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Awful Recruiters

awfulrecruiters.com

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Re: Awful Recruiters

#41

Post by rogerbinns »

stevetursi wrote: post #22

Looking at that list, the thing that occurred to me is how one bad individual can harm the reputation of an otherwise OK firm. The OP obviously had bad anecdotal experiences with every firm on that list. Also anecdotal is the fact that there are recruiters worth talking to one or two of those firms (I've talked to them.) I don't know if my experience makes that firm good or bad - but I also don't know if the OP's exp…

> ... one bad individual can harm the reputation of an otherwise OK firm

If the recruitment firm is unable to make good hiring decisions for itself in its own industry on a topic it knows about, then why should they be trusted for other firms and candidates?

Re: Awful Recruiters

#42

Post by mikeash »

dabent wrote: post #29

I first started writing software on contract in the mid-90's. It was a good time, full of C++ jobs and my skills and my market seemed to be in harmony. I put my resume out there on the still-so-new-it-shined internet and immediately got over a dozen calls, the vast majority being from 3rd-party recruiters. I complained to my wife after the third call in a row and she explained to me that I should never be upset when…

I can see not complaining about recruiters in general, but some are just really awful, e.g. soliciting for positions where the candidate is obviously not suitable, and just wasting everybody's time. When there's no chance that you'd get the position in the first place, they're not doing you any favors.

Re: Awful Recruiters

#43

Post by devs1010 »

rogerbinns wrote: post #37
dabent wrote: post #29

I first started writing software on contract in the mid-90's. It was a good time, full of C++ jobs and my skills and my market seemed to be in harmony. I put my resume out there on the still-so-new-it-shined internet and immediately got over a dozen calls, the vast majority being from 3rd-party recruiters. I complained to my wife after the third call in a row and she explained to me that I should never be upset when…

> ... when someone called because they wanted to get me a job She overestimates the bad recruiters. Recruiters have been known to advertise non-existent positions so they can build up their folios. They have been known to alter resumes to make it look like the candidate is a fit when they aren't. They have been known to lie about candidates. They have been known to try to make the candidates do all the work. They hav…

I agree, some recruiters are borderline scam artists so you can't just take it at face value that they have a job to offer and are interested in you, there can be more to it than that

Re: Awful Recruiters

#44

Post by devs1010 »

dsolomon wrote: post #32

A couple of friends and I got this idea a few years ago. We've accumulated over 340 companies their recruiters who are less than desirable. Inflated salaries lead the pack of the tactics used. Posting misleading information about the job description and benefits follow closely. Wouldn't mind some VC-$ to launch. From experience - most of the job boards are junk, including the ones on that site.

The problem with things like this is who is going to pay for it? Its a rather small market (software developers).. I'm not sure its a viable business model but more of an idea for an open source project

Re: Awful Recruiters

#45

Post by ryguytilidie »

tomgallard wrote: post #14

We recruit directly. Our ads are clearly marked at top and bottom with 'We do not use, and never have used, a recruitment agency. Please do not contact us if you are a recruitment agent' Despite this, we receive multiple calls a day from agencies. Exasperating!

I've been an internal recruiter for NASA, Google, Facebook and Scribd and I have had at least 100 external recruiters contact me and I always say no, and our site itself makes this very clear. Most will followup a few weeks later and ask again. head desk

Re: Awful Recruiters

#46

Post by ryguytilidie »

fabricode wrote: post #26

Sounds like this person has put himself up on some/many job sites and is wondering why every recruiter on the planet is sending him referrals. Besides, if a particular company sends you a bunch spam, it's usually a 1-3 click process to add them to your spam filter. As for the list he provided, I don't agree with the top entry. I got a great referral from WorkBridgeAssociates, and our company has found several good pe…

Or, you could easily figure out who this person is and then realize they are quite good and that is why they are getting contacted all the time...?

Re: Awful Recruiters

#47

Post by dredmorbius »

dabent wrote: post #29

I first started writing software on contract in the mid-90's. It was a good time, full of C++ jobs and my skills and my market seemed to be in harmony. I put my resume out there on the still-so-new-it-shined internet and immediately got over a dozen calls, the vast majority being from 3rd-party recruiters. I complained to my wife after the third call in a row and she explained to me that I should never be upset when…

I've had recruiters submit me for positions I haven't approved (CrossCreek). Oh, yeah, repeatedly. And after I'd talked to them about it. Repeatedly.

I've had them email me en mass for an opportunity (varite.com).

Indian boiler-room VOIP indecipherable accents too numerous to mention (too numerous to mention).

Grossly mis-fit pitches (wrong state, country, skillset).

Recruiters who repeatedly call and leave messages (I expressly state my contact preferences, and have a pretty clear statement on my voicemail regarding same).

Others in my spam list:

aditi.com alphasolutionsinc.com andiamo-group.com artechinfo.co aurionpro.com greythorn-mail.com idexcel.com infobiagrouppanels.com infobiagroups.com kidawa.com mindlance.com myinfobiapanels.com omnikron.com panzersolutions.com streetdirectory.me tscti.com

And I've worked with a handful of folks who are sincere, genuine, and turn up good leads. Best bet is of course personal contacts.

Re: Awful Recruiters

#48

Post by dredmorbius »

stevetursi wrote: post #22

Looking at that list, the thing that occurred to me is how one bad individual can harm the reputation of an otherwise OK firm. The OP obviously had bad anecdotal experiences with every firm on that list. Also anecdotal is the fact that there are recruiters worth talking to one or two of those firms (I've talked to them.) I don't know if my experience makes that firm good or bad - but I also don't know if the OP's exp…

That's one possibility.

When you've got a firm which continues to establish contact when you've made very clear you do NOT want further contact, or follows really sketchy practices (again: unsolicited submissions -- having two agencies submit you for a position pretty much kills any possibility of the deal) is NOT OK and really should be called out.

Re: Awful Recruiters

#49

Post by thinker »

geuis wrote: post #35

I'm going to take issue with one of the companies on his list, Riviera Partners. I worked with this company for several months last summer (Hey Matt!) and, in my dealings with them, they were utterly professional. I hate recruiters in general, but the guys at Riviera were the definite exception. First, their list of clients were very top-notch. I did a number of phone screens and on-site interviews with companies I w…

Seconded. They helped connect me with top notch interviews over a two month period and were extremely professional and personable. Quite a few of the startups they represent are A-list. I would recommend them to any high caliber engineer.

Re: Awful Recruiters

#50

Post by mirkules »

dabent wrote: post #33
jbyers wrote: post #12

There's a disclaimer to this effect, but just to reiterate: there are real companies on this list. Good and Lumos Labs are two that I recognize off the bat.

Turner.com is for Turner Broadcasting. I think some people have gotten some interesting jobs there, working on stuff like Adult Swim.

Kforce, also. Many people I know have had great success through them.
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