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All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

voltsteve.blogspot.com

21–30 of 94 posts

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#22
post #20

I was on the phone to a recruitment agency and genuinely heard a bull horn going off followed by cheering, I presume signifying a big "sale". This is one of the best companies I've had dealings with, too. The worst edited my CV before sending it to companies without telling me first - nothing like being asked "So why were you fired from your last position?" in a job interview when you left due to illness in the famil…

Bull horns, bells, etc have been present in every single recruitment environment I've worked in, including my current workplace however the bell here is gathering cobwebs as the team refuse to use it much to the delight of our manager!

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#23
post #21

Do you think there's a recruiting board somewhere where they complain about snarky coders?

I love the relevance of the username! I'm not aware of any particular recruitment forums, mainly because I avoid them like the plague however the general consensus is that a lot of coders, particularly the more experienced ones are arrogant and self-centred. Most recruiters don't realise that the attitude they face is primarily based on the fact that coders don't like dealing with recruiters.

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#24
post #18

>If you currently engage a recruiter and they fit the description of the above to the letter then congratulations. What you have found is an individual rarer than a quark. Rarer than a quark?

I think he means a boson.

Doesn't work either - either bosons exist, and are plentiful, or there are none of them. Being rarer than one is either not special, or impossible!

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#25
post #14
post #2

Thanks for all the attention folks! I'm always keen to hear feedback & thoughts or even suggestions for future posts from HN.

Thanks for taking a stand. Trying to write a nice reply without going into a recruiter rant.. I've deleted my response 3 times now :) One thing you left out was laziness and stupidity. Recruiters that can't understand requirements and blag into an interview you aren't skilled for. Or won't get a JD so you have to go to the interview to find out what the hell the position is about. Wastes everyones time, so many of th…

He had an allowance for smoozing premium clients, several hundred quid a week. So he jacked up my CV, alter my records in the system, and we blew that huge recruiter bounty you mentioned on dinner, booze, strip clubs, smoozing other clients. It was awesome (and fraudulent) but still awesome.

You'd be surprised how common this is. You'd also be surprised how many people got fired for the exact same reason!

London is...special. I love working in the City but it can be a bit frustrating at times having to deal with the egos.

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#26
post #24
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he means a boson.

Doesn't work either - either bosons exist, and are plentiful, or there are none of them. Being rarer than one is either not special, or impossible!

I need to work on my analogies. I've been using that phrase for months, trust HN to point out the error! To be fair, I base the analogy on the following:

Due to a phenomenon known as color confinement, quarks are never directly observed or found in isolation; they can only be found within hadrons

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#27
post #6

I am not sure I buy the thesis. Greed and money are universal, yet most businesses don't need the call centric approach. Not even companies which sells very expensive things like, say, diamonds. My guess is that recruitment doesn't generate much value, which is a bigger problem than being greedy. After all, what does recruitment do that a job board can't? Looking through a resume for keywords is easy to do with a com…

I disagree with recruitment not adding value. Imagine a recruiter that sent you 5 qualified candidates who were all interested in your job. You would spend a little bit of time in the interview to verify they were qualified, but mainly you just have to decide who is the best fit for your team. Compare that to hours of reviewing resumes, tens of hours of interviews on unqualified candidates, etc. A recruiter could off…

Sure, if a good recruiter was better at sorting resumes than one of your developers, they'd add value. hell, even if they were only slightly worse, they'd add some value.

The thing is, to justify current prices, a recruiter would need to be rather a lot better at picking good prospects than your in-house hiring manager, and many times better at sorting resumes than someone who actually does the job you are hiring for. My understanding is that the fee charged is in the tens of thousands of dollars; for that, you had better save me a lot of employee hours, or get me a dramatically better candidate.

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#28
post #23
post #21

Do you think there's a recruiting board somewhere where they complain about snarky coders?

I love the relevance of the username! I'm not aware of any particular recruitment forums, mainly because I avoid them like the plague however the general consensus is that a lot of coders, particularly the more experienced ones are arrogant and self-centred. Most recruiters don't realise that the attitude they face is primarily based on the fact that coders don't like dealing with recruiters.

Thanks, I've been an executive recruiter for 15 years and only read HN because of the thought leaders who write here. I recruit and work with high level execs who actually understand and respect the value of a good recruiter. Your posts are interest generating because they showcase the low underbelly of the industry and not the well respected recruiter. Still thanks for writing.

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#29
I don't know how it is nowadays compared to 2~3 years ago when I searched for a job in UK but imagine that with stackoverflow careers, coderstack, linkedin (not groups), github jobs, monthly hn who's hiring posts the situation improved at least slightly.

Weirdest experiences I had were when recruiters would call from a blocked number and leave fart noises or some other idiocy on my voicemail. Or when one guy flat out said (and one implied) that if I don't give him all the companies I ever talked to, he'd not give me the "offer" he "had" for me.

Minority of recruiters were good but most pretty scummy.

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#30
post #28
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the relevance of the username! I'm not aware of any particular recruitment forums, mainly because I avoid them like the plague however the general consensus is that a lot of coders, particularly the more experienced ones are arrogant and self-centred. Most recruiters don't realise that the attitude they face is primarily based on the fact that coders don't like dealing with recruiters.

Thanks, I've been an executive recruiter for 15 years and only read HN because of the thought leaders who write here. I recruit and work with high level execs who actually understand and respect the value of a good recruiter. Your posts are interest generating because they showcase the low underbelly of the industry and not the well respected recruiter. Still thanks for writing.

I recruit and work with high level execs who actually understand and respect the value of a good recruiter.

The difference between executive search & volume recruitment is chalk & cheese. The two are mutually exclusive.

Your posts are interest generating because they showcase the low underbelly of the industry and not the well respected recruiter.

As I stated categorically in all my posts, there are plenty of good recruiters out their however there are infinitely more bad recruiters that drown them out. I'm not claiming to be a lone ranger in a rogue industry, I know there are plenty of others out there just as fed up with the self-inflicted negative attitude towards the industry, the difference is I am making my opinion heard.

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