Do you believe in ghosts? - Today is National Paranormal Day! ...wtf does that even mean?!?
Hi! I believe you are one of the top 5 developers in your city! Yeah, sure..
New Year, new challenges. sent beginning of January, how original...
The Best IT Pioneers are Looking for You!
Hi! You just won a lottery ticket worth $$$ per year :facepalm
These are just a bunch of Email subjects I received in the past months from Recruiters and Head Hunters. I was pretty sure I could find more but apparently the stupidest or most boring ones went straight to the bin.
What happened to the Recruiters/HeadHunters in the past 3 to 4 years?
In the past, I was also receiving quite a big deal of offers or contact requests from recruiters but I remember them as more professional and discrete: either they were asking honestly if I was interested in their "help" in searching new opportunities, or they were directly suggesting a specific position.
I understand that the market of recruiters ( and developers ) is now very crowded and competitive, but seriously,
trying to catch my attention with such cheesy/cheap clickbait subjets is very sad.
Even though I am not actively looking for a new job, it would be stupid to not be aware of what the market is looking for or offering, so sometimes I reply and ask for more info about the position they are offering - and for which I would be - their own words - a perfect match!
That's when the recruiters start to become vague about the position they mentioned and say that before they can disclose information about company salary and whatsoever they'd like to have an introductory chat to really understand if my profile really matches ( wasn't that the reason why you contacted me in the first place?).
If you make the mistake to arrange this quick chat
(as I did more than once... I am too nice and every now and then I give a new recruiter a chance - and fall in the trap) you will be kept for about 45 minutes on the phone to answer lots of questions about your experience and skills that clearly show they haven't read your profile at all - and that they have no idea what they are talking about:
I am a Node - React full-stack dev, why are you asking me if I use Maven and SpringBoot in my daily tasks!?!.
The truth likely is, they have no position ready for you. They just want to fill up their Database of contacts to pick from for whenever they will have something.
I find this very unprofessional and disappointing.
As much as I hate when they make cold calls. If they managed to find out your phone number or have it from that quick chat happened months before, they just call you without notice to discuss your current status or ask what you think about a job offer.
Can't you realize that I am very likely at work, in my office at my current company, actually doing my job, and that could be a bit uncomfortable having such a conversation there? Just send me a quick email or message and arrange a suitable time.
Seriously recruiters, do not waste people's time, do not spam people's email with cheesy templated messages ( once I received the same email for the same position from two recruiters of the same agency - with the exact same message) and don't ask me to present myself so that I look a good catch for you to show off at the hiring company.
I have LinkedIn, I have Xing, I have a blog, everything I can say about myself to catch your ( or the company's ) attention is there, and YOU contacted me, so YOU should make the company and position appealing for me, not the other way around.
Do not waste my time. Be professional, and precise. Tell me immediately what is the job about and the name of the company.
And don't ask me for my current salary - everyone knows how knowing the salary affects the salary negotiation during the interview - so I will not let you know.
Photo by Free To Use Sounds on Unsplash
Latest comments (54)
Neither recruiter has enough competence to check and promote a really good candidate. Period.
This is so true. I even got spammed by recruiters when I was studying. When I told them I still had to finish my bachelor in AI, which takes around 3 years, they would ask if they could call me in 6 months... how??
This is also why I started my own IT-agency. I work for the IT-talents and not the companies. I saw how bad recruiters treated IT-talents all because of money and it made me start this agency, I hope I can make a positive change.
I was just contacted on Linkedin for a position as Frontend Dev with minimun 1 year of experience (and with very low salary). When I asked if they really checked my profile before sending this perfect match offer, they replied
when I replied that that is called SPAMMING PEOPLE, this is the reply:
Clearly the filter don´t work properly and clearly this says it all about the Recruiter´s Work
thanx for the long reply.
the article is referring - and all the commenters were referring - to recruiting agency and external recruiters or head hunters or whatever we want to call them. I don´t think anyone meant HR people recruiting for their company.
Honestly I have absolutely nothing against that process. And it´s normal having the steps you mentioned - because I am already in contact with the company!
The annoying part is mostly the emails and phone calls from external recruiters, which bring absolutely nothing.
So to answer your questions:
1) For me internal recruiters are just fine. and i am not bothered or annoyed by them at all.
2) hard to say.
And anyway, honestly. I am actively looking for a job, I google all the companies / startups that are in my area. and apply to those that I like. so just having a website and be on google maps it´s enought to be on my radar :-)
thanx for taking the time for writing this comment.
well. in general, at least for me, I´d like more transparency and speed: I don't want to spend time - be it 5 minutes or 45 minutes to tell every recruiter what I do, what is my skill set and what I am looking for ( actually I am not looking for anything at all - you contacted me because you think I fit to a specific position..) I have my LinkedIn and xing profile and they are updated. if something matches well, let's discuss it, and tell me immediately the name of the company.
More in general - sorry for being maybe too blunt - I don't see much value added by the current recruiting system. If the recruiters are just promoting jobs that are already available on multiple sources why to bother - If I am looking for a new position, it´s very likely I googled around and made some research.
Different story if the company itself prefers to go only with the recruiters' channel - then it could make sense, but again, in that case, I would be likely already in touch with just one or two recruiters that would contact me whenever something really matches - and could tickle my curiosity.
Maybe you guys don't know, but there's something like pay per call. Someone explained it to me... It didn't make sense ... And it still doesn't.
So this is how it works: You sign up, you make calls and you'll be paid for how long you spend per call.
Developers are a nice target because, if given the chance, we'll talk and talk about our skill.
Some of these people that annoying calls aren't recruiters per se. They don't even know what they're talking about. They just did little research so they could get the conversation going.
Trust me, it makes no sense... But they get paid.
It sounds like you are being contacted by 'researchers' rather than the consultant themselves. Look to ask if the person you are speaking to is actually the person managing the search and dealing directly with the client.
For the past few years, I am getting an email every 2-3 weeks, calling me
"Dear Victor I know you are getting tons of offers", which ends with "only US citizens can apply" (I live in Greece) :D
I'm not sure things used to be better 3~4 years ago. I remember a classmate getting called at work by a recruiter who called the company's receptionist, specifically asking to be forwarded to him. The recruiter had no info on him beyond knowing he was an employee for that company. Now that's gangsta.
I had a series of emails from a head huntress full of emojis and gifs... and their professional website had background pictures of the Raving Rabbids.