Ask HN: How to automate handling tech recruiter spam?

If you're like me, and somehow your email now exists in tech recruiting databases (probably due to resumes you handed out at job fairs X years ago), how do you automate handling all of the inbound emails from every startup in the world? What's the best way to minimize the # of minutes and overall noise this creates in one's daily email life?

Unsubscribe. Spam button. Humble bragging on HN won’t help.

Blocking spam is not hard. It’s something I explain to my parents. It’s not a problem I would expect a person with in-demand tech skills to ask about online. I am in those databases too. My email address has been on my web site for a long time, ready to scrape.

I spend no time at all dealing with unwanted recruiter emails, but I’m not getting them from “every startup in the world,” probably because I don’t apply for jobs online or send resumes into automated systems in the first place.

Assuming you sincerely want advice:

1. Use a secondary email address on your resume.

2. Set up filters or use an email client that sorts your mail for you.

3. Reply to the unwanted emails asking to get off the list, if there’s no unsubscribe button.

4. Get an agent or assistant to handle your emails.

I work through an agency that handles the front-line stuff. I mark as spam any automated emails, and respond politely to recruiters who took the time to write a personal email. You never know when you might need that lead.

I have a similar issue with spam related to running a website. as a rule of thumb, if it contains certain keywords or a very generic greeting ("Dear website.com team") and comes from a Gmail address, I can safely delete it. I have a filter for that.

If something slips through, I block the sender instead of just marking the message as spam. This means I don't get any of the followup emails.

Filters alone almost completely stopped those emails, and never had a false positive.

I delete any and all recruitment emails, because my LinkedIn profile is plastered with "I am not looking for work, do not contact me about contracts or job offers". In fact I just don't visit LinkedIn at all.

All of this works well. My inbox is very focused. Most emails I get were written by a human who wishes to talk to me, and machines I want to hear from.

Yes! And sometimes from different email addresses. “Hi! My colleague was pinging you with no luck over the past months, so now I am...” - All completely automated.