I hate recruters

[svandamme]

recruiter : *mumbles something sounds like still chewing food*
Yeah, hi , calling about your status
me : what do you mean my status?
recruiter: well, what's your status?
me : well, sitting down , i'm working, how's yours
recruiter: oh, you got a job
me : yeah, i think so, they pay me money and so forth, why are you calling?
recruiter: well, i'm from Huxleys, what are your skills?
me :Huxleys, you must be looking at my CV then?
recruiter: yes
me : so, in the bottom, it says "skills" what would you like to see clarified?
recruiter: well, what technical skills do you have?
me : what it says, this , that, 3 sorts of OS'es, bunch of Mailservers, BES, DB's this and that, Vmware , citrix, etc etc
recruiter: yeah, that's what it says
me : ok, so what more do you need to know? What are you looking for specifically?
recruiter: well, was hoping you could elaborate more on your tech skills
me : look, this ain't going anywhere is it, i'm hanging up, *click*

ring
recruiter: yeah, we got disconnected
me : that's right, i hung up, *click*

ring
recruiter : we got disconnected again
me : Off course we did , I. HUNG. UP .
recruiter: oh, in that cas*click*

I swear that recruiters are people who are incompetent for a real job.

And to think that they then decide who they feel is competent enough for those real jobs.

it's retarded to say the least.

[Paul_Heery]

I have found that most of these folks that contact you are low-level grunts that have been given the task of weeding through online CVs and performing an initial vetting of the individuals by contacting them by telephone. They are looking for a few keywords on your CV and then asking some questions that they don't even understand themselves.

What annoys me the most is when you receive a call from a US-based number and after a few seconds it is clear that the caller is on an IP phone with a crappy connection calling from who-knows-where.

[Por_sha911]

You should have told him that (for his ears only) you can see the future, you are able to search the internet by staring at your toaster, and you have read his mind and he is highly unhappy and unsuccessful in his current job.

[svandamme]

It's that i have a job that pays reasonably well, good perks and so on,
so my tolerance for morons like that, is way to low to seriously jobhunt...

I'm not hungry enough to play their stupid game.

[Hugo930]

I was a tech recruiter for years in the bay area. I placed mostly exec level tech people, the only ones that I dislike were the younger hotshots that didn't know how an organization worked, they hired too many in one area and not enough in others and would always complaint.

Outside of that, I made a sh't load of money, I was young and loved it.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

What annoys me the most is when you receive a call from a US-based number and after a few seconds it is clear that the caller is on an IP phone with a crappy connection calling from who-knows-where.

I've been getting a TON of those this year. I've had and heard lots of stories about some dubious practices coming out of India WRT job stuff.

I've heard that they'll find your resume online or ask you to send your resume, and then your resume will be used by someone over there to get outsourcing jobs.

I've also had a buddy that had one company get ahold of his resume. They then "applied" for several jobs using his resume without his approval. He then tried to apply for one of those jobs through another company, but couldn't because the other company had applied for him first so he just skipped that job.

[cgarr]

A recruiter. A cruiter that couldn't make it the first time?


Sent from my iPhone

[cantdrv55]

Be nice to recruiters and always throw them a bone. You never know when you'll need their help.

[Hugo930]

You have no idea how many people would call me crying immediately after they've been let go.

I was always fair but we always pushed just a little harder for those people that were decent to us.

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

Be nice to recruiters and always throw them a bone. You never know when you'll need their help.

[Hugo930]

By the way, I don't know what you do for a living but I'd hate to get that phone call.

When I was in the business, HR and recruiters always went out for lunch and drinks, we knew exactly how each organization worked and what the needs were.

I guess that the business has changed in the last 20 years. I can't even think how you'd be able to place someone when you don't know the culture of the organization.

[cantdrv55]

I recently "burned" a recruiter and I feel really bad about it but had to do what's best for me and family. He contacted me, coached and prepped me before the interviews. I sold myself and was offered the job but my current employer matched the offer and then some so I ended up staying. Recruiter wasn't happy but I did recommend two other reps to him.

[JeremyD]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

I recently "burned" a recruiter and I feel really bad about it but had to do what's best for me and family. He contacted me, coached and prepped me before the interviews. I sold myself and was offered the job but my current employer matched the offer and then some so I ended up staying. Recruiter wasn't happy but I did recommend two other reps to him.

And if you believe any of the statistics - in 70% of the cases - you will not be in that job in 2 years.

Unfortunately - svandamme - who you were called by - was someone who is a data builder (Sourcing Specialist is one of the titles). Probably from an English speaking 3rd world country. They verified your skills and updated your status. You then were probably flagged as someone who is more of a casual job seeker (only because you did not hang up immediately)

I get hit up almost weekly from foreign entities wanting to take over our "sourcing" of candidates.

A recruiter / headhunter - a quality version - will be professional, quick, concise. If I know what company you are working for - I already know what you are being paid. If I'm good at my job - I already know your supervisor is banging the receptionist and everybody is worried the ceo is dipping into the 401K contributions.

Really - be courteous - be professional - keep contact information. You never know when you might need it. This day and age, it's beneficial to cast a wide net in a job search. That includes friends and family, professional associations, that includes social media and that also includes agencies and head hunters.

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by JeremyD

A recruiter / headhunter - a quality version - will be professional, quick, concise. If I know what company you are working for - I already know what you are being paid. If I'm good at my job - I already know your supervisor is banging the receptionist and everybody is worried the ceo is dipping into the 401K contributions.

Really - be courteous - be professional - keep contact information. You never know when you might need it. This day and age, it's beneficial to cast a wide net in a job search. That includes friends and family, professional associations, that includes social media and that also includes agencies and head hunters.

Well, probably not, this is Belgium he spoke Dutch, or at least mumbled it.
So i assume he was from Brussels not from a 3rd world country, Dutch is not an easy language for foreigners to learn.

What you describe, i would call that a headhunter, i've been headhunted before, and that was not an unpleasant experience at all. In fact it got me a kickass job at Novell at the time.. great on my CV..

But in Belgium recruiters are just terrible.

it starts with the job ads.
- Need all round It person
So you call to find out "what" they need , programmer/devver , support, project mgmt, etc etct
They'll flat out refuse to give out any information , insisting you drive 140 km's to go see them in person

As if. I want to know if there's even a point in me going there.
Why would i drive 140 km for a developers job, if i'm not a developer?

Or they list the ad as
"you are the It manager, you will manage the support team, the inhouse developer, and do occasional network troubleshooting"
When it turns out it's a job where they pay you as a 1st line helpdesker, but expect you to manage yourself, be the in house developer, and do all throubleshooting yourself.

another example from a MAAAJOR recrutement agency had me over for a reasonably high profile tech job in 2007... the want me to do psychotechnical questions, i oblige..
He comes back with , well this is your test result, it looks ok and all that, not a bad match for the job..
But this is a senior profile we are looking for, and from where i'm looking i see more of a junior profile.

* excuse me? Could you care to elaborate on that, 10 years of experience, 6 years at Novell as Backline tech & team coordinator? Doesn't that count for anything?*

He goes, i don't really know Novell, i normally don't do IT stuff, i'm just filling in for a coworker who's on pregnacy leave.

I walked out without saying another word.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

You should have told him that (for his ears only) ... you are able to search the internet by staring at your toaster, ....

That cracked me up.

[Rick Lee]

I love getting called by recruiters. It doesn't happen as often as I'd like and it's usually because I applied to some job online I long ago forgot about by the time they get around to me. But I've been called a few times by the same ones for different jobs and I appreciate their keeping me in mind. They're always good for asking info on this or that company or what this or that job pays or should pay. One who called a few mos. ago happened to work in the same office I did over 10 yrs. ago and knew everyone there I knew. Sure am glad I don't lie on my resume. That one would have caught it.

[Hugo930]

This is part of being in sales. He/she may have been disappointed but it happens. Plus, you were honest and sent him business. Had you done this to me and been honest about it, I would have sent you a bottle of wine and a nice note. **** happens but a good salesperson would recognize that you are still a possibility in the future .

I wouldn't worry about it.

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

I recently "burned" a recruiter and I feel really bad about it but had to do what's best for me and family. He contacted me, coached and prepped me before the interviews. I sold myself and was offered the job but my current employer matched the offer and then some so I ended up staying. Recruiter wasn't happy but I did recommend two other reps to him.

[Peterfrans]

Don't get me started on Huxleys. I am on the hiring side and these are the worst bunch of morons

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by Peterfrans

Don't get me started on Huxleys. I am on the hiring side and these are the worst bunch of morons

Hayes is not much better ( they were the ones that said "eeh, i don't know bout novell, i'm filling in for a pregnant coworker).. and Now occasionally I'm on the hiring side too, and got Hayes come to me with a candidate who was totally mismatched..

I wanted Spanish speaking, support skills, networking
they came with Portugueze speaking, programmer and some .net knowledge
huh?! WTF?

They are just Effing around.. I'm telling you. Recruters i come across are the ones that are to stupid to hold a real job and to full of themselves to be a real sales rep. Power tripping goons.

I absolutely loathe how they operate.. poor language use, poor emails, poor punctuality, sloppy, can't read comprehensively past the first lines of a CV, poor insight and no common sense...And they do it with an air of "we are the smart ones, we make the cut who get's a job or not, we are THAT important!"

[livi]

I only get crank calls. Breathing and moaning. Goes with the territory I suppose.

[svandamme]

Calling your deskphone with your cellphone and moaning yourself, that doesn't count Markus
I'm sure the nurses have been wondering about that...