Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

voltsteve.blogspot.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 94 posts

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#71

Post by scorchin »

ZoFreX wrote: 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…

The worst edited my CV before sending it to companies without telling me first

This is what happened to me when I first graduated from University. I showed up to my first job interview and they started asking me questions about my 4 years experience with Oracle and 6 years experience working on an open-source project that was critical to their business.

It left me shocked, depressed and seriously wondering if this is what it takes to get a job after graduating.

Luckily I had some other interviews at companies that I organised myself. Things went a little more smoothly.

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#72

Post by spottiness »

terio wrote: post #61
gpjt wrote: post #34

Great to hear from a recruiter who's trying to do something good in a very broken industry. On the subject of horror stories... One guy called me a while back (in my role as an employer) who, when I politely said that we weren't interested because we always recruit directly, told me that he had been responsible for someone leaving our company a few months ago and he would now actively try to "poach" more people away…

You can use spottiness.com to let others know about this guy anonymously

By posting him "the blackspot"...

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#74

Post by gpjt »

Peroni wrote: post #36
gpjt wrote: post #34

Great to hear from a recruiter who's trying to do something good in a very broken industry. On the subject of horror stories... One guy called me a while back (in my role as an employer) who, when I politely said that we weren't interested because we always recruit directly, told me that he had been responsible for someone leaving our company a few months ago and he would now actively try to "poach" more people away…

I hear that a lot. It's ridiculous. I don't understand why recruiters feel it's appropriate to effectively threaten people. What a clown.

Indeed. Telling potential customers that you are thuggish and immoral isn't the best way to get them to do business with you. I have to wonder if it's ever worked as a tactic for him.

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#75

Post by Swannie »

rickmb wrote: post #13

What I am missing from this analysis is the underhanded methods used by many recruiters. I've had recruiters publishing our job postings via various job boards in order to intercept potential candidates. I've had a candidate who was told the recruiters posting he responded to was no match for him, when in reality we had simply told the recruiter we had no need for their services. Luckily the candidate managed to Goog…

Indeed, as such I've made a point to always try and identify the company from the advert, prior to contacting the agent.

I'd say in about 10% of cases this has allowed me to go direct to the company, via their own job listing. In about 30% it has allowed me to see other recruiters advertising for the role, and choose which one to give my CV to. 57% of the cases, I get nowhere.

The remaining 3%, every now and again, you find the same job description has been advertised for 9months +. The agency gets a mental black mark, as it looks like a fishing expedition.

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#76

Post by Confusion »

mctavjb9 wrote: post #31
Peroni wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

"Rarer than a free quark" would save your analogy.

Rarer than a magnetic monopole would also work, but doesn't quite have the same ring.

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#77

Post by Confusion »

gaius wrote: post #63
bluedanieru wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? Bosons, such as a photon, definitely exist in the sense that they are part of the Standard Model of particle physics. They are as 'real' as electrons or quarks or, in some sense, a table.

Higgs boson! Jeez! :-)

That may work this year, but I wouldn't bet on using that too long in 2012.

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#78

Post by hr »

aristus wrote: post #69
hr wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt you will hear anyone make that claim, but only b/c it's not a flattering revelation. Truly I do understand your points and they are valid. How about a post then on how to attract good recruiters? Seems constructive....doesn't it?

That's an interesting (and uncomfortable) idea, but a deeper problem is how to tell the "good" and "bad" recruiters apart. This is the same problem of telling "good" and "bad" candidates apart, and the irony is not lost on me. What is your constructive advice about how a "good" developer should get your attention, while simultaneously dis couraging contact from bad ones? I suspect that the answer is something like "b…

Good question and difficult to answer...truthfully I hadn't ever given it much thought until this article.

But first, I can tell good candidates from bad by what they've accomplished, who they've accomplished it for, what they say, and what people say about them.

I'm a good recruiter not because I never talk to the wrong candidate, I'm a good recruiter because I know the difference between the right and wrong candidate.

So yes you are still going to have to talk to bad recruiters. However, the best way to attract great recruiters is to be great at what you do!

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#79

Post by jarrettcoggin »

Dear Recruiters,

One of the biggest problems I've had with recruiters is the sheer amount of them I was called by, half of them very hard to understand, another third being very pushy about the amount being offered being "set in stone", and a slim sliver of the rest being genuinely decent recruiters trying to do an honest job. This is one of the biggest turn offs I have regarding recruiters. Be honest, try to do your due diligence in regards to the person you are calling (don't call a DBA about a web dev position), and you will already be largely ahead of the game. I have had multiple recruiters call me up about positions that I didn't want even after I SPECIFICALLY told them I was not interested in positions of type X (don't repeatedly call me about QA positions when I said I was not interested in them).

One of the best ways I found to get my attention was to SLOW DOWN. First, mention the name of the company. Second, mention what position this is for and what product I'd be working on. After that, mention the technology stack if applicable. After that, ask if I'm interested and/or if it is okay to send me the job description (if you send a job description or email, thank me because this makes me feel less like a slice of meat that you are trying to use). After that, ask when is a good a time when you could call me back (the next day is my preferable choice). THEN HANG UP. This should take about 5-15 minutes.

In the first phone call, I should not hear "this is for X amount an hour/year/whatever". I also should not have to wait until the end of the conversation to hear what company this is or what position this is for.

What I will do is review the position and when you call back (if you say you are going to call back, do it), I will give you the yes/no.

This is the best way to get your foot in the door in my opinion/experience.

Re: All that is wrong with the Recruitment Industry

#80

Post by aristus »

hr wrote: post #78
aristus wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an interesting (and uncomfortable) idea, but a deeper problem is how to tell the "good" and "bad" recruiters apart. This is the same problem of telling "good" and "bad" candidates apart, and the irony is not lost on me. What is your constructive advice about how a "good" developer should get your attention, while simultaneously dis couraging contact from bad ones? I suspect that the answer is something like "b…

Good question and difficult to answer...truthfully I hadn't ever given it much thought until this article. But first, I can tell good candidates from bad by what they've accomplished, who they've accomplished it for, what they say, and what people say about them. I'm a good recruiter not because I never talk to the wrong candidate, I'm a good recruiter because I know the difference between the right and wrong candida…

...perhaps we should demand to see recruiters' resumes in exchange. :D Asymmetrical relationships tend to create feelings of resentment.
Post reply on HN