43 ms·

Why do recruiter emails bother people so much? Just ignore them. Sometimes they give me a small piece of visibility into the job market. Mostly they are a non-

Why do recruiter emails bother people so much? Just ignore them. Sometimes they give me a small piece of visibility into the job market. Mostly they are a non-event. Why let it bother you?

bostonaholic 13y ago
It's the complete lack of care and attention some recruiters put into their job that is annoying. As programmers, we all take great pride in our work and would hope that others do, too.
- crystaln 13y ago
  If that's the case, why not be upset at something that matters. There is lots of much more impactful incompetence to complain about. Bad recruiters are largely harmless. And seriously, I can't imagine a more elitist, entitled attitude than being seriously upset at people trying to pay you lots of money to work. Do you know what a privilege that is?
  - atgm 13y ago
    > I can't imagine a more elitist, entitled attitude than being seriously upset at people trying to pay you lots of money to work. I think the recruiters that most people complain about aren't "trying to pay you lots of money to work." The recruiters people complain about are just looking for people and don't really care whether or not those people actually fit the job description. They may not even have a job they're recruiting for and may just be looking for people to keep "on hand." So rather than "paying lots of money," they cost money in terms of time spent filtering them out and communicating with the duds. In addition to that, the recruiters themselves aren't actually the ones paying money... the companies are. I don't think anyone is getting upset about companies offering jobs -- just shoddy recruiters who waste our time. So saying that complaining about bad recruiters is an "elitist, entitled attitude" seems to me like saying that people are elitist and entitled for not liking Nigerian scammers... hey, they're offering you free money! But they're not.
    - crystaln 13y ago
      Complaining about Nigerian scammers is also pretty stupid - both useless and tiresome. Delete and move on.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
atgm 13y ago
> Why do recruiter emails bother people so much? Imagine that you're thinking about buying a house sometime in the future or are in a situation where you know you'll probably buy a house somewhere in the future and would welcome leads/connections. You even blog about this, being quite open about what you want in a house and what your dream house is like. Realtors keep e-mailing you saying that they have the perfect house for you, but never tell you where it is or if it's even in the same country. Sometimes they describe the house and it's nothing like what you've publicly said that you're looking for. Or if it is what you're looking for, it turns out to be a bunch of fluff and vapor to get you to respond so that they can show you other houses that you really don't want. If you try to keep in touch with a good realtor who doesn't have what you want now but may in the future, he just completely forgets you or what you wanted to begin with. Or maybe he just disappears in a month or two. That's what recruiter spam feels like, to me. The semi-targeted nature of recruiter spam makes it even worse because it's aiming for something I will probably want or need in the future but doesn't actually address any of my wants or needs.

Why do recruiter emails bother people so much? Just ignore them. Sometimes they give me a small piece of visibility into the job market. Mostly they are a non-event. Why let it bother you?

bostonaholic 13y ago

It's the complete lack of care and attention some recruiters put into their job that is annoying. As programmers, we all take great pride in our work and would hope that others do, too.

crystaln 13y ago
If that's the case, why not be upset at something that matters. There is lots of much more impactful incompetence to complain about. Bad recruiters are largely harmless. And seriously, I can't imagine a more elitist, entitled attitude than being seriously upset at people trying to pay you lots of money to work. Do you know what a privilege that is?
- atgm 13y ago
  > I can't imagine a more elitist, entitled attitude than being seriously upset at people trying to pay you lots of money to work. I think the recruiters that most people complain about aren't "trying to pay you lots of money to work." The recruiters people complain about are just looking for people and don't really care whether or not those people actually fit the job description. They may not even have a job they're recruiting for and may just be looking for people to keep "on hand." So rather than "paying lots of money," they cost money in terms of time spent filtering them out and communicating with the duds. In addition to that, the recruiters themselves aren't actually the ones paying money... the companies are. I don't think anyone is getting upset about companies offering jobs -- just shoddy recruiters who waste our time. So saying that complaining about bad recruiters is an "elitist, entitled attitude" seems to me like saying that people are elitist and entitled for not liking Nigerian scammers... hey, they're offering you free money! But they're not.
  - crystaln 13y ago
    Complaining about Nigerian scammers is also pretty stupid - both useless and tiresome. Delete and move on.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

atgm 13y ago

> Why do recruiter emails bother people so much? Imagine that you're thinking about buying a house sometime in the future or are in a situation where you know you'll probably buy a house somewhere in the future and would welcome leads/connections. You even blog about this, being quite open about what you want in a house and what your dream house is like. Realtors keep e-mailing you saying that they have the perfect house for you, but never tell you where it is or if it's even in the same country. Sometimes they describe the house and it's nothing like what you've publicly said that you're looking for. Or if it is what you're looking for, it turns out to be a bunch of fluff and vapor to get you to respond so that they can show you other houses that you really don't want. If you try to keep in touch with a good realtor who doesn't have what you want now but may in the future, he just completely forgets you or what you wanted to begin with. Or maybe he just disappears in a month or two. That's what recruiter spam feels like, to me. The semi-targeted nature of recruiter spam makes it even worse because it's aiming for something I will probably want or need in the future but doesn't actually address any of my wants or needs.