Why I don’t want to talk to recruiters without knowing what they are selling first
As I’m sure many people have experienced, I receive a handful of recruiter emails every week. I categorize these messages into two groups. The first group is very untargetted – promoting positions for things which I am not qualified for. Take a look at my resume, my blog, my twitter stream, and\or my LinkedIn profile for a minute and you’ll see what I am proficient in and capable of. Did I say that I was a ColdFusion developer? No, I didn’t. So don’t waste my time (or yours) offering me a Senior ColdFusion Engineer position.
Then there is the second group of messages I get. Many of these unsolicited messages say nothing more than "Hey I have a great position to tell you about. Lets get on the phone and talk about it".”
Again, No. I don’t want to get on the phone with you. I don’t want to hear what you have to say. I don’t know you and I don’t trust you. Why? Because its most likely that you don’t know what you are talking about. You are a recruiter, not an engineer so please don’t try to pretend that you know anything about writing code or solving difficult problems. I don’t want to waste my time hearing you pitch some startup to me – or pitch what you consider to be a “startup” either.
Instead, tell me who you are recruiting for. I know startups and all I need from you is to tell me who the company is. I’ll decide if they are really a “startup” with the startup culture, mentality and environment. I don’t need you to try to convince me of it over the phone. I can do my own research.
Don’t worry! I’m not going to go around you. You’ll get your commission but if you want to work with me, it wont be all on your terms.
October 12th, 2011 - 04:49
You have hit the nail on the head with this one. Recruiters calling up spouting a load of words that they dont understand in the vein hope that they'll say one which you recognise and begin talking about. I wouldnt trust a recruiter as far as i could throw them. I have friends in recruitment and outside of that environment they are lovely people, when they are in work mode though they turn into veritable animals, and will step over people to get their commision and bullsh** their way into oblivion.