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Ask HN: What things that tech recruiters do, annoy you the most as an engineer?

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Re: Ask HN: What things that tech recruiters do, annoy you the most as an engineer?

#191

Post by AnimalMuppet »

rendall wrote: post #77

I don't mind tech recruiters as a class. I despise the rare ones who dangle a job they do not actually have in order to get my information in their database. These always seem to be the same ones who gaslight and neg: e.g. "We're looking for people who know what they're doing" and such. Not sure what they accomplish with that, but conversation is over. That's comparatively rare, though. Most are just decent people, m…

> Finally, be unfailingly polite and kind to recruiters, and to everyone, really, even if they don't have anything you want, unless and until they give you a specific reason not to be (eg gaslight, neg). How you treat people is a reflection of your personal character. Be on the side of good.

Yes, and also because it's in your own self interest. That recruiter who has a job that you're not interested in? The next job they have may be a perfect fit. But if you're a jerk to them about this one, they aren't going to call you with the next one.

Especially, never be rude to an airline gate agent. They can look you right in the eye and tell you that the flight is full. Or, in the exact same circumstances, they can say "Let me upgrade you to first class." They're probably going to go with the first option if they don't like you.

Absolutely, be nice to people because it affects who you turn into, and you eventually have to live with who that is. But also be nice to others because sometimes it helps you.

Re: Ask HN: What things that tech recruiters do, annoy you the most as an engineer?

#192

Post by petesergeant »

isbvhodnvemrwvn wrote: post #170
petesergeant wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

England doesn't regulate who can work as a recruiter, and there's a very active and competitive recruitment industry there.

Are there any countries which regulate it?

The majority of rich countries, in fact!

Re: Ask HN: What things that tech recruiters do, annoy you the most as an engineer?

#193

Post by rendall »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #191
rendall wrote: post #77

I don't mind tech recruiters as a class. I despise the rare ones who dangle a job they do not actually have in order to get my information in their database. These always seem to be the same ones who gaslight and neg: e.g. "We're looking for people who know what they're doing" and such. Not sure what they accomplish with that, but conversation is over. That's comparatively rare, though. Most are just decent people, m…

> Finally, be unfailingly polite and kind to recruiters, and to everyone, really, even if they don't have anything you want, unless and until they give you a specific reason not to be (eg gaslight, neg). How you treat people is a reflection of your personal character. Be on the side of good. Yes, and also because it's in your own self interest. That recruiter who has a job that you're not interested in? The next job…

Meh. I mean, if it helps you to be kind, sure, think of all the ways the person could help or hinder you. The problem comes when the person can do neither, and you know it and they know it. What then?

Looking back, if I had been shitty to every single recruiter, my career would not be materially very different. Slightly different perhaps, but arc essentially the same. My full-time jobs came from direct contact. Freelance through agencies. That one time I co-founded, no recruiter was involved at any point.

I suggest be kind and polite because you can, as an expression of strength and power. Even if you're a stone-cold sociopath or imagine yourself to be, do it because being shitty is easy and being genuinely kind is a challenge.

Re: Ask HN: What things that tech recruiters do, annoy you the most as an engineer?

#195

Post by mattbrewsbytes »

Unless I see evidence in a communication that they have read something in my info, I assume its a bot/script. I'm amazed this hasn't been commented in this thread especially because I'm assuming most people work in software here on HN. They have databases of leads and scripts that send out personal sounding emails about jobs.

I believe they want to talk live because that shows you are interested enough to put some effort in. If someone can't commit to a 30min call, then they probably aren't actually looking for a new job. If a candidate will only deal with them via email and never talk live, they may make conclusions from this related to the communication skills (not judging but think about it). For a lot of companies, communication skills for developers are as important as coding skills since you will be working with other humans.

Re: Ask HN: What things that tech recruiters do, annoy you the most as an engineer?

#196

Post by dcminter »

sdeframond wrote: post #128
markplindsay wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My "one weird trick" for spotting this behavior is using my middle initial on LinkedIn. LinkedIn stores it as a part of my first name, so their spam always starts off with "Hey Mark P.!" Those emails get ignored. I ignore most automated agency emails as well. I will always reply to personal emails from in-house recruiters or employees, however. I am starting a new job soon, though, so it's only to thank them for writ…

Nice! I add an emoji before my first name on linkedin for the same reason.

I wonder how many agency-bots you crashed with that...

Re: Ask HN: What things that tech recruiters do, annoy you the most as an engineer?

#197

Post by dcminter »

slifin wrote: post #40

Have you ever mentioned your first programs were written in C# then got .NET roles on your inbox forever?

An early contract involved integrating front-end code with a back-end TPF (IBM platform) mainframe app. I had to remove "TPF" from my CV because in the run-up to Y2K I was getting constant pings about TPF programming roles.

Still not as clueless as the fool who changed my CV from "Visual Age for C++ for OS/2" to "Visual C++" and assumed neither I nor the client would object to this minor amendment.

Re: Ask HN: What things that tech recruiters do, annoy you the most as an engineer?

#199

Post by Hnrobert42 »

stuckonempty wrote: post #21
Hnrobert42 wrote: post #13

I am on the other side of this. As a hiring manager using recruiters, I am annoyed by: - lack of diversity in candidates. (not just virtue signaling. if all I see are nearly identical resumes, I assume the recruiter is just phoning it in.) - candidates “just a little out of your price range” who are 30% over the top end of my budget. - “confidentially” telling me what other offers a candidate has because then I know…

Probably annoying as a hiring manager, but one of the best ways for workers wages to rise is by using competing, “leaked” offers against each other. This is in effect how you gauge what your talents are worth in the labor market. I’m glad offers get leaked for this reason

What it means is that I don’t tell the recruiter. The candidate can do whatever they want.

We pay well. I don’t alter my offers based on the others I hear about. We usually beat them anyway, but when we don’t, that’s too bad.

Re: Ask HN: What things that tech recruiters do, annoy you the most as an engineer?

#200

Post by Hnrobert42 »

spuz wrote: post #150
MillenialMan wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Phoning it in means giving up on doing a good job, and just putting in the bare minimum effort to get the job done. It comes from the idea of phoning in rather than putting in the effort to show up in person. So in this case, they don't actually care about finding good (or underpriced ) candidates, they're just spamming a basic resume match.

I think there is more to the original comment than this though. I'm interested to know how they measure diversity when reading a CV and how they judge a recruiter to be "phoning it in" or not. I know what the phrase means - I just don't understand the meaning in this context.

I mean if all the candidates are only from big companies or went to the same school or are all white men (this part I only figure out on videocalls), then I assume the recruiter isn’t fishing very many recruiting pools. I want recruiters who do more than search LinkedIn. They should be tapped in to local technology groups, alumni associations, professional groups, etc.
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