How do you treat Technical Recruiters?

ITVince

I'm curious of this. Since i've posted my Resume on many popular sites (dice, monster, careerbuilder) i've been receiving e-mails from Recruiters, even phone calls while i'm at work. How should this be handled? Reason I ask, is, if you make a bad impression/dont respond to these people are they going to put your name on their '**** list' and never try to contact you again for any of their positions they have available? Or do they not care becuase if they think your a fit they will harass you to get that comission?

1. Should I respond to e-mails if the position they are offering does not interest me what-so-ever? Should I ignore? Or reply with 'no thanks, this is what I'm looking for?'
2. Should I respond to phone calls if the position does not interest me what-so-ever? Should I call them back?

Are these folks scum? Or worth my time? What's your guys take?

networker050184

I try to respond when I can and let them know I'm not interested, but keep me in mind in the future if something matching my skill set comes along.

I don't think recruiters are scum. You just have to remember they aren't working for you. Their job is to fill a position, not to personally get you a job. Sometimes those work out to be one in the same, but you aren't their client, the hiring company is.

erpadmin

It depends on whether the recruiters are "in-house" or a recruiting company. If they are "in-house" (meaning they work for the company that's hiring), they get treated with the same respect as a hiring manager (formal). If they are a recruiting company, I'll listen to what they have to say, but I can be a bit more demanding in specs and salary range. I just recently had a recruiter call me at my job (they called the main number and were transferred to me). This genius was trying to sell me on an 18-month contract job that would renew every 18 months and would have me working for them directly. I told him flat out I wasn't interested and he understood that I "had a full-time job and was comfortable" as to imply that I was too scared to take his little 18 month job at what was presumably a higher salary. While that might have been the case, that usually means that the medical and other benefits would have been crap.

It's not always about the money at this stage of the game.

The sad truth of it is, if you're unemployed, recruiters treat you like crap. If you're employed, they will do everything they can to get you to take the job they're selling you so that they can get their little bonus. An in-house recruiter isn't terrible...in fact I knew some real good ones. They get paid whether they get you the job or not and they will make sure that you're a good fit with the company, first and foremost.

It never hurts to hear people out, though. But if you know the job, range, etc., is crap, just flat out say so so that time isn't wasted. If you are currently looking, keep doing what you're doing, but remember, only you are going to find the job and salary you want. If you depend on a recruiter, you will still be looking.

Everyone

I always try to politely respond that I'm not interested. If they were actually contacting me for a position that is close to what I'm looking for, I'll tell them I am interested in that type of position but why I don't want that specific one. Usually it's location, or being a short term contract that turn me off. I use lines like:

"Thank you for taking an interest in me. While I would be well qualified for the position you sent me, I am only interested in full time/permanent opportunities at this time. If you have any available, I'd be happy to work with you on them."

or

"Thank you for taking an interest in me. This is exactly the kind of job I'm looking for, however I'm looking to stay in the Chicago area at this time. If you have any positions in the Chicago area that are similar to this one, I'd be happy to work with you on them."

etc.

N2IT

I always treat them the way I want to be treated.

Devilsbane

I'm always about respecting common curtosy. Like networker said, a simple message letting them know that you aren't interested but possibly interested in something else. Good for them because it's nice to have an answer (plus they probably won't keep spamming you with nonsense) and good for you because you can let them know what you're looking for and maybe they will find something.

I wouldn't say scum, they have a job to do just like any of us do. In the end they are probably just trying to help themselves, but you may get helped in the process. Never burn a bridge unless you have to.

ITVince

Great responses guys, so I wasn't so far off afterall. I usually respond in this manner and treat them nicely. However some are pretty presistent, but thats my fault for leading them on. One called me and left me messages every day followed up by a e-mail. Finally, since I didnt have time to talk at work and I told her that I wasnt interested in pursuing that career path that she was trying to get me an interview for. She wanted to get me an interview for a Software Analyst job, and I want to be a SysAdmin.