"No Soliciting"

How many times have we flat out ignored instructions?  I know I am guilty at times.  But a couple of months ago, we had BIG white letters put on our company’s entrance stating NO SOLICITING, right under our logo, hard to miss.

I work in a plaza; I guess you would call it.   There are about 8 companies that share the same building (though, as soon as our lease is up, we are looking at relocating and possibly building a new office about 30min away from where we currently are).  Before the sign, we definitely got our share of solicitors: College kids selling books, vending machine salesmen, etc.  After the sign it has slowed down, but hasn’t completely stopped.  There are still the occasional coupon book sellers, the deaf guy who sells roses, and now today, this woman that tops them all.

I was quite busy this afternoon.  My desk is the first thing people see when they walk into the office.  “S” (because I know her from my previous employer, mere coincidence.  She has no idea where I worked) comes in with a business card.  We made polite small talk/catch up chatter (She was a pain, def not my fav patient) and she tells me her story:

Basically, the company she owns is opening up 30 new offices regionally.  She figures the best way to find potential hires is “word of mouth” via business people.  I asked her if she wanted to talk to my office manager, as the owner was not in today… NOPE.  She remembers me and my work ethic from the dental office, so giving me the information is fine.   WTF?!??!  First red flag.  She give me the info about the positions (FT, PT, looking for someone dedicated, organized, a great work ethic and personality, someone to actually launch the company, etc).  She takes my name (which she knew) and company info down, and then writes he name and phone # down on a post it because she “gave out all of her business cards today”… second red flag.  Then she tells me she will be in touch. 

I thanked her, but told her I was very happy where I was, but would pass the information on to my manager and friends.

Who does that???  Who seriously walks into a company and solicits jobs to their employees??  My manager heard the entire conversation and thought the same thing.  I knew this woman was a pain, but this seemed wrong on so many levels. At first I thought I was reading too much, but when my manager agreed, it just seems fishy.

What do you girls think??