
Show HN: SPAM Fighting IT Job App, Blacklist Lookup Exposes Unethical Recruiters - ryanfuji
https://www.teqopps.com
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jmoorecoder
I like the idea, I hope it catches on, the recruiter spam is getting unruly

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ryanfuji
About a year ago I was in a product meeting and just by chance happened to
find myself sitting next to the director in charge of my development team. My
cell phone was on the conference table in front of me just like almost
everyone else at the table. During the meeting I got a text message from a
recruiter soliciting me about an "Amazing Opportunity!!!" . I wasn't looking
for a job at the time nor had I ever had any previous contact with this
recruiter. At the time, I didn't pay any attention to it, this type of thing
was common, getting SPAMMED by recruiters was something I was used to.

So a week goes by, and I come in to work that morning, set up my laptop and
check my email before I go to make my morning coffee and begin my normal
routine. In my inbox I have an email from my director asking me to please come
see her in her office "ASAP". Great, I thought, what fire was I going to have
to put out today? Like a good soldier, I immediately get up and make my way to
her office, winding my way through the workstations in our open floor plan. I
get to her office and knock on the door. "Come in." I hear her say. I enter
her office and immediately notice that a member of the HR team is also there
with her. My heart sank.

My director then tells me; "Ryan, as you know, our new CTO is making some
changes. And we feel that in those changes, we no longer have a place for
you." She then stopped talking and the lady from HR began walking me through
my exit package. After she was finished she asked me if I had any questions. I
turned to my director and asked; "Why is this happening? Did I do something
wrong? On my last quarterly performance reviews I received 5 out of 5's." She
looked at me and plainly said, "We just don't feel that you are a loyal team
member. I saw the text message you received last week in our product meeting,
and we only want team members who are committed." I tried to explain, but it
was too late, her mind was made up. I was now unemployed because a recruiter
that I never knew existed, decided to SPAM me with a text message at the worst
possible time.

This experience got me to thinking about just how bad the climate of tech
recruiting has become. If this has happened to me, it has also probably
happened to others as well. I felt that something had to be done. No one else
seems to be doing anything about this, so why not me?

After thinking about this problem of recruiter SPAM I decided that the heart
of the problem was with just how easy it is for recruiters to mine contact
information on job sites like Indeed, Monster and Dice. And that there are no
repercussions for them when they use this information to engage in unethical
activities to make a buck. Also, these traditional sites are catered to the
recruiter's experience, not the job seeker. I felt that this approach was
wrong. The demand for tech workers is far greater than the supply. There
needed to be an alternative that catered to the job seeker, not the other way
around.

So I created Teqopps, a No SPAM IT job search site that makes life easier for
the job seeker not the recruiter.

Features Include:

\- Job Seekers are in control, no one can search for them or find them unless
they initiate the conversation first \- All Job Postings must be completely
filled out, to give the candidate the most possible information about the job
before they decide if it's the right opportunity to apply to \- Full
Transparency, they will know exactly who posted the job with contact
information, and how many applicants have expressed interest in the job \-
Review and Rate recruiters/companies, to help them decide which staffing
representative to begin the application process with \- Blacklist service to
expose recruiters that engage in unethical and dishonest behaviors

We went live on January 1st and we have seen some good traction with many jobs
posted and user signups...so I'm optimistic that this can really help.

Any feedback you can give would be greatly appreciated, positive or negative.
I really just want this to create a meaningful change in the status quo, and
hopefully stop others from experiencing what I have.

Thank you

