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Trapped in Recruiter Hell
This day and age its nearly impossible for anyone in the IT field to not have run ins with a head hunter at one point or another. Many employers have moved to the try before you buy philosophy. Get the expert in there doing work for a few months and see how things turn out.
This interaction irritates me quite frequently. Who am I kidding it irritates me about 90% of the time. Dealing with these people is rarely a good experience.
Never Ending Phone Calls & Emails
First and foremost you have to deal with the never ending calls from about 30 of these places at a time. That of course is provided that there are not multiple recruiters from the same office calling you about the same position which seems to happen more frequently then you’d expect. They will continue to call you and / or email you until they reach you. The greatest part about this is as an 8+ year web developer I will get phone calls about a Sales Floor Manager at a car dealership. Which brings me to my second point.
Lack of Knowledge
It’s quite amazing that a recruiter would not try to have at least a brief understanding of a field they are recruiting for. They call you about positions you are either completely over qualified for or under qualified for. It’s become quite apparent they only scan your resume for keywords before calling or emailing you telling you that after “reviewing” your resume they feel you are a perfect fit for a position they have. I can have a description of a previous job that says I use an internal language that is java based and I will be determined to be a perfect candidate for a Sr Java Developer position with a minimum of 5 years experience. Don’t even attempt to tell me you feel I’m a perfect match for a position you have with a client until you have actually read my resume.
Whats Best for “You”
Honesty is a trait you should never expect to find in a recruiter. Most of their effort is spent trying to convince you how great of an opportunity they have for you. When in reality they mean a great opportunity for them. I had a great example of this happen to me a few months ago.
I received a phone call from a head hunter about a position in Miami, FL. I currently live in Clearwater, FL this position is on the other side of the state. Through numerous phone calls and emails I tried to inform the head hunter that I was not at all interested in the position. She always had a rebuttal for how it wasn’t an issue. I have both a Doberman and a Pit Bull which are banned breeds in that city, of course that wasn’t a problem because there is a town about an hour outside of Miami where they are allowed. Transportation to and from this city isn’t that big of a deal because there is a bus running in and out. It continued over and over. “I really would hate to see you miss out on such a great opportunity”. After probably about ten emails I had enough, and informed her “A great opportunity for me? how can you say this is a great opportunity for me. I have to move across the state, with no help with relocation. Receive a salary lower then what I currently make, at a higher cost of living. I’ll have a longer commute to work. I’ll work for a company I have never heard of when I currently work for a prestigious name. How exactly is this a great opportunity for me? What makes it so great? The only person who benefits from this so called opportunity is you.”. Needless to say I never received anymore replies.
Disappearing Act
Once the head hunter lands you in the position don’t expect to hear from them again. Mission accomplished they collect their commission and move on to the next victim. Almost every placement I have ever gone through I either never heard from my recruiter again, or maybe once every 3-6 months. I once had a position where my recruiter didn’t even keep track of my contract end date. I ended up being informed by the employer at the time that it was the last day of my contract and I wouldn’t be coming back after the break. My recruiter should have known this already, but apparently didn’t want to be bothered to make a phone call to let me know. Amazingly enough about 9 months later I received an email from this same recruiter with another “great opportunity”. I hope he isn’t waiting by the phone.
Update: As a follow up I have posted a list of 7 Tips for Deailing with Recruiters
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:42 pm
[…] Tips for Dealing With Recruiters After writing my previous rant about recruiters titled Trapped in Recruiter Hell. I decided that it might be beneficial for me to compile a list of tips for dealing with […]