Or I’ll lay your soul to waste. Okay, so perhaps I was starting this post out with a chip on my shoulder, but I had good cause. Instead, I think I will make a small mental adjustment, <applies blunt object to back of own skull…there, that’s better> and instead, I will point out some things that a few folks are doing well instead of what others are doing wrong. I’m leaving this tagged as a rant, because there’s some things still bubbling below the surface. Read on if you are so inclined, else, skip this post and we’ll get back to tech next time, I promise.
I started to title this post "What the hell is wrong with recruiters these days?" but I realised that was not fair, and would needlessly offend the vast majority, so if you are reading this far, I’ve gotten your attention sufficiently to make it clear that I believe my beef to be with only a very few individuals. It is unfortunate that the actions of these few colour the impressions of so many others. I can only imagine (though I also expect) that recruiters have similar issues with candidates, and if any recruiter out there reads this, I beg you to leave a comment with your side of the story. I’ve not done your job, so I can’t speak to it fairly. Disclaimer: I am not actively looking for a new position, though in this economy only a fool would not be open to learning about an opportunity if it existed. Many of my family and friends are, however, and this post was as much inspired by what is happening to them now as what has happened to me in the past.
If you caught the quote, you may be asking if I am comparing recruiters to the Devil. Hardly. I’m sure that most are wonderful and hardworking people who care about their clients and the candidates they represent. It’s the small minority that I am ranting about in this post, and a sad statement on affairs that folks have stories to share only when things go wrong. Let me take a moment to try to balance the scales.
I have dealt with some great recruiters in the past, including Joe Silvestrini at Signature Consultants, Janelle Martin when she was at Synigent, Cyrus Panthaki at Collabera, Trey Scott when he was at Comsys, and Kevin Nangle at Ettain Group. Before you jump to conclusions, only two of those five actually were involved in something that resulted in my getting a job. But all five exhibited some traits that others seem to be painfully and blatantly missing. Why do I call out the five fine folks above for doing a great job? Here’s the rundown.
- They keep their word
All five of the above stand out in my mind because they never failed to follow through with something they said. Whether it was getting me information, updating me on the status of an opportunity, arranging an interview, or simply checking in with me to see how things are going, they never said they would do something and then didn’t. They always got back to me in the time frame they promised…even if it was only to inform me about a delay completely beyond their control. - They don’t bullshit
Simple, straight-forward communication: they never built something up to be what it wasn’t; they never tried to sugar coat something. - They read and understand the job request and the candidate’s resume
The five above never pitched me an opportunity that wasn’t a good fit. They know what I can do, and what I cannot, and if they were not certain because it was something really obscure, they opened with "I’m not sure if this is for you, but I wanted to run it by you because it sounds like it might be." - They understood my salary requirements.
I love Mercedes Benz, but I am on a Ford budget. I’m not going to go test drive a Mercedes, and then offer the dealer $30K for it. The folks above always respected my salary requirements, and only proffered opportunities that could afford me.
So on the flip side, (yes, the rant is coming out of the box, I just could not keep it in) for other recruiters, what’s puzzling me is the nature of their game. Let’s talk about some things that just really seem to be on the rise, and that piss me right off. I’ll tell you what…if you are a recruiter reading this (thank you for bearing with me this far, and I know that recruiters hit my blog…I can find a referral or source ip.addr from a recruiter’s office that correlates to an email or phone call more than half the time these days) I’ll make you a deal. If you see any of the following that feel awkwardly familiar, don’t call me, and in return, I promise not to cause your computer to bluescreen ever again, and I’ll cancel any logic bomb I attached to your credit report. The following seem to be common amongst my peeps…it’s not just me this happens to, I’m just the guy with the blog. Since I experienced ALL of these, multiple times last year, I am writing this using the first person perspective.
- Dropping off the planet
You call, you’ve got the perfect position, the hiring manager needs to fill it as soon as possible, you need me to send you my resume just as soon as I possibly can…and then I never hear from you again. You don’t respond to my emails, you don’t return my calls, you just disappear. If that is how you intend to play things…frak you. The job req got closed? They found another candidate? They think my resume sucks? Fine, a simple one line email is sufficient…ignoring my emails and dodging my calls by having the receptionist tell me you are on another call and will get back to me as soon as you can (which implies at the very least, by tomorrow sometime) and then not, is the social equivalent of my ‘frak you’ above. By saying it straight out, I’m just a little more respectful of your time. Have the courtesy to tell me that straight. - Pitching me the perfect position, without it being a real position.
Okay, so perhaps the hiring manager/client is at fault for this, and not you, but then again, it’s simple enough to ask the client if the request is funded already or not. If its a spec position, or a pipedream, or something they really want but don’t have approved yet, set the proper expectations with me up front. - Asking me about a job three hours away, and then wondering why I am not interested.
Dude, seriously? North Carolina is a big-ass state. There may be a metric assload of jobs in the RTP area, but I am in Charlotte. If you’re not from North Carolina, the East Coast, or even the United States, I should probably excuse your lack of geographic awareness, but if you are calling from the 919 area code, you should know better. Is the job market really so bad that folks are taking jobs hours away, getting a cheap dump to sleep in, and only coming home on weekends? And they are willing to do this for $40 an hour? I call bullshit. - Promising to send me information, and then not.
I mean, really, what the hell is up with that? Half the time, all you are really needing to do is forward me an email. Is that really so hard to do? - Requiring my social security number before making me a job offer.
How about no, with a side of nein, nichts, nichevo, nacho, and nyet. Should we get to the point where there i an offer to tender, and I want to accept, then of course I will provide it. But requiring it just for the privilege of applying for a position (Government jobs not included) is wrong.
Need it to do a background check? Then make me an offer contingent on the background check. Want it just to have the hiring manager do the first telephone call…go piss up a rope. - Stringing me along.
We’ve gone through the phone calls, the in person interviews, and everything went swimmingly well. The client loved me, I’m perfect for the job. We just need to close the deal. Four weeks later you are still telling me that everything looks good, but the hiring manager took vacation, or her boss is out of the country and has to sign off, or the HR rep is still working on the position, or something like that. The best I ever heard was that the hiring manager is just too busy to start a new person right now. Okay, is that really the bullshit it sounds like, or is he so stupid that he doesn’t realise hiring the new guy would help with being so damn busy? Me, I think it’s the bullshit, but I don’t want to work for someone if they are really that stupid. - Hitting me with something that is not even remotely close to what I do or where I do it.
Thought I am not actively looking, I get pinged by phone or email four days out of five, for jobs that are either NO WHERE near me (I checked…my profiles on the job boards do have the right zip code for me, and the commuting range is <25 miles, and no, relocation to anywhere is not set as an option.) Yes, I do have some rather boutique skills that some recruiters need badly enough to call a candidate just in case they would be interested, but where in the blue hell does it say on my resume that I code Java, or COBOL, or know RACF???!!! Oracle? Nowhere on my resume. I don’t expect a technical recruiter to understand that Cisco ACS is the bastard lovechild of TACACS+. I don’t expect them to know that AD LDS and ADAM are essentially the same thing. I do expect them to know that a Windows guy doesn’t work on mainframes, and a network engineer doesn’t normally write C# code. Java, COBOL, and RACF are all sufficiently distinct technologies that they merit specific mention on someone’s resume if they actually have experience with them. Key word searches, yours are broken. - Insisting on a face to face meeting, and then bailing.
This happened to Connie just the other day. Before she could be presented to the client, she had to come meet with the recruiter…something about how they have to meet all candidates in person before presenting them to the client. Okay, the recruiter’s office is 35 minutes away. She gets dressed up, drives all the way over there, arrives early, is left sitting in the lobby for 25 minutes PAST the appointment time, only to have the recruiter’s secretary finally come out, shake hands, present the recruiter’s card, make small talk for a couple of minutes, then wish her well. Whut? He couldn’t even be bothered to say hi, let alone keep the appointment? Dude, piss off. That was just about as lame as anything I have ever encountered. Oh, yeah, same jackass has since fallen off the planet.
Oh I could go on, but I just looked down and saw the word count already over 1900, so let me end with this. In a way, I do have sympathy for the devil, since for the greatest part of what I know, recruiters are kind of like commissioned salespeople. If they can’t fill the gig, they don’t get their piece of the pie. I just don’t understand why some of them can’t have some courtesy, some sympathy, some taste.
Direct link for RSS and email subscribers…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLddJ1WceHQ
If you have a recruiter gripe, please sound off below. If you are a recruiter with a candidate gripe, please do likewise. If you think I am full of it….let me know.
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