Ode to recruiters



  • So I just got this gem of an email from a recruiter.  I've seen some pretty bad recruiting spam in my day but this is certainly my most recent favorite.

     

    SUBJECT: have op

    ATTACHMENT: Web Master-WP.doc 

    BODY:

    have this in yr backyard .......any interest?

     Sincerely yours,
     
    [ name removed ]
    Senior Account Manager
    [company name removed]
    XXX Madison Avenue
    New York, NY 10017
    Phone: [removed]
    Fax: [removed]
    Email: [removed]@[removed].com

    http://www.[removed].com <http://www.[removed].com/>
     

     

    I didnt even open the attachment and considered sending a snarky reply but I realised I may think this guy is a joke to his profession but I dont really need to ruin his day.

     

     

     

     

     



  • Was the job actually relevant?



  • At least it sounds like he tried to get you a job in your geographical area.  After I graduated, I made it very clear in my resume and cover letter that I was specifically only seeking jobs in a certain city.  Nonetheless, I got probably a dozen recruiting spam messages a day for jobs on the opposite side of the country.



  • @Volmarias said:

    Was the job actually relevant?

     

    not really.  he hit some keywords for some of the languages i know but doesnt fit my main focus.

     

    the part I found funny was that he sent a word doc ( i hate when recruiters cant even cut and paste the info into an email) and he abbriviated the word your with "yr" followed by 7 periods :)

    he just strikes me as unprofessional and unknowledgeable.

    it's not the worst recruiter ever but i got the impression he didnt have the interest in taking the time to explain the job or even type a full email.  not the kind of guy im going to let get a commission on my next gig.

     

    So i forgot to ask but what are some other recruiter WTFs people have?  we've all heard the bad interview WTFs but im sure there some pretty funny bad recruiter ones.



     



  • I had one nationally known recruiting company try to convince me to come back.  They had on record that I told them I would never work for them again, but that is another story.

    So this recruiter calls me up, promising that things have changed and wants to talk to me about coming on board with them again.  I tell him my displeasure but if he was serious he would have to meet me at his office at 6:30 PM, much later then he liked but he said yes anyway.

    I show up with a copy of my resume and he starts going over his spiel about how they screen potential talent and how they present resumes to potential clients and the fact that they will add a nice paragraph to the resume to fit their standard format, oh and here is a copy of our current sales brochure for you to look over.

    He continues talking with my resume in front of me as I haven't handed it to him yet while I read through this nice glossy new pamphlet.  I stop him mid sentence and ask, "So this is an example of your new direction and professionalism?"  Of course he answers yes.  I turn it around and pull out a pen and start underlining misspelled words and bad grammar and told him if this is what they are sending to potential clients they will not have the opportunity to modify my resume as that would be a reflection on me.

    I stood up, put my resume back in it's folder and walked out, leaving him sitting there in mid sentence without even a good-bye.  Needless to say I never did get another call from them and have happily worked through other agencies without the high blood attitude that company always showed me.
     



  • @alostpacket said:

    So i forgot to ask but what are some other recruiter WTFs people have?  we've all heard the bad interview WTFs but im sure there some pretty funny bad recruiter ones.
    WTF #1 After the bubble crashed I was contacted by a well known tech job shop (with a bad reputation, especially for being a fly by the seat of their pants, high turnover shop) for a get acquainted interview.

    Since I was desperate I agreed to interview with them. I showed up, but the interviewer didn't - she didn't show up for work that day and nobody knew anything about my interview or where she was (she was probably out looking for another job if she was smart - but I doubt it).

    WTF #2 About a decade ago I got a call from a recruiter for a well known temp agency that deals primarily with Microsoft. Towards the end of the phone call she asked me "have you ever worked for Microsoft?" (I live in the Seattle area), and I answered "no". She asked me why I hadn't. I felt like saying that there were a bajillion other s/w companies out there and that MS was not the only one, but I told her nicely I had not got around to working for them yet.

    WTF #3 Fast forward about 7 years and I am contacted again by temp agency in #2, actually interview at MS several times and decide it isn't for me, they are going in the wrong direction for what I want to do. I tell temp agency as much and not to contact me anymore. Every six months a different person from the agency calls me with opportunities at MS, and every time I tell this different person the same thing; not interested, remove my resume/info from their system, and stop contacting me. After about two years of this I get contacted again and instead of being nice I get nasty and hopefully this time they will get the clue. It hasn't been six months yet. Apparently they have such high turnover and pressure there that they just cold call anyone and everyone they have in their files.
     

    WTF #4 Some years ago I was called by recruiter who didn't know the what the acronyms stood for on her list of reqs for a particular position. After explaining them to her so we could discuss them intelligently, she, in her infinite wisdom and experience, decided I didn't have enough experience in what she was looking for - *click* *buzzzzzz*, no discussion of other opportunities, not thank you, nothing.

    I am so glad that the market has turned around once again and I can hang up on recruiters instead of the other way around.



  • @DevDude said:

    ...WTF #3 Fast forward about 7 years and I am contacted again by temp agency in #2, actually interview at MS several times and decide it isn't for me, they are going in the wrong direction for what I want to do. I tell temp agency as much and not to contact me anymore. Every six months a different person from the agency calls me with opportunities at MS, and every time I tell this different person the same thing; not interested, remove my resume/info from their system, and stop contacting me. After about two years of this I get contacted again and instead of being nice I get nasty and hopefully this time they will get the clue. It hasn't been six months yet. Apparently they have such high turnover and pressure there that they just cold call anyone and everyone they have in their files....
    [b]T[/b]hey are blinded by the huge finder's fee they can obtain by getting a new recruit into Microsoft.



  • I'm not sure this really qualifies as a WTF, but a few years back, after taking some time back I put my resume out. Within a few weeks I had dozens of recuiters calling me, and had several interviews lined up. I was leaving town Thursday and returning the following Monday. That Tuesday  (before I left) I had a phone interview. The interview went ok, they guy liked me, but he said his hiring manager was out of town, and would be back on Thursday. I said I was leaving down on thursday, so we planned to set up a meeting the following Tuesday.

     Within an hour the recuiter called me back, almost in a panic. Tuesday is no good, got to get you in there sooner. I told the recuiter I was just happy waiting till the following Tuesday. No No, got to get you in there before that. If I can set up a meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) would you be willing to go in? I told him that I didn't really feel comfortable doing that. I had already spoken to the dev, and he liked me. I didn't see any reason for a face to face meeting that wouldn't go any where, other than to possible annoy them (I know if the situation was reversed I would be pretty annoyed if someone insisted on meeting with me in person, the day before the hiring manager would returned, when we had already agreed to meet several days later)

    Well the recruiter was having none of that, explaining to me how fast things get turned over (so I'm thinking to myself, great, that means there will be another job oppurtunity the next week) and what would happen if there is a qualified candidate that was in Town on Thursday or Friday and got the job off? I responded with, "Oh well, shucks darn, I didn't get the job."

    The recruiter was speechless for a moment (I don't think he was used to someone with my cavalier attitude, I already had three job interviews set up, who cares if I got this job or not) Finally he says "well I don't know if I want you to represent my company with an attitutude like that!"

    I just told him that I was interested in the position but I wasn't going to jump through hoops to get it. Never heard from the recruiter again!



  • @chrismcb said:

    Well the recruiter was having none of that, explaining to me how fast things get turned over (so I'm thinking to myself, great, that means there will be another job oppurtunity the next week) and what would happen if there is a qualified candidate that was in Town on Thursday or Friday and got the job off? I responded with, "Oh well, shucks darn, I didn't get the job."
    Third party recruiters are like that - especially the job shops. They think everything works like used car sales - that if you walk off the lot you are gone forever. Sometimes jobs do turn over very quickly, but the good employers usually take their time for hiring permanents, with the whole process often taking a month or so from first contact to first day on the job, and very few will insist on getting you in for an interview faster than you are comfortable with.

    Contract positions less so, but even then...

    Sounds that particular recruiter was more worried about getting their commission than putting the right person in the right job slot - it was probably a good thing they never called back. Obviously I don't hold a lot of respect for recruiters - the good ones are far and few between, and mostly serve more as a hindrance to both employer and employee than anything else.



  • @KattMan said:

    ...much later then he liked ...

    @KattMan said:

    I turn it around and pull out a pen and start underlining misspelled words and bad grammar  ...

    @KattMan said:

    ...back in it's folder...

    I know it's only a web forum but I still liked the irony. 



  • @DevDude said:

    Every six months a different person from the agency calls me with opportunities at MS, and every time I tell this different person the same thing; not interested, remove my resume/info from their system, and stop contacting me.

     I'm pretty sure you can sue them for this.  I think if you ask them to remove you from the system, they're legally required to comply.  I don't know if it's worth the trouble since they're only calling you twice a year, but it's an option anyway.



  • Minor annoyance. I'm looking to relocate to Portland, Maine. I set up my resume on Monster to indicate that I am only interested in said area. Until I got frustrated and deactivated my account, I was being flooded with calls from local recruiters. I assume they were keying off of the fact that I currently live in Minnesota.

    I guess the job market is really hot here right now if anyone is interested in moving. I think I've received about 25 calls and another 40 emails concerning local opportunities. It probably helps that I have a lot of Java and C# experience and just helped my company roll out an SOA initiative (hey, if nothing else, my resume is buzzword-laden).

    I did actually get one call from a headhunter in Cali looking to place with a consulting company in Maine. The issues were 1) he wanted me to turn my resume visibility to private right away and only work with him, 2) he stated the client company was based out of Portland (they're actually based out of India with a US headquarters in Michigan and absolutely no offices anywhere near Maine), 3) he was convinced he could get me a $10k raise with the move. I'm already overpaid; it'd be stupid to move for even more money because 4) the consulting company's only client listed in Portlant was Unum, who I happen to know is also looking for tech archs. Oh, and to show that I was 'hungry' for the job to the client, he wanted to ensure I would be available to interview at 9am on a Saturday.

    So, the head hunter was trying to hard-sell me on, basically, relocating to a job with an Indian company to place at their client. Obviously, when the contract is up, so is my employment. No thanks. I've met less slimy used car salesmen.


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