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Why do so many technical recruiters suck?

mikebz.com

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Re: Why do so many technical recruiters suck?

#51

Post by tibbon »

I did some (non-tech) recruiting about 6 years ago, and I always thought that given the time and effort, I could be an awesome tech recruiter. Maybe some day I will, although it currently isn't in my pants. Here's what I'd do:

- I'd want to take a long-term approach, and keep in touch with the people that I worked to place. After 2-3 years, they might just be up for a new position.

- I should know their skills deeply. Forget reading resumes, I'd read Github accounts. I should be able to read what skills they have, not be told them. Obviously not everything a person does ends up on Github, but the things they most enjoy and are best at often do. If a person enjoys working in Ruby, I'm not going to try to shoehorn them into a PHP position because they won't be happy and won't output the best.

- I'd want to deeply understand the actual needs of the placed position. So many Craigslist job postings that are by recruiters clearly don't understand the requirements of the job vs things that are nice to have.

- I also understand tech deeply. I don't be that poorly qualified recruiter who mistakes C# for CSS. I'd be able to talk about what testing frameworks people are using, or how they like to approach a problem in a non-confrontational way.

- While this might sound like marketing-spin, I would want to really think of it as just connecting friends who need jobs to companies of friends who are hiring. I actually do this now a good bit, since I know a lot of qualified tech people and send them emails when I get them about positions that really seem to speak to them. I never ask for money currently, because well... its just helping out friends and I want to see them happy.

Re: Why do so many technical recruiters suck?

#53

Post by wilhelm »

amorphid wrote: post #32
briancurtin wrote: post #22

They usually suck because they don't understand technology. To me, a good technical recruiter would be able to take my resume and actually understand (to some degree) what it is I'm doing. From there, when talking about my knowledge and interests, they'd be able to respond and interact, then tell me about actually relevant jobs on their hands. Instead, the conversation is a like driving the wrong way on a one-way str…

Believe it or not a recruiter can do a very good job filling technical positions without a strong understanding of the technology. All you need to know to get started is how to spot a qualified person, and the hiring manager can help with that.

Spotting a qualified person is impossible without domain knowledge.

Re: Why do so many technical recruiters suck?

#54

Post by GoodIntentions »

amcintyre wrote: post #7

Their behavior is just as frustrating from the other side. Since my resume says I've used Python for scientific computing, I must be a Django expert that has experience building scalable e-commerce sites, right? That's what 90% of the recruiters seem to think, and I get a neverending stream of jobs from them not even remotely related to my experience.

This happens to everyone I think. I had numerous "leads" tossed my way by recruiters and (unfortunately) a few interviews last year that revolved around my experience with .

Since I don't particularly want to work doing it is not anywhere on my CV. Good manners keeps me from saying "Did you arse holes even READ my resume?" when you've pulled me in for an interview for a position I don't want.

I understand that not everyone involved in the selection process will have a deep comprehension of technology, but the department you are hiring for should. Send them your shortlist for vetting, or better yet, let them send YOU the shortlist. If you're a 3rd party recruiter.. ..educate yourself.

It will save a lot of wasted time all around.

/rant

Re: Why do so many technical recruiters suck?

#55

Post by absconditus »

briancurtin wrote: post #37
amorphid wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Believe it or not a recruiter can do a very good job filling technical positions without a strong understanding of the technology. All you need to know to get started is how to spot a qualified person, and the hiring manager can help with that.

I'll go with "not" when it comes to the recruiters in the Chicago area. I regularly get contacted for roles I have no measurable experience in, such as Django jobs, or really anything web related. While I have extensive Python knowledge, I haven't touched Django outside of a tutorial or two on a rainy day. They seem to want to extrapolate Python expertise to cover everything that uses Python, but it doesn't work like…

I cannot see why an employer would not want to hire someone with extensive Python knowledge for a Django position, assuming the candidate also has web development experience. It is not as though Django is especially difficult to learn.

Re: Why do so many technical recruiters suck?

#56

Post by anamax »

tibbon wrote: post #51

I did some (non-tech) recruiting about 6 years ago, and I always thought that given the time and effort, I could be an awesome tech recruiter. Maybe some day I will, although it currently isn't in my pants. Here's what I'd do: - I'd want to take a long-term approach, and keep in touch with the people that I worked to place. After 2-3 years, they might just be up for a new position. - I should know their skills deeply…

How many of these people change employers in a given year? What fraction of them will do so through you? How much can you get for finding those people a new job (on average)?

The product of those three numbers is the amount of money you can make each year with your approach.

Re: Why do so many technical recruiters suck?

#57

Post by amcintyre »

GoodIntentions wrote: post #54
amcintyre wrote: post #7

Their behavior is just as frustrating from the other side. Since my resume says I've used Python for scientific computing, I must be a Django expert that has experience building scalable e-commerce sites, right? That's what 90% of the recruiters seem to think, and I get a neverending stream of jobs from them not even remotely related to my experience.

This happens to everyone I think. I had numerous "leads" tossed my way by recruiters and (unfortunately) a few interviews last year that revolved around my experience with . Since I don't particularly want to work doing it is not anywhere on my CV. Good manners keeps me from saying "Did you arse holes even READ my resume?" when you've pulled me in for an interview for a position I don't want. I understand that not ev…

I've generally tried to get the employer to tell me up front exactly what the job entails, before we waste any time actually interviewing. Unfortunately sometimes that doesn't work, because they think they need somebody that knows when they really need an expert in .

Next time I'm looking for a job, I think I'll scrub most of the mention of languages and technologies from the resume, and see if that helps. :)

Re: Why do so many technical recruiters suck?

#58

Post by amorphid »

wilhelm wrote: post #53
amorphid wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Believe it or not a recruiter can do a very good job filling technical positions without a strong understanding of the technology. All you need to know to get started is how to spot a qualified person, and the hiring manager can help with that.

Spotting a qualified person is impossible without domain knowledge.

A good recruiter leverages the hiring manager's domain knowledge.

Re: Why do so many technical recruiters suck?

#59

Post by Peroni »

raarky wrote: post #48
Peroni wrote: post #46

As a Tech Recruiter and former Developer I've been first-hand witness to the incredible hypocrisy and mind-boggling anti-logic perpetrated by the recruitment industry and I've attempted to answer your question at length in my blog post 'All that's wrong with the recruitment industry' http://voltsteve.blogspot.com/2011/07/all-that-is-wrong-with... Someone in the comments below mentioned how they don't feel that the re…

Is it hard finding staff that have sufficient technical knowledge? It feels like the recruitment industry in general is very cut throat and has high turnover. And in an industry that has a shortage of skilled people to begin with, that's probably not a good thing.

Is it hard finding staff that have sufficient technical knowledge?

Absolutely. It's also very low on the priority list of most hiring managers within the recruitment industry. The number 1 priority is finding people with solid recruitment experience, priority number 2 is finding people who can bring existing client relationships with them, priority number 3 is finding people who are incredibly driven and want to make a lot of money. Technical capability struggles to break the top ten in terms of priority.

It feels like the recruitment industry in general is very cut throat and has high turnover.

100% accurate. I've never worked in a career where I've felt as insecure as I do in recruitment. Despite making my company a lot of money this year I am constantly looking over my shoulder as the age old adage is that you are only as good as your last deal. My technical competency counts for very little when it comes to my bosses perspective on how valuable I am to the business despite the fact that my technical competence is what sets me ahead of most other recruiters.

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