One of the biggest problems I've had with recruiters is the sheer amount of them I was called by, half of them very hard to understand, another third being very pushy about the amount being offered being "set in stone", and a slim sliver of the rest being genuinely decent recruiters trying to do an honest job. This is one of the biggest turn offs I have regarding recruiters. Be honest, try to do your due diligence in regards to the person you are calling (don't call a DBA about a web dev position), and you will already be largely ahead of the game. I have had multiple recruiters call me up about positions that I didn't want even after I SPECIFICALLY told them I was not interested in positions of type X (don't repeatedly call me about QA positions when I said I was not interested in them).
One of the best ways I found to get my attention was to SLOW DOWN. First, mention the name of the company. Second, mention what position this is for and what product I'd be working on. After that, mention the technology stack if applicable. After that, ask if I'm interested and/or if it is okay to send me the job description (if you send a job description or email, thank me because this makes me feel less like a slice of meat that you are trying to use). After that, ask when is a good a time when you could call me back (the next day is my preferable choice). THEN HANG UP. This should take about 5-15 minutes.
In the first phone call, I should not hear "this is for X amount an hour/year/whatever". I also should not have to wait until the end of the conversation to hear what company this is or what position this is for.
What I will do is review the position and when you call back (if you say you are going to call back, do it), I will give you the yes/no.
This is the best way to get your foot in the door in my opinion/experience.
No agency will give me this, I assume because they're worried I'll apply directly and skip their fees? Please chip in if you know why!
It's super-annoying, because there is a lot of cross-over with local agencies and they know it, so they want to know a list of all the agencies I'm currently engaged with to avoid this (ostensibly), which is completely backwards.
I agree with all your points. It's amazing how many businesses that contact people by phone get the very basics wrong, so many companies I deal with always have terrible line quality for example.
My pet peeve is how pushy they are. If I say no, I don't want to work for that company, then why push it? I often have good personal or technical reasons for turning it down, and it's a complete waste of both our time to spend 30 minutes pushing it on me - and it looks really, really desperate.
I agree with you. It's INCREDIBLY hard to get this information out of some recruiter. I've made it a personal policy that I tell the recruiter I need to know at a bar minimum the company's name and the job description before I discuss anything else with the recruiter, send them a resume, or give them the OK to submit me for the position. A majority of the recruiters that I have told this to either refuse to give me the information, hang up and pass me to a coworker, or INSIST on why I want to know this information. If they ask why, I respond with something like, "You don't buy an unknown car based on the color and price alone, do you?"
For the really pushy ones, I make it a point to tell them I'm not willing to work with them because they are making the process a high-pressure environment. I also tell them to take me off their list.
I've had one recruiter call me up, give me his 2 minute spiel about the job position, and ask me when I was available for the interview all before I had said another word other than "Hello." I told him I wasn't interested, he stuttered, then asked if I was interested. I responded that I was NOT interested. He hung up, called me back 10 minutes later, and repeated his spiel. I told him that I was not interested. He was shocked that I was not interested and asked again if I was interested. I responded that I was not. He asked when I had time available to be interviewed. I was IRRATE at this point. I asked him for his name and his company's name and after he supplied the information, I told him not to call me again and that I was blacklisting him in my search for a possible new job.
All the while, I was happily employed and was just seeing if I was interested in anything else.
I've been talking to a friend who works in recruitment for the last couple of hours and the biggest thing I've gotten out of it is: Slow down. Even though I used to work in sales I've failed to spot that a lot of recruiters are basically doing a sales push on me, and rushing me and making things far more stressful. It's almost 11 at night and I'm frantically editing my CV because a recruitment agency I've been in contact with for less than 12 hours wants me to send it over ASAP, tomorrow at the latest? He's introducing me to the (to me revolutionary) idea of slowing down and actually /using/ the recruiter's skills, getting CV feedback from them, finding the right jobs, etc.
I'm actually looking forward to dealing with recruitment agencies with this in-hand now! (although I will of course like you not be speaking to those that insist on being high-pressure).
One of the biggest problems I've had with recruiters is the sheer amount of them I was called by, half of them very hard to understand, another third being very pushy about the amount being offered being "set in stone", and a slim sliver of the rest being genuinely decent recruiters trying to do an honest job. This is one of the biggest turn offs I have regarding recruiters. Be honest, try to do your due diligence in regards to the person you are calling (don't call a DBA about a web dev position), and you will already be largely ahead of the game. I have had multiple recruiters call me up about positions that I didn't want even after I SPECIFICALLY told them I was not interested in positions of type X (don't repeatedly call me about QA positions when I said I was not interested in them).
One of the best ways I found to get my attention was to SLOW DOWN. First, mention the name of the company. Second, mention what position this is for and what product I'd be working on. After that, mention the technology stack if applicable. After that, ask if I'm interested and/or if it is okay to send me the job description (if you send a job description or email, thank me because this makes me feel less like a slice of meat that you are trying to use). After that, ask when is a good a time when you could call me back (the next day is my preferable choice). THEN HANG UP. This should take about 5-15 minutes.
In the first phone call, I should not hear "this is for X amount an hour/year/whatever". I also should not have to wait until the end of the conversation to hear what company this is or what position this is for.
What I will do is review the position and when you call back (if you say you are going to call back, do it), I will give you the yes/no.
This is the best way to get your foot in the door in my opinion/experience.