speaking of missing the point . . .
This Monster posting is being passed around by online recruiters. It makes me laugh just how seriously this person takes himself:
TO all recruiters- A job description + a Salary range MUST be emailed to me FIRST. I will not return phone calls or emails unless this step is taken first many of you are calling with low paying jobs and no job description and I don’t have the time to talk to everyone about a position I don’t want. I WILL NOT come into your office “JUST TO TALK” about my resume. If you’re a staffing firm/recruiter I can care less about what your company does or how long its been around. You serve one purpose and that’s to tell IT professionals what Jobs you are hiring for right now and how much those jobs are paying.
Valid point in part. We’re really damn up front about that when we talk to candidates, but I know that’s not always the case. But I strongly disagree that my sole purpose is to tell people what my jobs pay. My purpose is also to represent the best needs of my client.
What I look for in tech folks (and really, people in general) is a true passion for IT. I love the gleam in the eyes of geeks that enjoy being geeks. There are far too many IT professionals who don’t give a shit about technology, it’s uses, capabilities, limitations, and possibilities. When people ask about money before they want to talk tech (or about my client’s product) it’s usually a sign for me that they lack that passion that I’m looking for.
And frankly, money is not that important AT THIS INITIAL PHASE. I have a general idea of what a candidate’s skills are worth, salary wise. If I contact someone about a particular client need, I (almost always) know if they’re in a reasonable range.
If you absolutely deem it imperative that I come in to speak about your company and my resume be prepared to pay for 2 hours of my time at 50.00 an hour plus gas. If you find this notion absurd then so is taking 2 hours of my time plus gas money just to talk about my resume when this info can be relayed over the phone.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. What I can get over the phone is a rundown of a candidate’s IT skills, and some discussion about your experience. What I can’t get is his/her personality, manner, mannerisms, demeanor. I can’t tell whether he/she makes eye contact. I can’t tell whether he/she has blue hair and multiple piercings (welcome at some of my clients, but not at others). I can’t tell his/her personal hygeine (more important than you think). I can’t tell how he/she deals with speaking with more than one person. I can’t telll whether he/she has a crappy handshake. To sum it up, I can’t tell a personality from one phone call alone.
If a candidate can’t make the time to come in for an interview with me, then they give me absolutely no incentive to send them to my client. None. They’ve illustrated that a process is not important to them. I always think to myself “there is someone else that wants this job more than you. I’m going to go find that person.”
All recruiters and Staffing Firms MUST have a pay range of $55-65.00 an hour +,1099 or corp to corp.
Sounds like a fascinating business model. Let me know how this works out.
May 25th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
Yeah, but, I have some sympathy for the original poster’s viewpoint. While you wouldn’t completely waste a candidate’s time, there are plenty of body shops out there that would, and do, jerk people around. The poster’s response is a bit overwrought but not entirely unfair to the industry in general. Actually, I think one of the best things recruiter blogs can do is help candidates see what an agency is like from a distance so that they realize that folks like you are in fact worth working with.
May 25th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
Hi Colin - Thanks for your response!
I try not to be in the ‘body shop’ business. I work hard to combat that idea by being up front all candidates, and setting proper expectations with both talent and clients.
I feel for the guy, but I think a more professional reaction would have been: “I will consider working with a placement agency, provided there is a job description and salary expectation in advance.” Being vitriolic and defensive right out of the gate doesn’t come across as flexible, engaging, and professional, three qualities that I look for in any candidate.
June 1st, 2006 at 10:11 am
I’m a little late to the party here, but I agree with Colin that many of the body shops have tainted the image of recruiters in a lot of cases. The good ones seem to have to carry the burden of the shady that went before them.
However, I think this candidates line of communication is way out of line and completely lacks professionalism. To me it reeks of arrogance. He’s a transient IT professional that bounces from contract to contract, never sticks around very long and probably doesn’t make too many friends along the way. If I’m making a snap judgement, he was probably the super smart, but slightly off-kilter kid in school that got picked on. Now that he’s a ‘popular’ person in his industry, he carries a chip on his shoulder.
I work for a company that has both an internal software development team and a staffing function. For our internal staff, if they don’t have the gleam, that incessant desire to learn about, talk about and blog about technology, they won’t cut the mustard.
June 7th, 2006 at 3:49 pm
my GOD Tiffany you have spammers crawling like ants all over your site as if it were smothered in honey
June 7th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
Sorry to double post like this but I must make an amendment after re-reading those comments above me. It is quite likely that I have just never personally met anyone who spoke in such odd and vague manner. You still have spam on other posts!
June 7th, 2006 at 4:23 pm
Oh whatever, I had THREE spam comments which had somehow bypassed the moderation queue.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
I have gone to agencies in the past, while looking for a job. Most of the time, the agent will say “oh that job is just an advertisement and doesn’t really exist.”
Also I am so nervous that I can’t think straight when taking my test or I will use the computer shortcuts to accomplish a task, but the computer will say “wrong response” when it is the right response when used as a short cut in word or excel. So my test scores are low in all testing because they all use the same computer program. So I just post my resume on the Internet and get more interviews that I ever did with an agency.
I was also told my a friend who said there is a quote that the agencies have to accomplish and I have seen that with snide, high and mighty attitude of the agents.
Not all agencies are there to help the person get a job but are there to make money. The client wants someone for less money and the agencies help them to achieve that!!!