Why I Refuse To Work With Job Recruiters Any Longer

It was a cold January morning in New York.

My suit was pressed. My shoes were shined. I made sure I had the ten copies of my resume printed just as the recruiter told me.

I put on my hat and gloves and began my long commute to the city for a job interview I was preparing for several weeks. As I headed into the train station — right on cue, I received a call from the recruiter.

For what seemed like the 100th time, he quickly runs through all the fathomable questions they might ask me and reminds me to call him immediately after.

He and I talked so much over the last several weeks, you would think we were best friends.

After a 2-hour train ride, I finally arrived at the offices and…

I waited.

And waited some more.

An hour later, the hiring manager finally appeared only to say:

“The position has already been filled a days ago— did your staffing agency not tell you?”

No of course he didn’t.

When I contacted the recruiter, he claimed to be in the dark. He told me, “let me find out what’s going on and get back to you” then quickly hung up. Not surprisingly, I never heard from that him again.

Weird how he stopped answering my calls.

Recruiters run your game elsewhere.

Of course, my experience isn’t indicative of all recruiters. But it points to the larger issue of why job recruitment by staffing agencies needs to change.

It feels like a very self-serving proposition — and on the recruiter’s end.

Sorry recruiters, I appreciate all your DMs, emails, and connection requests on LinkedIn regarding roles you think I’m “perfect” for. But I stopped responding a long time ago. And it probably will stay that way until the model changes.

Job recruitment resembles what my grandmother used to tell me about getting cold-pitched every other day by the door-to-door vacuum salesman.

Either way, I’m not buying what you guys and gals are selling, even though I know many of you are well-intended.

Here’s my problem working with a recruiter:

1. Those copy and paste canned emails can be sniffed out a mile away.

Did you just run a generic search of the job title on LinkedIn and then mail bomb all the matching profiles? If so, are you selling vacuums or a career?

2. Is the goal to find the best fit for the role or to put a warm body in a cold seat?

Do you get paid by the number of bodies you send on interviews? It sure seems that way.

3 Did you really read my profile thoroughly?

If so where in my profile does it list C# as a tech skill. The only C# I know is the chord I can strum on my guitar.

4. And most importantly: You work for the company you’re hiring for.

This means you’re working on behalf of their best interest, not the candidates. This is completely understandable and makes perfect sense but this muddies the waters during the recruitment process — because it blurs the lines between your relationship with the candidate.

Whose best interest do you have in mind? Let’s keep it real.

Unless they are explicitly working for you, partnering with a recruiter to find you a job is like taking advice from the realtor working for the seller of a property you are considering purchasing.

In both of these scenarios, your interests are not represented.

Just Show Us You Give A Crap

Recruiters, I respect the job you do which is probably more challenging than I can fathom. I just want to see the needs and interests of the candidate also taken into account throughout the process.

Us candidates just want to know you care about us too and that your charming, friendly demeanor isn’t just a put-on.

At the beginning of the process, it feels like you guys love us and really have our back because we might just be that winning lottery ticket. But when our number isn’t called, don’t rip up us and throw us away. Still gives us some love.

The name of the game is trust.

But showing the candidate you care about their success too can go a long way in getting the right person for the job and making sure everyone wins: You. The Employer. And the candidate.

Because isn’t that what it’s all about?

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