
Don’t Feed the Beast – The Great Tech Recruiter Infestation - mocko
https://mocko.org.uk/b/2015/10/14/dont-feed-the-beast-the-great-tech-recruiter-infestation/
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acconrad
I used to hate recruiters and would delete their emails or even send them
letters chastising them for their inability to even do a modicum of research
into my skill set.

Then I read _How to Win Friends and Influence People_ , as cheesy as that
sounds, and now I'm extremely friendly with recruiters. I've realized that I
am deeply privileged to be in a time and a place in society where my skills
are so valuable that it feels like spam to be provided alternative job
opportunities! Seriously, what kind of backwards world do we live in where
we're _angry_ at people for trying to keep us gainfully employed? How rude of
_me_ to have acted like a pompous rock star by not giving someone common
decency and respect, even if their interests don't exactly align with mine.

So now I write back to all recruiters. I graciously thank them for even
considering me for the role (no matter how off-base it was), and then simply
explain to them how, for example, if you're recruiting me for a Java position,
a simple look at my LinkedIn profile (which I actually link to and invite them
to join my network) will show I've never held a professional job writing Java.
Finally, I ask that since their time is valuable (because the higher their
conversion rate, the more money they make), if they could give me the same
courtesy and only send me extremely relevant leads, then I will be more likely
to respond.

You know what happened?

I get thoughtful, sincere responses and apologies. They appreciate that I'm
not like 99% of techies who deletes or scolds them. And then they magically
disappear! I receive _the least recruiter emails I ever have in my career_.
And the ones I do get now, they actually are worth checking out. Imagine that!
Being decent and taking the high road can lead to a better outcome.

~~~
varlock
I agree on all points, and can vouch for this approach: Thoughtfully
approaching recruiters allows you to see who is actually worth keeping in
touch with. In fact this is what I do, too.

While there are some rude/inefficient/untrustworthy recruiters out there, I
don't think generalizing is a valid approach (and in many other circumstances,
as well).

Coming from a country where the job market has lately been (and still is) a
bit stagnant and recruiting agencies have historically never been a popular
option, I would say dealing with recruiters is definitely not all grey and
grim.

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buserror
That was actually a pretty good chuckle reading that, thanks :-)

One agent spammed me once because he was recruiting an architect... to build a
supermarket on the south coast. The 'software' bit in my position name didn't
seem to have registered!

However, I use ONE agent, who's probably one of the rarest kind: he's
/careful/ of not wasting my, or his client's time and seems to have realized
that if he does that, he gets returning business -- and he does, he got a
'cut' from placing me a few times now -- and I don't really care, he saves me
a lot of time, 'sells' be pretty well (as he knows me well now) and has even
managed to convince me to try other things... So by now he's acting more like
'my' agent instead of 'one' agent...

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celticninja
YMMV however I have only had positive experiences with recruiters. There are
obviously dicks in the industry but these are easy to block or ignore. I have
used the same recruiter for my last 6 contracts over approx 5 years and she
has been awesome I. E. Saved me a load of hassle or down time between
contracts.

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venomsnake
Half of my linkedin is like a modelling agency. Hot young chicks making cold
calls. I try to go out on a business lunches as much as possible, without any
intention to commit. Two can play that game.

~~~
buserror
Lucky beepstard! All I get is cold calls; but I /did/ notice quite a few
interesting recruiter pictures lately on linkedin -- I had assumed they were
the equivalent of ashleymadisson hot MILFs.

Now you got me wondering :-)

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roblynch
One recruiter sent me an email saying they are looking for people with
knowledge of RESTful APIs and JASON experience.....

Yep.

To this day, I still don't know who jason is.

