'This Is Just For The Pipeline': Good Or Bad?

Here’s a thought-provoking question from Clue Wagon:

A reader writes:

I just had a half-hour phone interview with a recruiter. Right off the bat, she told me that she doesn’t really have a job opening. She’s just building her “pipeline.” I almost hung up. Why do they waste my time like that?

[Clue Wagon’s author, Kerry Sandberg Scott answers:] Well, it’s possible that she was wasting your time. I don’t think so, though.

Recruiters build candidate pipelines so that they have people in mind when an opening occurs.