

I Always Respond To and Thank Recuiters - jrussbowman
http://joerussbowman.tumblr.com/post/55786682696/i-always-respond-to-and-thank-recuiters

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clearly
I do this whenever a recruiter uses a code word from my linked in profile. It
states at the bottom "If you are a recruiter and contacting me about an
opportunity, please use the word 'crabs' so I know you have actually read my
profile. Thanks"

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jrussbowman
ha, I like that.

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ezl
I respond and give feedback on their pitch. I find that most recruiters just
copy paste things and usually I think, " _even if i was in the market for a
job, this would turn me off_ ".

So I tell them what I think they should do to get better responses from the
people they want to recruit. Hopefully people don't think I'm selling out my
kind (whatever that is).

Here is a recent interaction:

Recruiter:

 _...They are an auction house that is experiencing steady growth and are in
need of a hands on Director of Technology. They need someone who is
comfortable handling all of the development responsibilities and knows how to
delegate when necessary. Ideally they would like this person to be strong in
Python, Django, PHP, MySQL and PostGre SQL but are open to seeing someone who
is strong with a couple and willing to learn the others...._

Me:

 _Thanks for thinking of me, but I 'm not looking for anything at this time.

Also, advice on your pitch to other tech people that will probably improve
your hit rate:

1\. asking for someone who is good at python and django is mostly redundant --
just ask for django, as it is a python based framework. asking for both makes
it look like "credential bingo"

2\. same, asking for python and php is a little crazy for single products --
its extremely rare for small companies to be using both in any meaningful
capacity as they are basically replacements. this is like asking for a chef at
a restaurant that is an expert at japanese cuisine and italian cuisine. sure
they exist, but its improbable that you'll use it at the same restaurant.

3\. MySQL and Postgres -- same thing -- these are replacements. (a) most
people who are good enough at one will figure out the other, (b) the
meaningful differences here only manifest themselves at extremely deep levels,
where DATABASE expertise is what you are looking for, not a CTO.

Consider it friendly advice from someone who has recruited a lot of tech folk,
feel free to ignore. _

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ecoffey
For actual emails (real, or through linkedin mail) I'll always try to respond
with a polite "thanks but no thanks".

What absolutely drives me crazy is the linkedin invite spam were they indicate
that you worked together at "Recruiting Services LLC". No. We didn't. You're
lying; why would I want to start a professional relationship on a lie?

The tragedy there is it lowers the value of _all_ of linkedin for me.

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Casseres
I rarely get LinkedIn invite spam like that. I've gotten messages from
(maritime) recruiters, but they seem a little more professional from what I'm
reading about tech recruiters, although they still follow the same gimmicks
about being vague, etc.

The times I do get spam, I mark it as such. I haven't had to do it in a while,
but I think LinkedIn has an option "I don't know this person" for connection
requests.

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joelandren
Awesome, a little decency can make everyone's life better.

As someone who has hired lots of people, I always make sure that I email every
candidate who applied and also let them know when the position has been
filled. Treat people as you would want to be treated.

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Fuzzwah
When I was looking for work I was amazed at the number of recruiters who
contacted me regarding roles which didn't match my skillset. I've now found a
great job, but because of this experience when I've been contacted recently by
recruiters who have matched me with roles which I would be a good fit for, I
respond and thank them and explain that I'm not looking at the moment.

Everything else I laugh at and ignore.

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mik3y
I try to do this, too, for the same reasons.

(Well, it's far from 100%, but I at least make a point to politely decline the
higher-quality recruiting mails, like those that reference my work and get
into specifics of the position. So far I haven't regretted it.)

~~~
crcsmnky
Totally agree. It's usually pretty clear who has taken the time out to read
about your background and who hasn't. I like responding and connecting with
the ones that do their research.

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tehwebguy
That's fair. I think the main frustration comes from recruiters that mislead.

The primary lie seems to be, "We want to hire YOU!" along the lines of "You've
been pre-qualified!" junk mail.

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mathattack
I'm with you. I thank every recruiter who calls, and actively look for 1 or 2
leads that may help them.

Yes, there are awful recruiters out there, but there are plenty of good ones
just working hard for a living. What goes around comes around, and helping
them will increase the chance of getting that incoming call when you need it
most.

The last point is when I need to sell something, I'd much rather hear,
"Thanks, I'm not interested, but X or Y may be" than get hung up on, or
disrespected.

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richo
I typically respond fairly abruptly, asking where specifically they got my
contact details.

If they respond nicely, and with a plausible explaination I'll generally thank
for them for their interest, but tell them I'm not interested and have a nice
day.

If they're hostile about it/obviously lie I'll typically blackhole them and
mark as spam/internally subscribe them to my "people I will personally ruin
when I'm godking of this domain" list.

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denniskubes
Funny. I was thinking exactly the same thing today after seeing one more "here
is what I do to punish recruiters" posts.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6063951](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6063951)

