Ask HN: Is there anything you like about recruiters?

I love recruiters. One of the things I find myself missing when I conduct job searches without their help is that they manage the process so that I don't have to. The big thing that I don't do myself that they do, is collect feedback. I'm not all that great at interviewing so it takes me a little while to ramp up so I can make a really good impression.

Feedback allows me to look in the mirror and analyze my flaws. I don't begrudge them their fees.

Tbh most recruiters (from startups to large software companies) I engaged with so far have been attentive and respectful, sometimes even very nice on a personal level. I find it quite hard to judge them professionaly as I do not know what they know. So what do you dislike about recruiters?

Yes, there are a lot of things that I think good, solid recruiters bring to the table.

Here's why: I have a great relationship with a couple recruiters that have a) introduced me to opportunities, and b) helped me fill roles as I was hiring. In my past four roles I've worked with a small number of recruiters to place engineers with my team — they know I'm respectful of their time, clear about my expectations, etc. and therefore they work hard to deliver good candidates, filter out the resume "chaff", and communicate realistically about what candidates they see being available. And when it was time for me to move on, besides my own meeting people and talking with different companies, this same set of recruiters supported me through introductions and potential roles. They've helped me as much as I've helped them. Mutual respect is abundantly required when working with recruiters.

I think, though, this requires a willingness to ignore the recruiters that tend towards being ambulance chasers (your cybercoders level), and not-insignificant amount of time "interviewing" and building up relationship with any recruiter I work with (on both sides of the table.)

I think recruiters are great. I've been working with them for almost 20 years. As long as they are local recruiters working with local companies. I have 20 recruiters all from different companies in my contacts.

- They have always asked me for permission before submitting me to a company.

- My application never goes into a black hole like it would if I were applying for a company directly. I don't think I've ever been submitted to a company by a recruiter without going through the entire process -- resume submittal, phone screen -> in person interview -> offer. Unless I decided to stop the process somewhere.

- Going through a recruiter is the only way that I've found to filter based on salary requirements. Most job posting don't include them and it's only at the offer stage that you even know if you and the company are in the same ball park.

- I'm able to just sit back and wait for jobs to come to me. I don't have to scour career sites.

I have had recruiters that don't understand that no means no and that while money is the an important reason I work, it's not the only reason. Recruiters were shocked last time that I took a job that wasn't in the top of my pay range but offered more autonomy (the architect at a small company as opposed to just another developer at a large company), and a better commute with little travel.