Recruiters suck.

[wyvrn]

I found out the last recruiter I used lied to my face about the job description and responsibilities, and also the reason why there was a recent high turnover at my position. I didn't find this out until I had been here several months. She came across as really caring, but in reality is a scumbag.

In my general experience, recruiters' only skill is dealing with people. They generally have low morals and are excellent at bending the truth or lying to fill a position.

 

[SunnyD]

Alrighty then, I suppose I should clarify for the illiterate masses...

This was a corporate recruiter for a specific company. After I supplied my resume I was promptly replied to with great interest, however the timing (right before the holidays) meant that hiring managers were variously out of the office, at which point we agreed to follow up after the holidays were over.

After that, initially things were well. I missed one phone call which I promptly returned about an hour later (I was working on a helpdesk at the time, I can't take personal calls, and he called my home and left a message with my wife). That call resulted in voicemail, which every single call after that did as well. It wasn't a matter of me following up. It wasn't a matter that I wasn't a qualified candidate (I was expressedly told that I was the most likely candidate for that position).

It was at this point where I began to feel strung along... and where my beef is is that the company is still listing for the position with no intent of hiring for it. I shall say it again, in today's reply, the recruited explicitly said he was farming resumes. This disgusts me.

 

[MaxDepth]

Quality, caring, smart people are hard to find any job as most don't give a flying fudge whether they do their job responsibly or not. That being said, many recruiters out there are like realtors. They work off of commission, keyword search through job ops and resumes to see if something matches (and in most cases doesn?t understand what the job is really asking for) and they don't do their homework. They think if they can cull through the largest base of meat bags they can collect, one of them will be a candidate for the job.

I've had some really great recruiters and some that really, really suck. My latest "agent" is the office newbie. He does not understand my job nor does he take the time to email me and ask me. Instead, he tries to call or visit in person - just as I am ass deep in projects and I cannot take the time to sit down with him; he has to schedule an appointment like everyone else and he does not understand that. I work best if a contracting agency is transparent to me and the company that employs my skills.


As for corporate recruiters, I keep up with them for a month. If they do not get consider my resume or have selections or interviews lined up by the following month, I call and ask them to throw away my resume. If they place a job posting and do not expect to turn it in two months then clearly they do not have their crap together.

 

[Looney]

Farming resumes is very common, my company does that too. You should have clued in when they didn't actively tried to contact you. And you really didn't waste six months... unless you really did nothing but waited for that job in all that while.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: jbourne77

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
SNIP

Wow... taking this personal, are we?

You sound like someone trying to justify their existance. I don't feel the need to get involved in that. The fact is, my 7 years of close interaction with recruities DOES qualify me to make the statements I've made. If you can't deal with it, that's your problem.

I don't need to justify my existance. You're the one making baseless comments. If you can't care to support it, don't. Don't want to back up your comment? Don't make it then.

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: wyvrn
I found out the last recruiter I used lied to my face about the job description and responsibilities, and also the reason why there was a recent high turnover at my position. I didn't find this out until I had been here several months. She came across as really caring, but in reality is a scumbag.

In my general experience, recruiters' only skill is dealing with people. They generally have low morals and are excellent at bending the truth or lying to fill a position.

That pretty much jives with my experience, too. The problems you describe are problems that are dealt with my employers, too. It's pretty frustrating sometimes trying to find a qualified candidate for a position because recruiters either won't give you a straight answer about a prospect, or they flat-out lie. I've been on both sides of that fence. I've had recruiters tell me that job XYZ was a perfect fit for my skillset, and then when I get there, I find out that they're actually looking for an accountant. An extreme example, sure, but it illustrates what employers and candidates have to wade through when they're dealing with a recruiter.

Are there honest recruiters out there with legitimate skills? Absolutely... they're just few and far between.

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: jbourne77

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
SNIP

Wow... taking this personal, are we?

You sound like someone trying to justify their existance. I don't feel the need to get involved in that. The fact is, my 7 years of close interaction with recruities DOES qualify me to make the statements I've made. If you can't deal with it, that's your problem.

I don't need to justify my existance. You're the one making baseless comments. If you can't care to support it, don't. Don't want to back up your comment? Don't make it then.

LOL... baseless my ass. Just because I don't care to take the time to detail everything I've witnessed in my professional career in hopes you'll believe me, doesn't mean I'm wrong. You can either accept that I've had close working relationships with recruiters for more than enough time to form these opinions, or you can tell yourself I'm lying.

Whatever.