What technical recruiters want from engineering candidates

To be completely honest, I also felt a lot of frustration towards recruiters when I first started working on Key Values. (It might be one of the reasons why I built it...)

In the last year though, I've met a wide variety of people with a wide variety of responsibilities, approaches, and backgrounds, yet they all share the same job title. There are certainly awful recruiters out there, but there are also some really fantastic ones! (Just like how there are both awful and fantastic devs out there.)

I've gotten to see both sides of job searching/hiring and it has been eye opening. Both sides have similar complaints of the other, which is why the process looks so darn similar to dating.

My guess is that founders, CTOs, and recruiters would all probably make a list similar to yours:

- Actually try to get to know and understand our company

- Don't use fill-in templates

- Have some actual knowledge of our industry/product

- Don't focus on positions you worked on 10 years ago during college

- Don't be greedy

I’ve been consulting the past year and a half. Recently I decided to contact some companies just to see what the landscape was like, and if I could maybe find an interesting opportunity that also paid well.

On one of the first calls I had, the recruiter heavily implied that I was “not a culture fit” after I explained that I’m only interested in a job if it pays more than I currently make consulting (this particular job paid about half that). I’m not socially inept, I know how to speak politely and it was definitely polite. I mentioned it on the first call because I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time (mine included) interviewing for a job that I wouldn’t take.

The HR lady seemed completely taken aback and offended... says “we’re looking for people passionate about the problems we’re solving, even if it means taking a pay cut.”

Get the f- out of here with that BS. That really grinds my gears. The company is allowed to be profit seeking but the employees are not? No thanks.

I’ll stick with consulting... I like having multiple clients over one employer. I like that there are no “interviews,” just my own confidence and sales skills to pitch proposals to clients. I like the respect that clients show me that no employer ever has. I like the autonomy, the lifestyle. And yes I like getting paid more than I would at a local job. There’s nothing wrong with that.

These are all half-truths meant to avoid the real answer. They want high IQ ambitious people who don't suffer from mental illness. They will put you through strenuous interview processes as a makeshift filter for high IQ.

No technical interview question I've ever been asked has anything to do with "self awareness" as Tammy pointed out. In fact self-awareness for the hyper-productive is a negative for the organization, as that individual eventually realizes they deserve a significant share of what they create and aren't getting it.

Literally in my linkedin messages right now:

"Hi we're looking for a python/clojure/go/dart/react senior developer. We need 5 years of experience and a college degree in CS"

"I have none of those but forward my resume if you think I'd be a good fit"

"Alright, I'll get your resume over to them ASAP!"

Several days later

"Sorry, they said you wouldn't be a good fit"

No fucking shit, I am shocked

Knowing that java and javascript are two different things would be a nice, although utopic, start.