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I don't think we need to be as adversary towards recruiters as we sometimes are as a profession. Good recruiters are basically your sales force. They'll be ou

I don't think we need to be as adversary towards recruiters as we sometimes are as a profession. Good recruiters are basically your sales force. They'll be out there building connections and holding a very wide book of open opportunities for you the moment you need them. The good ones will also be respected on the other side, by the employer. If they think you are a particularly good fit for a good role, they can have both you and the employer walking into a very warm lead before you even start your search. I have two or three recruiters who have kept me busy for a decade. I tend to think of them as partners as much as anything. They know I won't make them look stupid in front of their clients, and I know they will do the right thing by me by being frank & honest. As with all professions, some are better than others. However, if you treat all recruiters with disdain you are also damaging your own prospects in terms of building some potentially mutually rewarding relationships.

operand 14y ago
Hey, I completely agree. The tone of my post was pretty aggressive but sincerely my goal was to be helpful, if a bit gruff. The recruiters I have worked with have been like any other demographic, mostly very nice people and great to work with, but then there are some bad apples that make the rest look bad. I wrote this to try to give feedback on what it's like from our end, to let them know what's more likely to work, and what's not.
affiliate777 14y ago
I agree that an adversarial tone is not advisable for multiple reasons. I have seen a couple of articles on this topic where the engineer comes across as downright rude. I think this particular article (mostly) avoided this trap and recognized that while there are legitimate issues with the way recruiters approach engineers, this is still ultimately a good problem to have. Being in demand is great, but the tides can turn quickly in any profession (see: lawyers). I think it's perfectly appropriate to be able to point out issues with recruiting, but ideally with a sense of humility and appreciation for the opportunities that one has -- this article does that for the most part.

operand 14y ago

Hey, I completely agree. The tone of my post was pretty aggressive but sincerely my goal was to be helpful, if a bit gruff. The recruiters I have worked with have been like any other demographic, mostly very nice people and great to work with, but then there are some bad apples that make the rest look bad. I wrote this to try to give feedback on what it's like from our end, to let them know what's more likely to work, and what's not.

affiliate777 14y ago

I agree that an adversarial tone is not advisable for multiple reasons. I have seen a couple of articles on this topic where the engineer comes across as downright rude. I think this particular article (mostly) avoided this trap and recognized that while there are legitimate issues with the way recruiters approach engineers, this is still ultimately a good problem to have. Being in demand is great, but the tides can turn quickly in any profession (see: lawyers). I think it's perfectly appropriate to be able to point out issues with recruiting, but ideally with a sense of humility and appreciation for the opportunities that one has -- this article does that for the most part.