Candidate to Generic Recruiters With No Game: "If You Suck, I Won't Be Replying"...
March 21, 2011
Last week, I ran a tongue-in-cheek post called "The Most Honest System-Generated Rejection Letter Ever"... It was designed to be truthful and direct, to say what needed to be said to candidates getting a rejection note from an employer who likely never even looked at their resume - thanks to the magic of keyword matching.
As luck would have it, a reader I'll call "Jake" saw my rejection letter and emailed me the following - a perfect auto-response from a candidate who is so sick of lame recruiters calling him without knowing the basics of what he does for a living and what he's looking for, that he's giving them the following rundown - which basically tells them they've already committed six sins of recruiting and he won't be giving them the chance to commit the seventh.
The out-of-office type of automated response from the candidate looked like this:
"This is an auto-response set up to deal with the overwhelming number of emails regarding my resume. Sorry if you are a legitimate contact. The bad ones are about 95% of my emails.
1) I am not interested in contract positions. Please remove my contact information from your systems if you are looking for a contractor.
2) I am not a MySQL or Oracle DBA. I know nothing of MySQL or Oracle and do not wish to switch to either.
3) I am not a programmer; I used to do VB programming but switched to a DBA/T-SQL role MANY years ago. If this position isn't for a Microsoft SQL Database Administrator, I'm not interested.
4) I will skim your email looking for numbers, if I don't see a salary range I will delete it. Too many recruiters ignore my salary requirements thinking I am some desperate person looking for a job and may accept 1/2 of what I state I require. I am currently employed, exceptional at what I do and won't leave my current position for less than $100K, full time and with good benefits.
5) I am not interested in shops that are running old SQL 6.5/7. These versions of SQL were obsolete a decade ago. My expertise is focused on SQL 2005 through 2008 R2 and I have no desire to regress.
6) Relocation: If your position isn’t in Ohio, then you need to have a relocation package that includes dealing with a home I own. I have no desire to move further North. Florida is preferred, Texas is acceptable. Chicago or New York would be acceptable for a significant increase in pay to compensate for cost of living.
Thank you,
[name redacted]"
Wow - that's money. As luck would have it, the candidate is in a profession (Tech, focus on SQL) where he can call his shots and undoubtedly gets a lot of calls from recruiters - obviously the resume-slinging kind where the movie Boiler Room plays in the background and they're there to dial from the database. Dialing early and often. We called him 2 weeks ago? Call him again.
The moral - a good recruiter has to play to the talent pool she's trying to embed herself in. Without embedding yourself in the job and the profession that supports it, you're just another resume spammer as a recruiter.
Dial or email with that in mind...
nice reminder frm @kris_dunn | resume spamming #recruiters would do well to read this post
Posted by: DennisSmith | March 22, 2011 at 09:06 AM
I just read a comment by Kris Dunn on Shine (22 Secrets HR won't tell you about getting a job)."If you're a candidate and the hiring manager spends 45 minutes talking about himself, the company or his Harley, let him. He's going to come out of the interview saying you're a great candidate." Dunn forgets that the candidate should come out of the interview thinking that if this is the kind of manager this company employes, it is not a company for me. Dunn may be the kind of HR officer that potential employees use to judge a potential employer and run in the opposite direction.
Posted by: Lee Myszak | March 22, 2011 at 11:19 AM
Hey Lee -
Rather than stereotype me as the type of HR Pro who makes people run in the other direction, you need to provide the proper context that the quote was given...
The reality - the quote was given for an article designed to help people out of work get employed. All anyone, including yourself, has to do to see my total thought process and commitment to finding the right fit for the company/candidate is read through 15 articles on this blog, which has over 1000 posts.
My record is clear regarding the type of HR Pro I am and aspire to be daily.
It's all about context, Lee. Don't snipe unless your prepared to snipe against my full record on this blog. It's weak.
KD
Posted by: KD | March 23, 2011 at 09:35 AM
I also follow through Google Reader!
Posted by: Belstaff Abbigliamento UOMO | November 05, 2011 at 01:32 PM