An open letter to recruiters

I’ve worked with many recruiters as both a potential employee and as a customer. I hate to say it, but most of it hasn’t been positive. As I field the constant stream of messages in my LinkedIn inbox, the sometimes weekly calls, and recruiters sending us people who don’t fit even our most basic requirements, I’m noticing some trends that concern me.

So, without further ado, here’s some practical advice for the recruiters out there. (It doesn’t apply to all of you, but it does apply to many.)

Stop sending me form letter recruitment emails.

Form letters are not the way to establish a relationship, and relationships are so powerful in the recruiting process. When I receive and email from a recruiter, I want to feel like they are committed to making a good match between a company and the talent. That’s how I know a recruiter is doing his or her job.

When I receive a form letter, it feels like they’re not even trying. There is no intention behind it, and they are certainly not interested in forming a relationship to find the best match for either the opening, the company, or the talent.

Form letter recruiting is obnoxious because it’s low effort salesmanship. It’s cookie cutter — and unfortunately, it’s expected. If you’re going to send me a message, at least show that you’ve read my LinkedIn profile. Mention something about my job or my experience that connects to the position you’re offering. In other words, stand out from the crowd. If I don’t know you, then you all look the same to me. At least try to get to know me a little before contacting me. Relationships are so powerful- establish them and use them!

Make sure the job is the right fit for the person.

This is a big one for me, because it seems that a lot of recruiters have one objective — connect a person with a job. It doesn’t have to be the right person for the job, it just has to be a body in a chair. This is a means to an end — fulfilling quotas or getting bonuses, typically — and it needs to stop. I’m not interested in being a plus one on your quarterly report — if I’m talking to you, it’s because I’m interested in your company or what you have to say.

At my last employer, we reached out to a recruiter for a SQL optimization specialist. We interviewed three people who didn’t meet the qualifications we had laid out — either they had no experience or experience in totally different technologies.

We aren’t fungible. We have unique experiences and objectives. Make sure they align with the job you’re pitching to us. I can’t tell you how many times my senior level colleagues are asked to consider entry level jobs. If the recruiter had spent thirty seconds looking at their profile, they would have realized the job wasn’t the best fit and not wasted their time. I don’t know about you, but I see this as a win-win.

Don’t bait and switch.

Recently, a friend of mine was contacted by a corporate recruiter with an opportunity he found interesting. Completely remote, competitive salary, great benefits, work/life balance, the works. There were several positions available, ranging from entry level to senior and beyond. Having close to ten years of industry experience as a software engineer, he inquired about a Principal Engineer position.

During one of the email back-and-forths, the recruiter asked his salary requirements, so my friend gave a number. The recruiter responded with an email saying he was communicating with the hiring manager and that they might have to hold off on the process, since the salary was too high for a Software Engineer. The cherry on the cake was the recruiter’s line stating, I have to see if we’re even hiring Principal Engineers right now.

It doesn’t take much to figure out what happened here — the recruiter tried to bait him with a higher level job and tried to hook him into a job he didn’t want and didn’t ask for. It goes without saying, but please don’t do this. Listen to your talent and find out what they’re looking for — don’t try and shoehorn them into something they didn’t ask for.

Don’t lie.

This one’s so simple, I find myself disappointed that I have to say it out loud, but here we are. Unfortunately, there exist recruiters who want to take advantage of talent and companies alike — recruiters whose only objective is to hit their recruiting numbers.

At my previous company, we were looking for an entry level IT support guy and decided to use a recruiter and do a contract-to-hire. We got a resume from this guy (we’ll call him Larry) who had great qualifications — after a couple of interviews, we hired him.

Larry knew his stuff, was friendly, and had a good attitude. It worked out really great — for the first three months. After his work-to-hire contract expired, we mutually agreed to part ways. Why? The recruiter told Larry he would be hired for $75k — and told us that Larry would accept an offer for $35k. It was no minor discrepancy or misunderstanding — it was flat out deception.

We fired that company and so did Larry. It was a bad situation, and it wasted everyone’s time.

When I get an offer, don’t pressure me.

When I had the offer from Ryvit in hand, the recruiter I was working through took to texting me once or twice a day asking if I had accepted the offer. I tried politely yet firmly to tell him that I was still thinking about it, but the texts came regardless. The extra pressure from him wasn’t welcome — it had that used-car-sales-y feeling that made the experience that much more unpleasant.

Don’t be that guy — give your talent time to think about offers. Checking in once every couple of days is fine, but gauge when enough is enough. Give your client some space — it can be a big decision.

So why is there such a big disconnect between what talent expects and what many recruiters do? I asked John Maglione, a recruiter who’s heavily involved with the tech community. He said that this problem is one borne of large corporations attempting to commoditize the recruiting process, using college grads to help keep costs low and teaching them that recruiting is nothing more than a job-keyword-driven numbers game where talent relationships are unimportant.

So how can job seekers find recruiters who are committed to “doing it right?” John suggests the following things:

• Network with your friends and colleagues and find out what recruiters they trust and respect.
• Use recruiters from local firms.
• Find recruiters on LinkedIn with lots of recommendations and connections.

Finally, John says that a good recruiter should be concerned with and act on behalf of your interests and motivations. They should be able to discuss your experiences intelligently and be able to suggest alternatives. An effective recruiter will work to establish relationships with talent and companies to best match for all parties involved. This is a win-win for companies and talent, as it gives companies the most productive talent when their people match the job and it gives talented individuals the best opportunity to work and grow professionally.

Special thanks to John Maglione of Asynchrony Labs in St. Louis, MO for taking the time to review this and provide helpful insights and suggestions.