> All recruiters I was in contact with asked for my CV, even though it is mostly the same information that is already on my LinkedIn profile. It is almost as if it is a sign that you are serious.
I think it's a token that they can forward to an employer, establishing some degree of your consent to them representing you.
(Like in a story of visiting some foreign culture, when someone offers you tea they made in some foreign cup, you take a sip from it, and then someone else tells you that you just got married.)
Yes, this is why it's good to ask the recruiter whether they actually have any direct contact with a hiring manager, or whether they work at the company (tons of them have also been laid off in the last year). Recruiters are usually third-parties who's only job it is to accept CVs from applicants and pass them on, just one more stupid layer that gets you no further than cold applying. Often, those jobs a recruiter comes up with are reposted by other third-party companies on the same site without any text changed in the JD. Some recruiters will ask for MS word documents so it's easier to remove your contact information and add their logo.
I think it's a token that they can forward to an employer, establishing some degree of your consent to them representing you.
(Like in a story of visiting some foreign culture, when someone offers you tea they made in some foreign cup, you take a sip from it, and then someone else tells you that you just got married.)