How I Choose the Recruiters I Work With

In every job hunt, I find a huge influx of requests to connect with recruiters and hiring managers. Some of them are great, and some of them treat me like a number in their firehose of job applicants. I’ve developed a pretty good system for separating the good from the bad, and the respectful from the disrespectful.

The Calendar Test

I do not work with recruiters who refuse to use a calendar. I value time management, and respect for my time. Every single call I take during my job hunt requires a calendar invite. I get a large amount of calls, and I like to be prepared for each one. I also want to make sure I have uninterupted time to do my code challenges for the positions I like.

So I use Calendly, and when someone asks for my phone number, asks for my availability, or (*shudders*) cold calls me without warning, I politely direct them to the calendar page. If they refuse, tell me it “doesn’t work” with their email client, or throw a fit that my schedule is full for the next 24 hours, that’s time to say goodbye. It’s a simple test, and it’s saved me from recruiters who have no idea how to manage their own time. That’s a red flag.

Quality of the Calendar Invite

To see how well they’re organized, I look at the calendar invite they send me. The quality tends to vary. What I want ideally is a title that tells me who the two people in the call are, and some notes that tell me about the call. A meeting agenda would be nice. At the very least, I want to know who’s calling who. If they’re scheduling a call for someone at the company I’m applying to, I want to see the distinction in the email.

Examples of Good Calendar Invites

• Intro Call: Nick Prokesch & John Smith
• John Will Call Nick
• John Smith re: Opportunity Title

Examples of Bad Calendar Invites

• Call about jobs
• Call with Nick Prokesch
• Nick Will Call Me
• Nick Prokesch – 555–555–5555
• Job application call – ROR developer

Respect and Trust

I like to make sure I’m not being double submitted to a role. I keep a careful record of which jobs I’ve been submitted for, and which recruitment agency submitted me. And to make sure I’m not going to waste a 30 minute call “getting to know how we both work” only to find out the only role they have is something I’ve already been submitted to, I want to know before we book the call what the company name and JD is. If they can’t tell me that, I don’t book the call.

I often get the excuse that applicants hear the name and apply directly. I can assure you that I am not submitting myself to any jobs on my own. I work with recruiters because I like to offload the burden of the job application process onto a professional who does it for a living. I like to focus on researching companies between calls, spending quality hours on code challenges, taking HackerRank tests online, practicing my skills, and networking to find more roles.

The Years Don’t Matter

The pattern is the same: I get off the phone with a recruiter who has found the perfect role, and they send me a job description. The JD describes someone who is way more senior than I am. In fact, they want 8 years of Rails experience, and a CS degree or equalivalent experience. That’s 12 years, since I don’t have a degree. So I protest, and I’m told “the years don’t matter” as long as I have the equivalent skills. I definitely do not have 12 years of equivalent skills nor the mandated Computer Science fundementals from working at 3 start-ups over the course of 4 years. I sleep 8 hours a night. I exercise. I eat right. I learn something new each week. But I have not crammed in an additional 8 years of experience. The years matter, and the impact is significant.

Sometimes these interviews progress, and history repeats itself: I talk with the CTO for 45 minutes about AWS, infrastructure, devops, and plans for improving the team; we are a great culturual match; then for 15 minutes, I’m sent a CoderPad challenge to solve a CS-level algorithm taken from CLRS; I fail misearably; I get a polite email 24 hours later from their HR that they’ve decided to move forward with different candidates; I’ve lost an hour of my time that could have been spent on opportunities that were more realistic for my skillset.

This is avoidable.

Wrap Up

There are plenty of other signs of disrespect that I watch out for, but I usually find they don’t show themselves until I’m late in the interview process. I can promise that I will always do the code challenges in the order that they were assigned to me, not based on how many times I’m emailed, called, and messaged about them. I will always be honest about where I am in the job hunt, and I play favorites amongst jobs, not agencies, when it comes time to pick the best options for me. I’m not going to lie on my resume about my education (this has been requested by a recruiter). And I’m not going to make my LinkedIn profile less personal (this has also been requested). If you can ask it in an email, I expect to get an email about it. Phone calls to ask if I’m ready for a scheduled interview are not necessary at all, ever.

Thanks to my process above, I’ve actually built relationships with some wonderful agencies, recruiters, and hiring managers. I appreciate the hustlers, and the ones who respect my process. And if you’re in the market for a tech job, reach out to me. I’d love to connect you with the agencies that will treat you with the respect you deserve.