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Why are technical recruiters so clueless?

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Re: Why are technical recruiters so clueless?

#61

Post by run4yourlives »

eru wrote: post #52
run4yourlives wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because being good at your job would put you out of work. :-) If you place people into positions that they really fit with, odds are they would stay longer, ergo, less money for you. What you would need to do is sell yourself as an agent that is constantly evaluating new gigs for a monthly fee. I think that might actually work really well for devs that consult as a primary business.

How about negotiating a different pay-structure, that aligns interests better?

Isn't that exactly what I suggested?

Re: Why are technical recruiters so clueless?

#62

Post by spuz »

I was actually hired in my current role by a competent technical recruiter. He's not a technical person but he sure knows how to find good technical people. His trick is to get good people to come to him by setting up events, conferences and pub meetups around interesting topics (e.g. the latest JVM language or Agile development practices). Of course, 90% of the people who go there aren't looking for jobs but I expect he does pretty well out of the 10% that are.

I think this is actually the right way to go about recruitment. Don't spam 100s of people on the off chance they're currently unhappy and looking to move. Just set up an environment which attracts the best people in the industry but also allows them to consider new opportunities. Not only that but as a recruiter you are immersed in the world you are recruiting for and cannot help learn and understand more about it (e.g. this morning I got an email on the list mentioning a possible talk about Jaskell - a language I hadn't even heard of but apparently, my recruiter has :)).

Re: Why are technical recruiters so clueless?

#64

Post by shalmanese »

KoZeN wrote: post #26
swombat wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are you liking it? Don't you prefer to do development yourself? What's the hardest thing about the job? Would you recommend it to other developers?

I love recruitment, I honestly do. Primarily because of the money I make! I loved working as a developer but there was a distinct lack of social and professional interaction that eventually led to me looking at other options. It was satisfying completing a difficult project and seeing it implemented but I get infinitely more satisfaction from finding someone their perfect job as well as landing a juicy commission pay…

Do you have a github? I know that if a recruiter included a github link in their email, I would take a much more serious look.

Re: Why are technical recruiters so clueless?

#65

Post by ThomPete »

I have by coincidence been involved with recruitment lately primarily of highly skilled UX, Design and technical people.

Although I am not a developer I do know my Perl from my Ruby, from my Haskel and that there are two types of javabeans. One drinkable one non-drinkable.

The primary challenge is that the people that are good aren't looking for work, in fact they probably never will have to as they transition naturally in a personal growth curve within their own social network.

So if you need to find good people you have to have your ears open and know where to look for them. This is the challenge but also interesting in more than one way.

If you know how to find the right people for the right job, you will gain insight into how to find the right customers for your product.

And that is a very interesting skill to get IMHO.

Re: Why are technical recruiters so clueless?

#66

Post by T_S_ »

The best way to tell a good recruiter from a clueless (normal) one is whether they have an exclusive arrangement with the employer. This is as rare as good recruiters are. It is more common in hiring for senior jobs in big companies.

Re: Why are technical recruiters so clueless?

#67

Post by tocomment »

sokoloff wrote: post #35
tocomment wrote: post #2

I never understood why they stop communicating if an opportunity doesn't pan out? Why wouldn't they be interested in cultivating a long term relationship? That's what I think I would do if I were a recruiter. I'd keep in touch with say 200 people I know are really good and keep placing them as they switched jobs. I'm guessing at least 10 or 20 of those people would be switching jobs every year.

If you were a recruiter, how could you be sure the 200 people that you're investing (time/energy) in are "really good"? I have a recruiter who placed me back in 1997, placed several excellent ex-co-workers into that same job, and whom I've continued to use (as a hiring manager) over the years and whose emails/calls I faithfully respond to when he's looking for help placing or sourcing (outside of my current company).…

I'd look at their open source work, contact references, etc. I think I'd generally be able to recognize good people, especially if I accumulated them gradually over my "recruiting career".

Re: Why are technical recruiters so clueless?

#68

Post by djhworld »

Recruiters just mass mailshot everyone because they're hoping to get a bite.

I've had recruiters ring me in the past with jobs that have a real tenuous connection with my skillset, yet they still think I'm suitable for the role.

The best one was when one rang me advertising for a £50k Senior Java Developer position. "Great!" someone might think, but at the time I had only just graduated from University and had 1 year of junior development experience under my belt. I told her this and THEN she read my CV/resume and realised.

Recruiters these days are nothing more than CV/resume pushers, chances are for every 100 or so they sent out, 1 or 2 will get an interview, 1 or 2 will get the job and they land themselves a healthy commission from the employer.

It's a lucrative business

Re: Why are technical recruiters so clueless?

#69

Post by code_duck »

Because the average person is clueless, often including myself, and there is no reason or technical recruiters to be any different.

Anyhow, that's a pretty hilarious letter to send to DHH. I don't think it speaks to the general situation with technical recruiters, however.

Re: Why are technical recruiters so clueless?

#70

Post by drtse4 »

rcfox wrote: post #39
drtse4 wrote: post #9

The main problem here is that Kelly should start using some other tools/source of information instead relying only on "grep" for her job.

It's cute that you think she uses grep.

Originally i was going to write something sarcastic involving grep and instead i wrote that :D

EDIT: Hey, seriously, that was an attempt at humor...

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