Ask HN: Is there anything I can do about a terrible recruiter?

Is there any point trying to escalate to someone else at a company about a bad recruiter? I feel like if I say anything to anyone else it might jeopardize my candidacy.

Ever since I was passed off to a second recruiter for the onsite interviews things have been a nightmare. I passed the interviews and moved on to team selection but the process has now been dragging on for over a month and a half. For instance I had matched with a team but the recruiter took so long to reach out to the legal team about immigration that the team moved forward with another candidate. The recruiter is now taking days to reply to emails and has taken weeks to get feedback from other teams I've had intro calls with.

I'd love to work for this company but this is past the point of absurdity. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I've considered sending an email to the initial recruiter asking if he can take a look at what is going on.

I would interpret this as lack of interest, or the apparent offer rescinded in slow motion. Many tech companies have slowed or stopped hiring, some have laid people off. The additional expense and paperwork involved in a visa (you mentioned immigration) probably doesn’t help. I would simply ask the recruiter to explain the delays, you have little to lose at this point. I would also look at other opportunities, because if a company wants to hire you they generally move that process along. Delays and lack of response might mean a face-saving way to back away.

I remember a recruiter sending me some CVs. Googled one of the candidates. First result showed the candidate was wanted by Interpol for fraud (confirmed true). Enough said.

Keep your options open. If you have 5-20 irons in the fire, this wont even bother you. Which might mean falling out of love with a company and fall in love with getting the best role you can get.

Other than that, be polite and gently chase these bad recruiters up. Hold them accountable but if they flake out you have other options.

We're a medium-sized company and it's not that big of a hassle (or maybe more precisely, it's a hassle of invisible size that is packaged up by someone else in exchange for a simple bag of money).

The bigger issue is the uncertainty (for both the candidate and the hiring team).