Recruiters that waste your time

What's up with this? I have not had to interview a whole lot over the years, but I would say that at least 50% of the internal recruiters for companies I have spoken with have been huge time wasters.

I've found it very common that they will plan a time to speak with you and not even call or will call 30+ minutes late.

Recently, I had a recruiter seek me out based on my resume. She missed our first AND second phone appointment. The third lasted all of two minutes after she asked me my desired salary range.

After hearing what I wanted, she quickly told me that the position she is recruiting for is new-grad/entry level and only pays half of what I'm currently making. Conversation ended shortly after that.

Really? She sought me out based on my resume and somehow confused 8 years experience and a senior engineering title for new grad?

Sorry to rant. I'm just finding it hard to wrap my mind around these time wasting situations.

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Comments

scaredoftests

ThomasITguy wrote: »

exactly.

funny story....

I had a female recruiter that would spam my personal email with job offers so I emailed her back and said

"I gave it some thought and I really want to get to know you as a person, you seem nice and maybe we can do lunch and then talk about some positions"

I never heard from her again.... but she was cute though.

That is funny..maybe I should do that with the male ones..but I am afraid they'd say 'yes'. LOL

ThomasITguy

scaredoftests wrote: »

That is funny..maybe I should do that with the male ones..but I am afraid they'd say 'yes'. LOL

LOL they may just say yes.....

kohr-ah

After the work I've done with the most recent recruiter I will never work with them again.

Everything he told me and they told me in the interview seemed like it would be a great place to learn.

I have been here a week and 3 days now and I can't get people to help me which is a pain cause the company is actually going through a split right now and I need to understand their processes so I can hop in and help. (I am not worried about losing my job)

They have no standards. They don't want to start implementing standards. Their documentation is a cluster-frick.

I am very grateful for the closer work to home as it has been great seeing my kids but I almost wanted to ask my old company if I could have my job back but I refuse to go backwards and now am stuck here at least a year to not hurt my resume. I actually called the recruiter and chewed him out over it.

I agree there are some good ones out there but I am about done with all of them.

BradleyHU

JockVSJock wrote: »

I don't need a recruiter to find a job.

for the most part, i agree with you, but some firms I've interviewed at in the past 2 years, they've only used recruiters to find candidates. I just think to myself, why spend when you can do this in house, and not pay an outsider to do so, but these firms have the capital to do so.

ThomasITguy

BradleyHU wrote: »

for the most part, i agree with you, but some firms I've interviewed at in the past 2 years, they've only used recruiters to find candidates. I just think to myself, why spend when you can do this in house, and not pay an outsider to do so, but these firms have the capital to do so.

I believe that employers hire recruiters to sift through applicants for them, so that their HR dept has less work to do. But what employers do not realize is, by hiring a recruiter they minimize their chances of getting a good applicant. The reason I say this is because most recruiters know nothing about IT or what the job is about.... they only go by the job description created by the employer. And its up to the recruiter if they want to put your resume through to the employer.

I have often wondered if they REALLY put your resume through to the employer when they say they will put you through.

jeremywatts2005

Trust me I get tired of it. I tell them my salary they say they can beat it. We go through a bunch of song and dance then they disappear or call and say that they are delaying hiring. Totally frustrating the worst is they get you into the interview you go through the whole process and then they present you an offer considerably lower than you asked for up front. I think the worse though are overseas recruiters trying to get you for jobs in the UAE and other places. They think Americans should take the same salary they make stateside to go over there because it is an exotic location. Living in a giant hot litterbox is not my idea of exotic. Ok now I am on a rant because I have had so many bad recruiter stories you would not believe it.

ThomasITguy

jeremywatts2005 wrote: »

Trust me I get tired of it. I tell them my salary they say they can beat it. We go through a bunch of song and dance then they disappear or call and say that they are delaying hiring. Totally frustrating the worst is they get you into the interview you go through the whole process and then they present you an offer considerably lower than you asked for up front. I think the worse though are overseas recruiters trying to get you for jobs in the UAE and other places. They think Americans should take the same salary they make stateside to go over there because it is an exotic location. Living in a giant hot litterbox is not my idea of exotic. Ok now I am on a rant because I have had so many bad recruiter stories you would not believe it.

How I get rid of recruiters is tell them that I want to make 10-15K more then they are willing to offer and tell them I am not willing to negotiate. Works every time.

PCTechLinc

I must need to change my description on my LinkedIn, because I get those canned emails that say

"Found your resume on LinkedIn, and there is an awesome opportunity for someone like you.... blah blah blah total BS something or another..."

Go to the website, ends up being a position for selling Life Insurance...

ThomasITguy

PCTechLinc wrote: »

I must need to change my description on my LinkedIn, because I get those canned emails that say

"Found your resume on LinkedIn, and there is an awesome opportunity for someone like you.... blah blah blah total BS something or another..."

Go to the website, ends up being a position for selling Life Insurance...

LOL or the ones for aflac. or door to door sales.

ratbuddy

Recruiter, out of the blue wrote:

Hi ratbuddy,

I have a position in your area I think you are a good fit. Please give me a call ASAP to discuss.

Me wrote:

Recruiter, I did get your message and I'll be giving you a call as soon as I can, is tomorrow morning at 10:30 EST ok with you?

Thanks!

Recruiter wrote:

That is fine.

Below is the full job description.

(We spoke on the phone, and he scheduled me for an interview the following Monday. He also gave me some great advice for how to prepare, what to expect, and how to dress.)

Recruiter wrote:

Please ask for X once you get there. She is the corporate recruiter.

Me wrote:

Will do, thanks.

(Morning of the interview)

Recruiter wrote:

Any last minute questions for me? I know you are going to knock this out of the park!

Me wrote:

Nope, I'm ready, spent all weekend on lynda.com doing PHP courses, prepping for behavioral/situational questions, researching the company, etc. Just need to show them that I'm the right candidate. Heading out now, thanks again.

Recruiter wrote:

Awesome. Hopefully we will have good news by COB today!

(After the interview)

Me wrote:

X, I think the interviews went well, as far as I can judge such things. I'm hopeful they'll select me for the position. I don't have an email address for Y or Z, but I'd like to thank them for their time. Do you have any suggestions for how to go about it?

Thanks!

Recruiter wrote:

Please just send me a thank you letter, and I will get it to them through their HR department. I don’t even have their emails. LOL.

Me wrote:

X, here is my thank you letter. Feel free to tweak if I've made any silly mistakes. Thanks!

Y and Z,

Thank you for taking the time to interview me for the web app developer position. After having spoken with you both, I'm excited to say that this position seems to be an absolutely perfect fit for my development skills and interests. The culture at Company seems great as well. I hope I get the chance to work as part of the Company IT team, and look forward to the opportunity to learn from folks who have been-there-done-that. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks again,
ratbuddy

I had an offer that evening, and started a few days later.

I went to the trouble of posting the whole exchange because I think you guys who are saying all recruiters are useless.. are flat out wrong. This was my first interview out of school, and without the advice he offered, I wouldn't have performed nearly as well in the interview. Hell, the job description called for "Minimum of 1-3 years of experience in web application development in a corporate environment" and I had 0. I wouldn't have even known to apply for this job if I'd seen it posted.

A third party recruiter cold call/email flat-out jump started my career.

cyberguypr

I'm not saying ALL recruiters are useless. I'm saying the VAST majority is. If we run a poll or a scientific study we'll find your case being the exception rather than the norm.

NOC-Ninja

recruiters/ do you mean contractors/sub contractors?
I get those sometimes. I ignore them.

fmitawaps

In my experience, some recruiters are good, but most are average or poor. They all care about one thing - getting THEIR portion of your hourly rate. The amount they charge the company per hour above the money you actually get. At one recent assignment, I discovered the company was paying the agency $40 an hour for me, but I was only getting $22.

I apply to some companies directly, and use recruiters for others. It can be an endless loop. You're working a temp assignment, it ends, and you need a paycheck fast, so you apply for some jobs and go to temp agencies for others. Then the agency finds you a job, you go to work at it, then it ends.... and the loop starts all over again.

I've gotten good jobs from Robert Half, TekSystems, etc, and bad ones too.

My favorite one was a TekSystems job where I was supposed to make $17 an hour for desktop support. I don't know what went wrong, but my paychecks were coming in at a bit over $25 an hour. I kept my mouth shut and got that nice money for a bit over 2 months, the length of the assignment! I guess someone forgot to take their cut of my money!

And when a recruiter asks me what my last salary was, I LIE. I always tell them $3 to $6 above what I really made.

JockVSJock

fmitawaps wrote: »

In my experience, some recruiters are good, but most are average or poor. They all care about one thing - getting THEIR portion of your hourly rate. The amount they charge the company per hour above the money you actually get. At one recent assignment, I discovered the company was paying the agency $40 an hour for me, but I was only getting $22.

I apply to some companies directly, and use recruiters for others. It can be an endless loop. You're working a temp assignment, it ends, and you need a paycheck fast, so you apply for some jobs and go to temp agencies for others. Then the agency finds you a job, you go to work at it, then it ends.... and the loop starts all over again.

I've gotten good jobs from Robert Half, TekSystems, etc, and bad ones too.

My favorite one was a TekSystems job where I was supposed to make $17 an hour for desktop support. I don't know what went wrong, but my paychecks were coming in at a bit over $25 an hour. I kept my mouth shut and got that nice money for a bit over 2 months, the length of the assignment! I guess someone forgot to take their cut of my money!

And when a recruiter asks me what my last salary was, I LIE. I always tell them $3 to $6 above what I really made.

These recruiters, like Tek Systems, have so much turn over, it comes at no surprise that you got overpaid. Screw'em. I'm glad it worked towards your advantage.

However its not surprise as they have massive turnover.

Kreken

thomas_ wrote: »

My favorite email from a recruiter to date:

Things I like the most about this email:

-Job board: there is only one place with my email listed on my resume. You might as well just dtate the name, but it was probably a copy/paste automated email anyways.
-resume in word format: probably so he can falsify certain sections of it and plaster his company's logo all over it
-current address: ummm, no way I'm giving you that
-offers in pipeline: not telling you that either.

I started replying to those and similar emails two days ago.. I am asking which job board did you find my resume on, what is the salary range? What do they mean by open salary? If the job is in another state, I ask about relocation reimbursement and etc. I didn't get the response back yet though.

apr911

kohr-ah wrote: »

I am very grateful for the closer work to home as it has been great seeing my kids but I almost wanted to ask my old company if I could have my job back but I refuse to go backwards and now am stuck here at least a year to not hurt my resume. I actually called the recruiter and chewed him out over it.

If you havent made a practice of job hopping, there's nothing stopping you from leaving. In fact, I'd argue you are hurting your resume more by sticking it out for the year than you would by leaving immediately and really, if you can find something quickly, you dont even need to list the position on your resume.

The key to me would be to point out that it just wasn't a fit and that the job description provided by the 3rd party recruiter wasn't really what the company was looking for and the job just wasn't a fit for your skillset. It happens surprisingly often.

thatguy67

cyberguypr wrote: »

Recruiter lingo translation:
- "based on your impressive resume" = my super vague keyword is somewhere in your profile
- "fast paced environment" = you'll be overworked and treated like a slave
- "salary commensurate with experience" = we'll low ball you
- "salary depends on experience” = we'll still low ball you
- "our sourcing team passed me your name" = I know how to search LinkedIn
- "unique opportunity blending X, Y, and Z" = you'll be doing the job of 3 employees for a single salary
- "this is an entry level job" = tons of skill required but pays peanuts
- "we'll let you know either way by X date" = HAHA, got you!

Too much. LMAO!

SaSkiller

Wow. I'm somewhat surprised. Outside of the random emails I get from foreign recruiters who obviously haven't read my resume, the biggest problem I have is with recruiters and companies who are deceptive about the role and what you will be doing.

alawoods

I went through the same things with recruiters last year. They lie and waste your time. They are out to make a portion of your salary. Best to just go straight to the company...hit the pavement.

si20

cyberguypr wrote: »

I'm not saying ALL recruiters are useless. I'm saying the VAST majority is. If we run a poll or a scientific study we'll find your case being the exception rather than the norm.

I agree 100%. I've yet to speak to a "good" recruiter. The digital forensics job i've just got for law enforcement has been via a recruiter and the communication is absolutely woeful. I send an email to the recruiter and i'm lucky to get a reply within 2 days. I've called up and asked to be passed to the recruiter and instead, the person I spoke to on the phone has been acting like a relay, repeating things i'm asking to the original recruiter and then telling me what the original recruiter's response was.....just transfer me - seriously, what the hell?

I've had my fair share of very bad recruiters. I've had one tell me that if I didn't go for the job she was talking about, i'd "live to regret it" and "probably wouldn't progress in my career". I've had a recruiter tell me that he was "p*ssed off" with me because I was considering turning down a role that i'd be offered. Honestly, most recruiters are scum of the earth. I know we all want to make money and live a reasonable lifestyle, but they way they go about it makes me nauseous.

anhtran35

Insight Global has some of the hottest chicks in VA/DC area. They hire those girls on purpose! LOL! They absolute don't get anything done. I have had jobs with TekSystems and KForce. All were temp to hire. A few of the companies will call you for job opportunities and during the interview they are attempting to gather information on previous companies and contacts you work for to get sells. BEWARE OF CALLS from companies asking ARE YOU TALKING TO OTHER COMPANIES OR APPLIED FOR OTHER POSITIONS. I usually make up stuff to mess with them. Give them fictitious names and phone numbers then block their number and email. AFLAC and METLIFE are other companies that will call and vaguely state we are very impress with your resume and the VP would like to meet you ASAP. Would tomorrow be a good time?

ITSpectre

anhtran35 wrote: »

Insight Global has some of the hottest chicks in VA/DC area. They hire those girls on purpose! LOL! They absolute don't get anything done. I have had jobs with TekSystems and KForce. All were temp to hire. A few of the companies will call you for job opportunities and during the interview they are attempting to gather information on previous companies and contacts you work for to get sells. BEWARE OF CALLS from companies asking ARE YOU TALKING TO OTHER COMPANIES OR APPLIED FOR OTHER POSITIONS. I usually make up stuff to mess with them. Give them fictitious names and phone numbers then block their number and email. AFLAC and METLIFE are other companies that will call and vaguely state we are very impress with your resume and the VP would like to meet you ASAP. Would tomorrow be a good time?

Here is what I do with recruiters.... And yeah Insight global has hot chicks.... I think that is why they are still around.

I turn their interview into my own interview. I try to play them at their own game. Some of the questions I will ask them is

- Can you tell me which company this job is at, and how many people have already been submitted for this position?
- Based on the research I have done in the area and based on my past earnings the salary for this position is 55K a year with no certs.... since I have (insert x certs) I would like to start off at (insert figure) A year based on the average salary for this position.
- How many other people have you talked with regarding this role
- How long have you been a recruiter with this company
- What website did you find my resume on
- When can we sit down over lunch or a light brunch to further discuss this opportunity
- How much of a comisson will you make when/if I am chosen for the role

After that I never hear from them again.