If you are like me, your name shows up on google search, you occasionally participate in technology discussion forums and have sometime in the past posted your resume on one of the job websites. The result? Bunch of emails everyday with all kinds of positions everywhere! I have had a chance to work with many recruiters over the years, sometimes as a candidate and other times as an interviewer. Over the time, I have become aware of a few ways NOT to get my attention on an opportunity. Here they are in no particular order:
Send me a position just because a keyword matched: This is my favorite (I know I said I am listing the points in no particular order but I just can't resist). Guys please! I can't be a good match for an ATG Architect position if I worked as a developer on ATG for 2 months in the year 2001. I know you are using some software to search resumes by keywords but at least glance through the resume once. Send me a position that is totally irrelevant: This one is worse than the previous one (and not my favorite at all because it makes me... let's just say angry). I sometimes get emails about positions that requires years of experience with certain tool, which is not even listed in my resume. Many times those emails explicitly mention that the experience is a must. What is even worse is sometimes people just call me directly with those positions, I tell them I am not a good fit and they hang up. What a waste of time!
Try to tempt me to leave my current project: If I could change only one thing about the recruiting process, it would be this one. The recruiter tells me he has a position for me that would be a 'great' fit. I tell them I am already on a project and not looking for anything. And he tells me "I just wanted to check with you if you are dissatisfied with your current project or looking for a 'better' opportunity." If that' how you get the candidates, expect to loose them the same way. Come on! How could a candidate trust you with such an unethical behavior? When I come across a recruiter like this, the first thing that comes to my mind is, he is probably lying about both opportunity and role. Describe every project as SOA/web service project and every position as architect position: This is a funny one. Once, after hearing the description, I told the recruiter it didn't sound like an architect role (it required developing swing components - something I had never done), she said, "I mean you will be working with people at architect level."Huh! List technologies instead of describing the position and role: My reaction to these emails is... nothing! Because they have no information. I recent one I received looked like, "CA, 3-6 months, JSP, EJB, Struts, send resume..." I don't even know what to write about this one. I have a few more that don't turn me off right away but do come across poorly: - Send me an email not addressed to me
- Keep sending me the same position multiple times
- Spend more time describing your firm rather than talk about the position
- Be interested in my resume and rate information more than telling me about the opportunity
Now let's be serious. This is a people business. I did a ton of interviews for my client in my previous project and from that experience I am convinced that good candidates are hard to find. It will be a mistake to expect them to 'react' to a poorly formed email or a sloppy phone call. It is easy to find 'a' candidate but it is very difficult to find a 'good' candidate. If upcoming work force shortage is not a myth, the recruiting industry will have to find innovative ways to look for candidates, contact them, sell the 'opportunity' to them and close the deal.
Next time look for "How NOT to get hired."
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