Why do recruiters do this?

Technoracer

I keep getting calls from recruiters, and typically they ask a few questions, and ask for my resume, but they never follow up. Just when I get my hopes up of possibly landing, at least, a contract job they stay silent. Should I call them back and find out what's going on, or should I keep sending my resume all over the internet? I'm sure this is a common thing in this field and economy, but there has to be a way to get an edge, and land real interviews, instead of just a phone screening. Any of you have experience with this??

JoJoCal19

Unfortunately that is the norm in the recruiter world. From my experience it's one of three things:

1. The recruiter submitted you and the hiring manager/company passed and the recruiter discards you like yesterdays trash because you're not going to get them paid and no longer worth their effort.
2. The recruiter submits you and the company is non-responsive and the recruiter doesn't think "oh hey I should let this person know I havent heard anything".
3. The recruiter is super busy handling a lot of people for a lot of positions and they are poorly organized and can't keep up with who they need to follow-up with.

I've had all three situations with number 2 being most common. I've had number 1 happen where I've followed up like two to four weeks later on ones that I myself didn't feel like I was the best fit for and was told "oh yea sorry, they went with other candidates". And then I've had ones that had too much going on and were just slow to get back or didn't contact me and I contact them and they're like "oh yea I'm still working on that, sorry I've been busy".

jvrlopez

I've had the same happen to me. Interviewed with a recruiter who said he had a few jobs lined up for me. He also mentioned that he'd revise and send me a copy of my updated resume that was targeting those positions. He said I'd have it in about 15 minutes.

Never heard back from him again.

BradleyHU

man....i've had this happen way too many times. That's why i dont rely on recruiters. Every role I've gotten an offer for, I've gotten on my on. I've gotten some interviews through recruiters, but they fall off the map shortly after when i'm trying to find out an update.

networker050184

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

1. The recruiter submitted you and the hiring manager/company passed and the recruiter discards you like yesterdays trash because you're not going to get them paid and no longer worth their effort.

I'd say this is probably the case 90% of the time. They are trying to fill a position. If your resume doesn't get picked by the employer nothing much they can do with you after that.

JoJoCal19

networker050184 wrote: »

I'd say this is probably the case 90% of the time. They are trying to fill a position. If your resume doesn't get picked by the employer nothing much they can do with you after that.

I disagree there. It's called networking. If they've established a positive rapport with me and then they do have a hot new role to fill and they reach out to me, I'll listen. If they do the afore mentioned and blow me off and don't bother to send a 30 second email saying the company passed, I won't give them the time of day, AND I will proceed to spread the word to all of my contacts not to work with their company. Taking 30 seconds to type an email will go a long way to keep from getting a bad rep.

networker050184

You just have to keep in mind the recruiter is working for the company. They don't work for you. The higher level positions I can see the keeping a network with, but if you are filling lower level positions, not too be too harsh, the reality is these people are a dime a dozen. These are also the people who seem to have the most trouble with recruiters. So I can see the how and why it happens. I still think it's rude to not at least follow though.

ScrawnyRonnie

I had the same thing happen. One guy called and asked if I had Secret Clearance and upon my response ("no") he said he would ask whoever to get an Interim Clearance process started. I never heard from him again.

boobobobobob

Recruiters also make commission on people they place, I think this has a big impact on which potential candidates they want to invest their time into. There's just a better ROI for recruiters to target people at the CCNP+ range.

bermovick

Except it doesn't change even then (unless I'm just an odd case). I still get #1 a lot.

kohr-ah

Most cases mine has been #1 also.

More recently I have actually had 3 recruiters (Out of about 20) that keep in touch with me and tell me "Hey we got you to the hiring manager and they were looking for someone with a bit more experience in xyz" or "they went with someone else" or something and told me they would let me know when something comes up otherwise to bug them once every 2 weeks if I hear nothing.

markulous

Is the rule of thumb usually to wait a week before following up with the recruiter after you talked to them and sent your resume?

LeBroke

Had a few recruiters do any/all of the 3 things above.

Had another recruiter that invited me over for a chat for a job that was outside my capabilities/experience range, even though I informed her the job is a little beyond me.

She still took the time to let me know the company decided they need someone with more experience.

Guess where I'm going if I decide to work with a recruiter again...

scaredoftests

Yup..I have had the same experience...

Shdwmage

I had a lot of the aforementioned issues above, but I haven't had it with the recruiter I've been working with. They drove down an hour to meet with me after receiving my resume. There were a few companies that they wanted to send me to, but I didn't want to drive an hour and a half for work nor did I really want to work in Benton Harbor.

the_Grinch

Your best bet? Find a recruiter to do the search for you. You tell them what you can/will do, how much, and where. They do the search and reach back once they find something. I had a friend do this and that was how she got to Texas where she wanted to be.

E Double U

Dealt with a great recruiter about a decade ago that got me placed at a telco. I was given his # by an associate, I called him, and he asked to meet. We discussed my experience, my interests, and what he could offer. He contacted me about several positions that I wasn't interested in until the NOC role came up. We continued to stay in touch long after I had been placed. Met up for lunch a few times - cool guy.

Talked to plenty of recruiters since then, but it was a waste of time. I only got interviews for positions that I applied for with the company directly.

Jasiono

Yikes

I actually talked to a recruiter once and he wanted me to lie on my resume about my experience with certain programs and knowledge. I refused

Codyy

Another one to add: The company the recruiter works for does not have the contract and are just testing the waters in case they do get it. I see "this position is contingent upon award of contract" quite often, safe to say if they are not awarded the contract you'll never hear from them again.

InfoTech92

Jasiono wrote: »

Yikes

I actually talked to a recruiter once and he wanted me to lie on my resume about my experience with certain programs and knowledge. I refused

LMAO wow, what an idiot. I actually had a recruiter say to me once "If you see a job posting you like, tell me about it! I'll call the company for you". I laughed and was like "why wouldn't I just apply directly to that job posting?" Safe to say I never heard back ;]. Trying to get me to do all the work for him to earn his money, LOL.

bpenn

Codyy wrote: »

Another one to add: The company the recruiter works for does not have the contract and are just testing the waters in case they do get it. I see "this position is contingent upon award of contract" quite often, safe to say if they are not awarded the contract you'll never hear from them again.

Don't you hate spending 20 minutes applying for a job just to get that small text at the bottom, "this position is contingent upon award of contract."

I don't even bother applying for those because the incumbents usually don't leave. Obviously, this is DoD contracts I am talking about.

E Double U

Jasiono wrote: »

Yikes

I actually talked to a recruiter once and he wanted me to lie on my resume about my experience with certain programs and knowledge. I refused

If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'

ImThe0ne

I have had really good luck with recruiters from one specific company (not sure if we are allowed to name drop). You will always have recruiters that do it though, more so with the helpdesk, desktop support, printer support, roles. Mine were engineering roles and panned out well.

Kinet1c

I no longer deal with 3rd party recruiters. I will only apply directly to a company. That said, hoping to stay where I am for quite some time, too much fun and learning to be had.

N2IT

My recruiting days are pretty much over. I built up rapport with one gal and she was great. She had industry experience before going into recruiting, she lasted about two years and then became a director of HR over at a company. That was my last connection, it's over. Out of 100's of recruiters I can count on one hand the decent ones.

With my experience and skills I just go straight to the companies, works out much better now.

If by chance you do land a good recruiter, make sure to do your part to maintain that relationship. They are worth their weight in gold especially if you don't have to many skills.