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This matches my experience too. In my opinion, the way to sell the job is to explicitly mention all the advantages - the company name, the tech stack, why it is

This matches my experience too. In my opinion, the way to sell the job is to explicitly mention all the advantages - the company name, the tech stack, why it is a great place to work etc. The most annoying recruiters are the ones that have "a fantastic opportunity" and want to set up a phone call to sell it. I work in Stockholm, Sweden, and I have noticed that recruiters from England often try to talk to you instead of simply listing the position(s). Extra points for the recruiter if they write something indicating why I would be a good fit - only happens rarely. Also, checking back later (a year or two) to see if I am open to a change, even if I wasn't before, is OK by me. Sometimes you don't want to change, no matter what the offer is. We developers should not complain too much about recruiters though - we are extremely lucky to work in a field where there is such high demand. Most people aren't so lucky. I also think being contacted by a recruiter puts you in a great bargaining position: You are in a much better position to negotiate salary and benefits than if you applied directly. You already have a job, so if the offer isn’t interesting enough or good enough, you can just say no. I wrote a post similar to this a few years ago, making the above points: https://henrikwarne.com/2015/11/22/recruiting-software-developers-initial-contact/ https://henrikwarne.com/2015/11/22/recruiting-software-devel...

leerob 8y ago
Thanks for sharing your post. You make some similar points, but also a couple I hadn't hit on. > We developers should not complain too much about recruiters though - we are extremely lucky to work in a field where there is such high demand. Absolutely - That's something I wish I would have touched on in my post. I didn't want it to sound too "woe is me" that I have people reaching out to offer me a job. > I also think being contacted by a recruiter puts you in a great bargaining position I'll echo your points and salary and benefits, but also mentioned that sometimes recruiters will have an in with the hiring manager, versus going through HR when applying directly (which could get lost in a pile).
nickjj 8y ago
Being able to say no thanks is great in general. You always get the best deals when you don't need that "something" right now.
alkonaut 8y ago
Exactly this. Same experience with vague spammy UK recruiters, also in Stockholm. Not sure what it is in particular about UK recruiters and why they are so hellbent on getting a phone interview without revealing any information. There has to be a reason behind this (such as some weird quota/bonus system for phone calls made) and I’m very curious what the reason is.
- r_c_a_d 8y ago
  UK recruiters are frightened of losing their client (the company) to other recruiters. Unless the recruiter has managed to agree an exclusive deal on a particular role, every time they give out the name of that client they risk another recruiter calling the client and saying "I see you are recruiting for X, we have some great candidates, would you like to see them?" And some UK recruiters play very dirty. They post fake CVs and fake job ads to mine the market. They pose as candidates to get info from other agents; and ask real candidates what other jobs they have applied for.
  - alkonaut 8y ago
    I can see how business practices and contract obligations get in the way. I'm not asking to know the exact address or company name. Or even enough info to know which job it is (such as company age, company size, product type). All I'm asking is basic things like "what tech are they ussing" or "what type of role is it" etc. Of all my theories for why they can't say up front I'm now leaning towards this one: they need to gather my info so that if the 5-10 minute phone call is fruitless, they'll have enough candidate info on ME to be able to pay for that call, when they say that info in bulk. If they gave away the big parameters first (location, pay range, tech, ..) they know that's when most conversations will end. I haven't tried, but I'm guessing that if I just tell them enough about me first, they'll eventually allow the call to contain details about the position. At that point I'll just say "no thanks, I can't move to city Y", but they are happy they got some good info.

leerob 8y ago

Thanks for sharing your post. You make some similar points, but also a couple I hadn't hit on. > We developers should not complain too much about recruiters though - we are extremely lucky to work in a field where there is such high demand. Absolutely - That's something I wish I would have touched on in my post. I didn't want it to sound too "woe is me" that I have people reaching out to offer me a job. > I also think being contacted by a recruiter puts you in a great bargaining position I'll echo your points and salary and benefits, but also mentioned that sometimes recruiters will have an in with the hiring manager, versus going through HR when applying directly (which could get lost in a pile).

nickjj 8y ago

Being able to say no thanks is great in general. You always get the best deals when you don't need that "something" right now.

alkonaut 8y ago

Exactly this. Same experience with vague spammy UK recruiters, also in Stockholm. Not sure what it is in particular about UK recruiters and why they are so hellbent on getting a phone interview without revealing any information. There has to be a reason behind this (such as some weird quota/bonus system for phone calls made) and I’m very curious what the reason is.

r_c_a_d 8y ago
UK recruiters are frightened of losing their client (the company) to other recruiters. Unless the recruiter has managed to agree an exclusive deal on a particular role, every time they give out the name of that client they risk another recruiter calling the client and saying "I see you are recruiting for X, we have some great candidates, would you like to see them?" And some UK recruiters play very dirty. They post fake CVs and fake job ads to mine the market. They pose as candidates to get info from other agents; and ask real candidates what other jobs they have applied for.
- alkonaut 8y ago
  I can see how business practices and contract obligations get in the way. I'm not asking to know the exact address or company name. Or even enough info to know which job it is (such as company age, company size, product type). All I'm asking is basic things like "what tech are they ussing" or "what type of role is it" etc. Of all my theories for why they can't say up front I'm now leaning towards this one: they need to gather my info so that if the 5-10 minute phone call is fruitless, they'll have enough candidate info on ME to be able to pay for that call, when they say that info in bulk. If they gave away the big parameters first (location, pay range, tech, ..) they know that's when most conversations will end. I haven't tried, but I'm guessing that if I just tell them enough about me first, they'll eventually allow the call to contain details about the position. At that point I'll just say "no thanks, I can't move to city Y", but they are happy they got some good info.