why would someone try to hide information about the company they are hiring contractors for?

1 Answers1