Yup, it’s true. I really just don’t like most recruiters. I know it’s a cut throat business and I’m sure most recruiters are nice people in real life, but I still don’t like you. Hey, don’t get mad at me, I tried to like you, but like a bad relationship, it always ends the same way – with you making empty promise after empty promise leaving me holding the bag. But since it’s the holiday season and all, I thought the least I could do is give you the gift of feedback and list out all the ways that you annoy me. It’s for your own good.
- The Script – When you call me it takes all of about 3 seconds to realize you’re reading words from a script. Look, I know the person on the other end of the line is probably just out of school, but when the first thing I think of is a telemarketer interrupting my dinner, that’s not a good sign. If you’re going to use a script, at least practice the damn thing a few times in the mirror before you call me.
- You Called – Yeah, about the calling me thing…what is this 2000? There are about 15 different ways for you to reach me online and you thought the best thing to do would be to call and leave me some half assed message. Do you really think I’m going to call you back? There are about 5 people who I routinely speak with on the phone…even my mom texts me. If you want to engage me, engage me in a place where I’m likely to engage you back.
- The Perfect Candidate. – This is my favorite one. Let’s say you actually get me on the phone and you tell me all about this great candidate you have for one of my roles. Then I say great, send them along to me and I’ll have a look. Then, all of a sudden, the perfect candidate doesn’t really exist. Thanks for the bait and switch.
- You Don’t Know S#%t about my company – I hate this one the most. You pitch me on a candidate with great experience doing whatever from company X. Uh, if you knew anything about my company, you’d know we rarely hire from company X and that skill set doesn’t matter at all to me. Next time, ask me a few questions before giving me the hard sell.
The reality of being inside a company is that we will need to use recruiters to fill certain roles. I use them now. But what I’ve learned over the years is that the best recruiters out there are the ones who really take the time to understand their clients and what’s really going on within the company and only send me candidates who fit – they don’t send me people just to send them. I’ve always had much better success in working with a few select recruiters, helping them get to know us and happily giving them more business.
I’m also struck by the difficulty many of these companies have in keeping people. I understand that its a commission-heavy sales business. However, if you’re going to convince me that you’re good at finding talent, I’d be more comforted if there weren’t new names and faces every few months!
How about not generalizing the word “recruiters” and say ‘agency recruiters’ as it sounds like you’re not talking about corporate recruiters.
Haha… my mom texts me too
Excellent points
I think you need to direct your “hate” towards certain recruitment firms and not recruiters in general. After all, it is the firms who push over used scripts and and “perfect candidate” tactics. I think you would have better success filling your internal roles if a) you used a better firm, probably a boutique one with less red-tape and realistic targets for their recruiters – so they wouldn’t have to make 100 calls a day with the same script and b) you didn’t have a preconceived notion about all recruiters..
So…what happened to Merrimack’s annual performance reviews?
This is so true! I was in staffing and tried to tell my “stuck in their ways” bosses that we should try new methods and was told I wasn’t a team player!
You guys are right – I’m not talking about internal recruiters but primarily agencies. Some agencies really are excellent at what they do but I think they often get lumped in with all the other not so great ones. Perhaps unfairly.
@mara – DM me on twitter and I’ll be happy to fill you in andyt_porter
Your hatred for Recruiters doesn’t come close to the hate for HR folk by recruiters…
Andy. I am not a monster. I am a person. You have some valid points, but we are all not like that. When you deal with really large agencies, you will deal with a lot more of that because they often have high turn over and a one size fits all approach, but honestly they also have big networks of candidates. I learned in a large firm, but I work for a boutique firm now. I work hard to network in my niche and to learn about it. Most recruiting firms are small businesses.
We don’t get paid unless a candidate works out. You have no idea how much work goes into getting a client and then recruiting a candidate. We sometimes deal with bad HR/hiring managers or troublesome candidates. It isn’t a complaint. That’s the gamble we take.
Yes. There are many bad recruiters, but much like lawyers you hate us until you need our help. Company’s often don’t have the time or the network to find the right person.
I don’t “hate” corporate HR, but I’ll tell you my pet peeves with clients.
A client tells me and they really need a candidate right away. I find them a great one. I’ve told the candidate all about the company and the job and they are really excited. Now I can’t get any feedback from the company’s hr or hiring manger. They don’t return calls or emails. Perhaps the job is filled, closed, no budget, etc. I don’t know. I can’t give the candidate honest feedback. I’ve wasted their time and mine. I can’t even get the courtesy of a short email.
Unlike you, I don’t lump all hr/hiring mangers into that category. A lot of them are great. I’ll drop everything for them, because they respect the candidate’s time and my time. They are up front and honest with me.
Clients often neglect to tell you details about the job that would change they type of candidate I am looking for. They are sometimes misleading about benefits and/or salary, travel, scope of the job, etc.
I’ve done all the work of recruiting a person: background checks/references, salary negotiation, interviews, etc only to have the company hire them behind my back to avoid paying for the work I’ve done.
It is a great feeling when you successfully match a company with a candidate and everyone is happy. We develop relationships with them and feel bad for them when things don’t work out.
I’ve bent over backwards for clients/candidates so that things can work out. Cut our fees or paid for relocation or given ridiculously long guarantees.
I can understand your frustration, but to title it “Why I hate (most) recruiters” rather than to say “Tips for agency recruiters,” would’ve been the more professional approach.
Andy,
I appreciate your frustration, and understand exactly where you are coming from.
I’ll let A speak for us recruiters out there, as A has done a nice job of summing it up – you are generalizing. But let’s suspend that a second, and generalize if we could:
(Hypothetically) Why I hate HR:
- You push paper, you see slots and seats, not people.
- You are a roadblock – you comp positions based on the DOL and Salary.com. I do it based on the last 10 people I talked to. Which do you think is more market accurate?
- You interpret a recession as shooting fish in a barrel for recruiting. Do the phrases “there is 10% unemployment out there, people should be falling over this job” OR “It’s 10k less, they should be happy to have a job” sound familiar?
You have a hard job – managing the logistics, benefits and overall “people things” of the company.
Ironically, when you think about it, we do all the same things, but just ours is to get them in the door, and yours is to keep them in the door once they are in.
I’m just saying that until HR and Recruiting find a happy mutual respect and co-existence, we’ll always have this divide and debate.
Thanks for a fun post,
Pete
Hey Anj,
I havent read your article yet but a big money-making recruiter sent me this message:
“you should get this guy who wrote this post on your animal show. what an idiot.”
So I thought I wd ask: Interested? Here’s the intro to the show http://OccupyRecruiting.com
I’ve been the candidate that never heard back from the recruiter, the recruiter trying to get feedback from the hiring manager, the HR person that embarrassingly forgets to get back to a candidate or has to call a candidate when the hiring process has stalled.
Each role has it’s own motivations but at the end of the day, everyone wants to get the right person in the door. When we start polarizing and putting people in boxes, we all lose. Let’s play together at the same playground instead of fighting over turf.
@A and @Pete – thanks for commenting.
you’re both right – internal HR isn’t innocent here either and there are lots of ways we could be better. could be a good idea for another post!
as I said though, I have worked with many great recruiters and still do. I just wish there were more of them out there.
I think I’ll have to agree with Andy’s post…perhaps a toned down agreement
I’ve been called by recruitment agencies and thought it was a scam because of how scripted it sounded, so I ended up saying “no, thank you” to the offer. Looking back, they were just trying to help, but their execution threw me off.
There are poor performers in every profession. I am emailed by the same person/company each and every time our organization posts an opening on our website. The email is below. The only thing he changes on each email is the job title. It comes off as scripted/basic anyway, but to repeatedly send the same email over and over again is just a joke. What I’m really wondering is how this guy/company gets any business using tactics like this.
I noticed your TITLE HERE opening at COMPANY HERE. We are representing an exceptional candidate who you may want to review. Please let me know if you’re interested in reviewing this candidate. There’s no fee unless you decide to hire the candidate.
Who are we? CyberCoders is a pay for performance recruiting firm with a network of nearly 11 million candidates that locates both permanent and contract employees for many of the nation’s top companies.
Best part? We work for you on a contingency basis; we only earn our fee if you hire one of our candidates.
Once hired, we stand behind our candidates. If, for any reason, the candidate does not work out in the first three months, we will make a replacement at no additional charge.
Interested? Simply email or call me, and I’ll contact our candidate regarding COMPANY HERE right away. You’ll be able to review their resume, interview them, and see if there is a fit before any fee is charged!
We would be happy to work on any of your other positions as well; just email me your toughest positions.
I look forward to working with you,
NAME
Here’s What I know.
Anyone recruiting for a role IN HR is already at the bottom of the bucket so its not surprising you’ve had bad recruiters call you, this is more of a reflection on you than them.
You, like countless other “HR Professionals” are in a position of “power”… like a doorman is in a position of power. Ive recruited CEO, CRO’s, CTO’s and VP Engineering for and from fortune 50 companies with more humility than you. A career HR guy who hates recruiters… This is Hilarious! The funny thing is if you didnt suck at your job, you’d be on our side making 500K a year. Sorry your career is a joke… Now, let the professionals do our jobs.
I’m in my 10th year working for a staffing company, and I don’t disagree with what you wrote. Many of my competitors (and even some coworkers) are in it for the quick hit and rarely take the time to get to know their clients and their needs. I am not an “ad chaser”. I don’t have the time for that. Instead I use my time to meet wtih my clients to understand their needs. I do not throw resumes at them and hope that a candidate sticks. But, I’m the exception. That’s what makes me successful.
Andy, how many of the decent recruiters you talk to do you retain exclusively to fill certain roles?
The answer to this normally has a strong correlation with the quality of service you get from recruiters. It also reduces the amount of time you may have to spend talking to them.