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I strongly disagree with the premise of this title (or the conclusion of the story). Bad recruiters are bad, yes. But there are good recruiters (even if they'r
by chimeracoder 13y ago
I strongly disagree with the premise of this title (or the conclusion of the story).
Bad recruiters are bad, yes. But there are good recruiters (even if they're hard to find!)
A good recruiter knows not to do things like spam developer mailing lists, stiff candidates on reimbursements, or any of the many ridiculous shenanigans we often hear stories about. A good recruiter also knows that the best way to recruit talent is to develop longstanding relationships with said talent, and therefore understands that meeting with developers who aren't actively looking for a job is not only a valuable use of their time, but arguably the most valuable use of their time[0].
That said, I've had my fair share of bad experiences with recruiters. I'm still waiting on a travel reimbursement for a company I interviewed with (and eventually turned down, partly because of this debacle) months ago. (It's not a 2-person, bootstrapped company; they have well more than enough cash to cover a ~$500 check.)
I really wish there were a "wall of shame" for companies that take more then 2 months to reimburse people (especially student candidates) for travel expenses. Six months (the longest I have ever had to wait, from a well-funded company that was later acquihired) is the longest I've heard of.
[0] Yes, I had a recruiter stop responding to my emails a couple of years ago when I told him that I was several months away from graduating and wanted to wait a couple of months before actually beginning the interview process.
- canistr 13y agoI agree, the title is more link-bait of an individual's situation with one particular agency than any form of generalization of the recruitment process. Flagged for title change.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- chimeracoder 13y agoIf you're a student and don't really want to make a commitment yet (and don't even have the time to interview), it can still be valuable to hop on the phone for 15 minutes and figure out if someone's worth keeping in mind for later, when you actually are looking for jobs. By the way, when I say "recruiter", I mean anybody who's in a hiring position. This can include a CTO who is actively searching for talent.
- zalew 13y agoWell, I'm not a student, but: hop on the phone for 15 minutes? I'd rather receive that lousy emails.
- chimeracoder 13y agoMaybe it's because I used to work at a venture firm, but I'm always happy to hear a founder who's enthusiastic talk for a few minutes about what they're building. See my above note about using the term "recruiter" to mean anybody who's looking for talent (eg, lead engineer, CTO). Maybe that wasn't clear.
- zalew 13y agoI got it, but talking to a complete stranger on the phone when you are not looking for a job, so he keeps you in mind for an undefined later? Maybe drop in an example, because I don't see how could it work better than just dropping an email which you either delete (and post an obligatory rage-tweet about stupid recruiters) or tag for later if the offer/company seemed interesting.
- ryen 13y ago> I really wish there were a "wall of shame" for companies that take more then 2 months to reimburse people You can start by posting more information here!