When Recruiters Suck - Part 1

I am calling this Part. 1 because I have a funny feeling that there are other areas where Recruiters suck that I will be prompted to write about in the future.

I am going to put a different hat on now and admit that I know that some candidates think recruiters suck. I have only once applied for a job in my life and not got it, but I know what it feels like to be rejected. After all, I am male, and I was single once.  And I also know that worse than rejection it seems is not hearing back at all about your application.

You know what? I have done this, there may even be people out there reading this who have applied to jobs I have advertised online and I haven't got back to them. If there are I can only say one thing - I am sorry, I really do think it is important to get back to everyone who applies to a job advertisement. But what I would like to do in this blog is start with an explanation for you and also a little shot at everyone of you who is sitting there saying to yourself, "yeah this guy is admitting it, recruiters are money hungry people pimps like I thought, too lazy to even send an email" and tell you to get off your arse and stop blaming other people for your laziness.

You see there are two ends to the job application, The Recruiter and The Candidate. Now if you apply, I think you deserve to know whether or not you made the grade, or if the job disappeared for some other reason. But if you applied without reading the ad, without calling me to discuss the application, or without at least detailing why you think you are such a good fit then I may decide to ignore your application.

You see the main reason why Recruiters ignore your application and don't reply to you is because you didn't give them a reason to do it. Now I know there are Recruiters who are dummies, who wouldn't know a good candidate if they ran them over on their Segway but if you have applied to more than three jobs and never had a reply back you need to take a serious look at what you are doing either in applying or in not calling them to find out why.

But wait a sec. Here is where it gets difficult. This is where you apply, the recruiter gets back to you and tells you to wait or even says you are a good fit for the role. Maybe the client is out of town for a week or something else. Either way the recruiter tells you to wait. But you never hear from them... ever again. You scan the death notices and watch the news for car crashes but occasionally you see them post jobs online again so you figure they are alive. "WTF is with Recruiters?" you think. They suck.

Here is where I give you my number one point which will make you far more successful in working with recruiters for the rest of your career, worth close from $100, 000 to $12 million dollars FOR ABSOLUTELY NOTHIN!

1. PICK UP THE PHONE, dial their number and ask them the situation.

Result A: They tell you what is going on. You are either in or out for the next step.

Result B: They tell you what is going on. But you get the feeling they aren't really. They say something like: "we are just finishing up the shortlist", "or contacting the client to clear away a few details regarding holes or opportunities in your skillset" or something else. These are called BS answers and recruiters use them when they really don't know enough about the job to rule you in or out, or don't have a good enough relationship to find out about the job with the client.

Or they use them when they don't feel like telling you over the phone directly that there are several really good valid reasons why their current client would not hire you. Or PAY A FEE to hire you through them. REMEMBER THIS: this is my other, only good for the next 30 minutes, ABSOLUTELY FREE point worth several million dollars when working with Recruiters. THAT'S right, there is a possibility that the clients of some of the recruiters you apply to would hire you. But just would not pay a fee for it. Scary isn't it. Sounds almost unfair, I mean you need a job, they would hire you if they knew about you. Why doesn't the recruiter just tell you the company name and you can turn up and start on Monday?

Because life doesn't work like that. Which is another completely different topic that I would love to discuss some other time. But the end game is this. DON'T BE AFRAID TO CALL THE RECRUITER. Nobody really says "No" to you they just say "No, not now". If you are an active candidate it is in your best interests to talk to these people and is a hell of a lot more fulfilling that spending your time plastering inboxes with your blanket CV and cover letter. Recruiters are much more likely to give you their time over the phone than engage in a back and forth email conversation with you. Plus on the phone you can get valuable information that will help you in your search for the right move in your career.

Comments

[David Perry]

Steven

Great article. You're bang on, there's no excuse for being rude to candidates.

At the sometime candidates need to understand that Recruiters come in many flavors and some Rs are more responsive to candidates than others. A lot of it does have to do with the way the R is "commissioned", but it's more than that.

The rapid proliferation of the industry over the last few years guarantees that the name on their door, the size of their organization, their number of offices and automated retrieval systems – none of these things reflects how well a firm will represent your interests.

Steve, as you know the executive search/recruiting/staffing industry is a personal service, where success is based upon the individual search consultant’s ability to anticipate and manage interaction among people. Time as you said, often slips away quickly.

The only real way for candidates to move forward is to become pleasantly persistent. They don't need to become stalkers but they do need to re-articulate their value statement as many times as it takes for the head-hunter to understand and respond.

Candidates need to learn how to search the world, cold-call prospects, get their attention, raise their proposition above the background noise, and to keep at it tenaciously for however long it takes – be it weeks or months – and be intelligent enough to present their skill set in creative new lights until the persuasion works.

David Perry - author, Guerrilla Marketing for Job-Hunters as well as Career Guide for the High-tech Professional; where the jobs are now and how to land them.

[Dennis Smith]

Right on, Steven. Hey, as the "Recruiter," I'm the first to admit that this is an epidemic. So I love doing just the opposite. I will go over-board to communicate the most recent status to the candidate - I will send emails/leave voice-mails/write cards.

Best case scenario - I get to make 'em an offer.

Worst case scenario - they don't get the job, but they become a customer because I've convinced them that our organization knows a thing or two about customer service.

It's not brain surgery. Really, it's called 1st-class customer service.

Thanks for the article.

Dennis

[Tim de jardine]

Good post, I think that something needs to be done in this industry. Some recruiters are great (5%) of them, but the rest are just after their commission. I have seen this firsthand!

[-Frustrated]

Steven,
Some or many recruiters do not answer their phones and don't return their VM either. In fact, it's been my experience that the same people who do not reply to your emails are the same people who do not return your phone calls.

[Steven]

Lots of people don't answer their phones and don't return VM or email either Frustrated. It's an unfortunate part of society at the moment that many, many people are completely overwhelmed with the number of issues they have to handle on a daily basis. I personally recommend using a personal organization system like GTD. My advice for candidates who are frustrated about recruiters who don't return your calls is to move on to someone else. The reality is that the reason they aren't calling you back is because they can't help you. Just call someone else until you find someone who can.