Phone calls from headhunters.



  • I'm currently working, but not satisfied with my job.  It's gotten a little better the past month or so, but I don't see a future there.  I've had my resume posted in various places for a while now, and have gotten a few calls from recruiters, but they never seem to pan out.  I was chalking it up to the theory that a recruiter only wants to hire somebody who's desperate.  Once I tell them I'm currently working, the conversation seems to end.

    I've also been trying to manage phone calls discretely.  I don't want my coworkers to overhear me talking to a recruiter, nor do I consider it particularly fair to answer such calls on company time--or a lot of the time i'm actually busy putting out fires.  Generally I tell them to email the job description to me, or try to schedule a time to talk later on.  Often I don't hear back after that.

    Today I went to lunch with my boss, and he took a call from a recruiter, told them basically the same thing I do, about sending him an email etc etc.  I'm reasonably certain that he's happy with his job, so I'm thinking he did it as a brush-off.  Could it be that recruiters think I'm doing the same thing to them?  How do I convey that yes I'm interested, but no I seriously can't talk right now?

     



  • I don't mean to sound like a dick.  But if you can't figure out how to tell someone that (hint, you could probably just read that last sentence) then their client probably doesn't want to hire you.  And if they are too stupid to understand it, then you probably don't want to work for their client.



  • Earlier this week I got a call from a "recruitment agent" (as they tend to call them over here) just before I had to go into a meeting with my boss. I explained the situation and asked him to call me back 90 mins later. He called back about 15 mins later than this, but that was good enough.

    However, most of them are stupid and lazy. But if they weren't, perhaps they would have got a decent degree in a technical subject and be competing with us for work...

     



  • @Joe Luser said:

    Earlier this week I got a call from a "recruitment agent" (as they tend to call them over here) just before I had to go into a meeting with my boss. I explained the situation and asked him to call me back 90 mins later. He called back about 15 mins later than this, but that was good enough.

    However, most of them are stupid and lazy. But if they weren't, perhaps they would have got a decent degree in a technical subject and be competing with us for work...

    great attitude.  "People that do things different than me to make a living are stupid and lazy." 



  • I interned in a recruiting firm for a semester. Worst of all my internships but I learned a lot about HR and that industry while there.

    The problem is 25% you, 25% the recruiting industry, and 50% any given recruiter.

    The industry is pretty vicious, basically a larger company posts jobs for recruiting partners. The number of partners can range from 4 or 5 to basically being a public posting. So each recruiting firm has to be really agressive to find people NOW because all the other firms can read your resume on amazingjobsiteofthehouroftheweekofthecenturyoflastthrusday.com .

    There are a lot of good recruiters (I had the pleasure of working with a VERY good one in Columbus, Ohio if you're looking in that area) and there are a lot of bad recruiters (I got to work UNDER 2 or 3 of the worst) . The good ones are able to recognize talent, understand most of the technical stuff, are good at refining resumes, and really do want to help match good people with good employers. The bad ones are basically resellers, they look at your resume for a minute, try to get your ass on the phone, and have made up their mind if they can move you and make money. The bad ones operate on pure volume. So the good ones you should be able to recognize, the bad ones will only waste a few minutes of your life.

    You also have to understand that given the pressures of the industry and the competition that a recruiter needs to be reviewing a lot of resumes, talking to candidates on the phone, refining resumes, taking candidates to interviews (some do some don't), and getting candidate info in to the hiring employer all while watching their commissions and quotas in an agressive industry. If you can't take a call immediately there are another 10 or 15 people that also want a call back in an hour or so. You need to flex around their schedule at least as much as you expect them to flex around yours. Making friends with a few good recruiters will help in the long run too.

    So in summary, its a lot like any other sales driven industry - find the good ones and work with them and make friends; recognize the bad ones and make a time/value/risk decision in dealing with them.



  • You might want to think about taking a few days off just for the job hunt (you can tell your current employer that it's a regular vacation).  My guess is that the recruiter thinks if you'd rather work than hear their offer, you probably don't hate your job enough to jump ship anyway.  You can take a few days and do nothing but talk on the phone with these guys and see what pans out.  Remember to keep a few days for the actual interviews, though



  • I used recruiters almost a year ago (as well as posted to Monster etc).  I got a job in about 2 months in a different state.  (That's the main reason I was using recruiters, I was 600 miles from where I wanted to be.)  I still get the occasional call from recruiters who came across my resume somewhere.  They usually ask me if this is a good time to talk, and I tell them I'm currently employed and that usually stops the conversation.

    So you might want to try another catch phrase, or ask them if you can call them back at a later time.  The recruiters that I worked with that were worth anything were more than happy to give me their cell # so I could reach them after hours.  In fact the one that got me into where I'm at now took calls at 6 or 7pm at night (which was what worked best for me.)

    Don't forget, although YOU aren't paying the recruiter, they're getting paid by you finding a job.  You are the customer and they should treat you that way.  By that I mean, if a recruiter won't be flexible, don't waste your time with him.

     



  • Thanks for the responses guys.  I actually got another call today from the same guy who initially prompted this posting.  Evidently it just took him a while :p.  Seems like a pretty cool job, so we'll see how it goes.

    Another question: I got setup for my current job by a recruiter, and although I haven't had a lot of experience dealing with them, he seems like the best.  Was available pretty much any time of day (although I was unemployed at the time, so that part didn't matter so much), and he did a lot about prepping me for the interview, etc.  Is it worth contacting the same guy again, or would that just cause problems?  i.e. I know he gets a commission as a percentage of my salary...does he lose some of that if I quit?  Will he think I'm a quitter and not want to deal with me?
     



  • if he was good call him back.  If you are afraid that he'll think you are a quitter then don't tell him that he matched you with your current job.

    Also, I have to disagree.  The companies are the customer for recruiters.  The potential employees are the product.  Still, you have to treat product right or it won't make you any money.  You can think of it like prostitution if you want.



  • Call him back.  Unless you were there a very short time (read: months), he probably doesn't stand to lose anything by finding you a different job.

    I run into the recruiter that landed me here, and he's always ready to find me something else (at least that's how it seems) even though I'm happy here.



  • So I complained the other day about Microsoft not replying to my resume.  Just found out that they have a deal with my current company that prevents them from recruiting each others' employees.  That's just not cool.



  • @vt_mruhlin said:

    Thanks for the responses guys.  I actually got another call today from the same guy who initially prompted this posting.  Evidently it just took him a while :p.  Seems like a pretty cool job, so we'll see how it goes.

    Another question: I got setup for my current job by a recruiter, and although I haven't had a lot of experience dealing with them, he seems like the best.  Was available pretty much any time of day (although I was unemployed at the time, so that part didn't matter so much), and he did a lot about prepping me for the interview, etc.  Is it worth contacting the same guy again, or would that just cause problems?  i.e. I know he gets a commission as a percentage of my salary...does he lose some of that if I quit?  Will he think I'm a quitter and not want to deal with me?
     

    Rules vary depending on the recruiting organization and the contract you signed.  Some recruiters get paid at initial hiring, while others only get paid if you stay for a certain period or "pass" the evaluation period.  Some recruiters will pass on the lost commission to you if you leave voluntarily prior to the end of the evaluation period.  It all depends.

    If the recruiter was good, then contact him again.  Be honest on the reasons you're looking for other opportunities.   

     



  • @Rotary Jihad said:

    all the other firms can read your resume on amazingjobsiteofthehouroftheweekofthecenturyoflastthrusday.com .

    I never go to that one; it takes too long to type the url. 


     



  • Guh, the guy wanted me to take a BrainBench test about JSPs.  What a worthless experience that was.  I can hardly wait for the days when I become a recruiter and get the opportunity to shoot people down because they don't know the precise difference between a URI and a URL, or whether SSL is "a method for communicating securely between client and server" or "a method for securing a connection between client and server".  What a sham.

    /Didn't help that I actually haven't done any JSP in a couple years, so probably got the legit questions wrong too.
     



  • @lpope187 said:

    @vt_mruhlin said:

    Thanks for the responses guys.  I actually got another call today from the same guy who initially prompted this posting.  Evidently it just took him a while :p.  Seems like a pretty cool job, so we'll see how it goes.

    Another question: I got setup for my current job by a recruiter, and although I haven't had a lot of experience dealing with them, he seems like the best.  Was available pretty much any time of day (although I was unemployed at the time, so that part didn't matter so much), and he did a lot about prepping me for the interview, etc.  Is it worth contacting the same guy again, or would that just cause problems?  i.e. I know he gets a commission as a percentage of my salary...does he lose some of that if I quit?  Will he think I'm a quitter and not want to deal with me?
     

    Rules vary depending on the recruiting organization and the contract you signed.  Some recruiters get paid at initial hiring, while others only get paid if you stay for a certain period or "pass" the evaluation period.  Some recruiters will pass on the lost commission to you if you leave voluntarily prior to the end of the evaluation period.  It all depends.

    If the recruiter was good, then contact him again.  Be honest on the reasons you're looking for other opportunities.   

     

    How exactly is the recruiter going to pass on the lost commissions to you?  Are you saying that they would like send you a bill or something?  In which case why the hell would you pay it? Just tell him to fuck himself; you don't owe him shit.



  • Because it's part of the contract you signed with the recruiting agency - I didn't make that very clear.  The agency I heard from stated they got full commission if you stayed for at least 6 months.  If you left before that, the hiring company paid a pro-rated portion and you were to make up the difference.  Needless to say, I didn't sign the contract.

     



  • @vt_mruhlin said:

    Guh, the guy wanted me to take a BrainBench test about JSPs.  What a worthless experience that was.  I can hardly wait for the days when I become a recruiter and get the opportunity to shoot people down because they don't know the precise difference between a URI and a URL, or whether SSL is "a method for communicating securely between client and server" or "a method for securing a connection between client and server".  What a sham.

    /Didn't help that I actually haven't done any JSP in a couple years, so probably got the legit questions wrong too.

    Who are you working with? I know a pretty good guy in the Houston area (Katy, actually) who was great to work with; even took me to a really expensive lunch the day I'd been working  for 6 months and qualified him for his full commission.

    When I interviewed for the job, he picked me up at the airport when I flew in the previous afternoon and took me to the hotel; even went inside to make sure that the company I was interviewing with hadn't screwed up the reservations. He also picked me up after the interview the next morning and took me to lunch and then on a tour of the Houston area to help kill the four hours before my flight left. He dropped me at the airport about 45 minutes before my flight (this was pre-9/11).

    If you're interested, drop me an email and I'll dig up his phone number (I'm not in Texas anymore, but I still have it at home).



  • @tster said:

    @Joe Luser said:

    Earlier this week I got a call from a "recruitment agent" (as they tend to call them over here) just before I had to go into a meeting with my boss. I explained the situation and asked him to call me back 90 mins later. He called back about 15 mins later than this, but that was good enough.

    However, most of them are stupid and lazy. But if they weren't, perhaps they would have got a decent degree in a technical subject and be competing with us for work...

    great attitude.  "People that do things different than me to make a living are stupid and lazy." 

    Do they have sarcasm where you come from? </ rhetorical>

    BTW, I am clever and lazy... 



  • @Joe Luser said:

    @tster said:
    @Joe Luser said:

    Earlier this week I got a call from a "recruitment agent" (as they tend to call them over here) just before I had to go into a meeting with my boss. I explained the situation and asked him to call me back 90 mins later. He called back about 15 mins later than this, but that was good enough.

    However, most of them are stupid and lazy. But if they weren't, perhaps they would have got a decent degree in a technical subject and be competing with us for work...

    great attitude.  "People that do things different than me to make a living are stupid and lazy." 

    Do they have sarcasm where you come from? </ rhetorical>

    BTW, I am clever and lazy... 

    I don't think you understand the concept of text.  It's near impossible to pick up subtle sarcasm without voice inflection. 


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