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Ask HN: Recruiters missing/ghosting intro calls

29 points by John23832 3y ago

Is anyone else experiencing this? I've had a number of recruiters reach out to me (from known companies) and miss/ghost initial calls. That seems like a pretty flagrant disrespect to the time of the applicant. What is going on?

stop50 3y ago
They don't care about the applicant. In the time they could call back or write an mail, they can call another applicant ore more.
- AnimalMuppet 3y ago
  If they're not going to call or write back, why bother to contact a candidate in the first place?
  - justsomehnguy 3y ago
    KPI.
    - AnimalMuppet 3y ago
      SMH. If their KPIs prioritize volume of candidates contacted at the expense of following up with qualified candidates, then their KPIs are mis-aligned with how the business makes money. Mind you, I'm not saying you're wrong...
piecerough 3y ago
In today's market, if you are available for the intro call, recruiters go hunt for the next hard-to-get candidate. Bigger likelihood it'll be an actual conversion. Happened to me.
- John23832 3y ago
  How do you join a team without talking to anyone?
  - kazinator 3y ago
    Very quietly.
  - brezelgoring 3y ago
    Very patiently, and to be honest, I think it’s kind of a gamble. I shoot my CV and the kinds of jobs I’m looking for to recruiter agencies and let them sort it out. Some call me a year later with a job opening and I take those as just an opportunity to de-rust my interviewing skills, and maybe a bit of catharsis, no expectation of moving forward. On the more selfish side, I just enjoy the chat, recruiters are pretty and they make introspective questions I don’t get to answer often. Some offers move forward, some don’t, I got my last 2 jobs that way (8 years). Not a programmer btw, I’m in IT.
prospector1065 3y ago
Yes it has probably happened to me 3-4 times in the past few months
handoflixue 3y ago
The current market for software developers is awful, which means the recruiters have power and don't need to care about disrespecting applicants - they've got a hundred more that are equally qualified. It really sucks. It's demoralizing. You're not alone in this, at least - there's been quite a few highly qualified Hacker News members posting about the experience. Don't take it personally. But it still really sucks
earthling8118 3y ago
It's been like this for years for many of us. It's a frustrating experience for sure.
lostdog 3y ago
Here's my guesses as to what's going on: 1. The recruiter got fired between reaching out and the call. 2. The recruiter discussed you with a hiring manager, and it turns out the hiring manager didn't think you were a good fit for the role. 3. The role got eliminated, and the recruiter just found out about it. 4. The recruiter is disorganized. 5. The recruiter had something else come up during that time slot, and decided it was easier to ghost you than reschedule.
- fatnoah 3y ago
  I'm pretty sure I've had all of the above happen.
kypro 3y ago
It happens from time to time, but the extend to which it's happening at the moment is a reflection of the state of the market for tech workers. What tends to happen is the recruiter will be recruiting for a role, they come across your profile and think you'll be a decent candidate. They'll reach out and arrange an initial call or suggest that they'll put your CV/Resume forward. However, things don't always proceed from there for several reasons... Sometimes the client decides they're no longer recruiting for the role. Sometimes the client gets a large number of profiles to review and will some what randomly select a few good ones and reject the rest. Sometimes the recruiter themselves will find candidates they feel are more appropriate so won't proceed with your application. And on rare occasions other things might happen like they'll be in meeting that has overran or be off sick so will just miss the meeting. From what I understand because a recruiter might be talking to numerous candidates for numerous roles at any one time the overhead of contacting them all to say something like "the client doesn't want to proceed with your application" is simply too high. Additionally, often candidates don't really care anyway because at this point they've already applied for several other roles. This is especially true in tech where historically candidates might decide to ghost recruiters after getting an offer for another role. I'm not saying it's nice, but you shouldn't take it personally. It's just a side effect of candidates applying for multiple roles, recruiters recruiting for multiple roles and clients reviewing multiple candidates. However, given the tech job market is weak right now it's not uncommon for recruiters to receive upward of 100 applicants per role (a lot of which are spam or completely unsuitable) so they're obviously not going to be getting in touch with candidate explaining why their application won't be proceeded with.
afr0ck 3y ago
It happened to me, today. She kept me waiting in a call booth for one hour.
- DANmode 3y ago
  What steps are you taking to ensure you have more leverage and don't feel like you have no other option but to wait for that long for a firm that doesn't deserve to be waited for?
  - afr0ck 3y ago
    I just keep applying to relevant jobs. I, personally, have very specific requirements that makes it much harder for me to find relevant jobs.
  - ulfw 3y ago
    What leverage do any techies have nowadays. Every day thousands are fired left and right.
    - DANmode 3y ago
      How long should I write? Any ability to wear multiple hats. Any customer service skills to go along with coding ability. Any trackable personality, so keeping you satisfied, and otherwise working with you isn't guesswork. More?

29 points by John23832 3y ago

stop50 3y ago

They don't care about the applicant. In the time they could call back or write an mail, they can call another applicant ore more.

AnimalMuppet 3y ago
If they're not going to call or write back, why bother to contact a candidate in the first place?
- justsomehnguy 3y ago
  KPI.
  - AnimalMuppet 3y ago
    SMH. If their KPIs prioritize volume of candidates contacted at the expense of following up with qualified candidates, then their KPIs are mis-aligned with how the business makes money. Mind you, I'm not saying you're wrong...

piecerough 3y ago

In today's market, if you are available for the intro call, recruiters go hunt for the next hard-to-get candidate. Bigger likelihood it'll be an actual conversion. Happened to me.

John23832 3y ago
How do you join a team without talking to anyone?
- kazinator 3y ago
  Very quietly.
- brezelgoring 3y ago
  Very patiently, and to be honest, I think it’s kind of a gamble. I shoot my CV and the kinds of jobs I’m looking for to recruiter agencies and let them sort it out. Some call me a year later with a job opening and I take those as just an opportunity to de-rust my interviewing skills, and maybe a bit of catharsis, no expectation of moving forward. On the more selfish side, I just enjoy the chat, recruiters are pretty and they make introspective questions I don’t get to answer often. Some offers move forward, some don’t, I got my last 2 jobs that way (8 years). Not a programmer btw, I’m in IT.

prospector1065 3y ago

Yes it has probably happened to me 3-4 times in the past few months

handoflixue 3y ago

The current market for software developers is awful, which means the recruiters have power and don't need to care about disrespecting applicants - they've got a hundred more that are equally qualified. It really sucks. It's demoralizing. You're not alone in this, at least - there's been quite a few highly qualified Hacker News members posting about the experience. Don't take it personally. But it still really sucks

earthling8118 3y ago

It's been like this for years for many of us. It's a frustrating experience for sure.

lostdog 3y ago

Here's my guesses as to what's going on: 1. The recruiter got fired between reaching out and the call. 2. The recruiter discussed you with a hiring manager, and it turns out the hiring manager didn't think you were a good fit for the role. 3. The role got eliminated, and the recruiter just found out about it. 4. The recruiter is disorganized. 5. The recruiter had something else come up during that time slot, and decided it was easier to ghost you than reschedule.

fatnoah 3y ago
I'm pretty sure I've had all of the above happen.

kypro 3y ago

It happens from time to time, but the extend to which it's happening at the moment is a reflection of the state of the market for tech workers. What tends to happen is the recruiter will be recruiting for a role, they come across your profile and think you'll be a decent candidate. They'll reach out and arrange an initial call or suggest that they'll put your CV/Resume forward. However, things don't always proceed from there for several reasons... Sometimes the client decides they're no longer recruiting for the role. Sometimes the client gets a large number of profiles to review and will some what randomly select a few good ones and reject the rest. Sometimes the recruiter themselves will find candidates they feel are more appropriate so won't proceed with your application. And on rare occasions other things might happen like they'll be in meeting that has overran or be off sick so will just miss the meeting. From what I understand because a recruiter might be talking to numerous candidates for numerous roles at any one time the overhead of contacting them all to say something like "the client doesn't want to proceed with your application" is simply too high. Additionally, often candidates don't really care anyway because at this point they've already applied for several other roles. This is especially true in tech where historically candidates might decide to ghost recruiters after getting an offer for another role. I'm not saying it's nice, but you shouldn't take it personally. It's just a side effect of candidates applying for multiple roles, recruiters recruiting for multiple roles and clients reviewing multiple candidates. However, given the tech job market is weak right now it's not uncommon for recruiters to receive upward of 100 applicants per role (a lot of which are spam or completely unsuitable) so they're obviously not going to be getting in touch with candidate explaining why their application won't be proceeded with.

afr0ck 3y ago

It happened to me, today. She kept me waiting in a call booth for one hour.

DANmode 3y ago
What steps are you taking to ensure you have more leverage and don't feel like you have no other option but to wait for that long for a firm that doesn't deserve to be waited for?
- afr0ck 3y ago
  I just keep applying to relevant jobs. I, personally, have very specific requirements that makes it much harder for me to find relevant jobs.
- ulfw 3y ago
  What leverage do any techies have nowadays. Every day thousands are fired left and right.
  - DANmode 3y ago
    How long should I write? Any ability to wear multiple hats. Any customer service skills to go along with coding ability. Any trackable personality, so keeping you satisfied, and otherwise working with you isn't guesswork. More?