241–250 of 633 posts
A recruiter sent me a detail post about a job. I wrote back and said I was interested. He never responded so I applied to the job online and got it.
4 months later he messages me and says sorry but it looks like the position has been removed.
I didn't write back.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The OP mentioned doubling salary multiple times. I don't assume everyone is looking to advance to an exec role - in my experience, most actually are not looking for that at all. I tend to assume people aren't looking for exec roles. "Advance your position" could refer to improved work/life balance, more time off, remote, whatever you value. I was referring to overall position (life quality), not on an org chart. I ca…
What's your suggestion on fostering relationships with recruiters? I do ignore the vast majority of contacts due to the sheer overload of them, I don't have the energy or time to parse through each message and see if it's worth pursuing the recruiter in the future or not. My CV is no unicorn, I have a lot of experience in different roles and company sizes but I'm not a deep specialist or a very sought after technolog…
If you're getting a fair amount of incoming traffic, you're already optimized for discovery, so that is working. Telling recruiters "I'm only looking for jobs that fit these parameters" and then paying attention to the ones that are respectful of that will work to start a relationship. I had some relationships for the entire 20 years I was in the business, and some of those people I didn't make a dime off for maybe 15 of those years.
Strong disagree. I've made it my policy to never work with a recruiter that isn't affiliated with the company they're hiring for. Recruiting farms like Cyber Recruiters (yuck) will do everything in their power to waste your time out of sheer incompetence and disinterest. I've "doubled" my salary plenty of times through this policy. But the real secret sauce is referrals. Companies always prioritize a strong referral,…
Recruiting farms like Cyber Recruiters (yuck) will do everything in their power to waste your time Or share your data. I made a throwaway, but not obnoxious email on my domain just for recruiters a few years ago, so I could try tracking who I was talking to. Via three consecutive third-party recruiters I started getting cold calls and e-mails from recruiters I’d never contacted, never met, or never before engaged wit…
I keep all my interviewing data isolated from my private data.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oops, just moved to NYC last year! :)
Can you elaborate on reasons for the move? I am facing a similar realization regarding another one of your child comments about not clicking as much with west coast culture but am concerned about a drop in tech opportunities
The west coast felt judgmental and divisive. I couldn't always express myself for fear of alienation. I do not have strong views and I (used to?) consider myself liberal (I'm not American).
I really enjoy how conversationally adept the average New Yorker is. It's simply more fun to be with people. And the diversity is refreshing. I'm a software dev more by circumstance, not temperament. I used to only talk to ~30 y/o tech men/women. Now my day includes a sweet 75 year old lady, academics, health workers, and plenty of ~30 y/o folks who are living interesting lives without a mold.
I kept my job and moved here, taking a 10% haircut thanks to taxes. Oh well. All the big tech firms have a physical presence in NYC (FB, GOOG, AMZN..). There's less kool-aid drinking startups, but I'm ok with that. It's a big city, you can have your pick. I think as a tech worker, you have the breathing room to give up the top 10% opportunities in the field and still be a top 1% earner in the larger society (with more job satisfaction).
Strong disagree. I've made it my policy to never work with a recruiter that isn't affiliated with the company they're hiring for. Recruiting farms like Cyber Recruiters (yuck) will do everything in their power to waste your time out of sheer incompetence and disinterest. I've "doubled" my salary plenty of times through this policy. But the real secret sauce is referrals. Companies always prioritize a strong referral,…
Recruiting farms like Cyber Recruiters (yuck) will do everything in their power to waste your time Or share your data. I made a throwaway, but not obnoxious email on my domain just for recruiters a few years ago, so I could try tracking who I was talking to. Via three consecutive third-party recruiters I started getting cold calls and e-mails from recruiters I’d never contacted, never met, or never before engaged wit…
It seems like an old flea market where most people don't buy anything but the vendors all buy and sell old stuff from each other to supplement.
That way you can throw away any message that doesn't start with the answer because you know it was a bulk mail and they didn't actually read your profile.
1. It's not like they give up. I've been receiving the same emails from the same firms for years and years.
2. You can't just respond. The few times I've responded years ago meant that they follow up at an even more frequent pace, even when I made it clear I wasn't interested. Sometimes calling me after I said no!
3. It's clear very few of them actually read my profile.
4. Very few are upfront with compensation.
Most of the recruiter traffic comes from LinkedIn, which is not particularly surprising. The very first line of my profile there reads: Please do not contact me about cryptocurrency, blockchain, NFTs, or associated technologies. Almost all recruiters who contact me on LinkedIn are talking about... cryptocurrency, blockchains, or NFTs etc. If a recruiter isn't prepared to read even the first line of my profile then I…
I don't know what I've done to be so blessed as to not receive any blockchain recruiter spam. Everyone thinks I do Ruby on Rails though, because someone accidentally endorsed me for it once years ago. Somehow 50+% of the stuff I get is RoR.
If it sounds remotely interesting, I might send them an email back. The exception is AWS/Azure/Google which is heavily recruiting for TAMs and they're having a heck of a time filling the seats and keeping them filled. If they're $MAJOR_CLOUD_PROVIDER I always ask them if its for a TAM or similar role up front.
I have a small blacklist of companies too - folks I know who are going to go through the entire interview process and it doesn't matter whats said because they're going to lowball the crap out of people. I don't want to work for bottom-feeders.
The "good offers" I get typically come from someone who has seen an open source contribution from me, or someone I know from consulting. If you find yourself jammed up in your career and you can't find that next lillypad, try consulting to build up your connections. It's a good way to get the inside story at companies, and also if you find a company you really like, it's very possible to arrange something so that they hire you on some split between your consulting rate and your pay rate so you and them win. Check your employment contract first, local laws, etc. Check my profile for an email to send your resume to if you want to chat.