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Daniel Orchanian
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Five issues with recruiting

When an important step in someone's career turns into a bad joke. Five things to get rid of as soon as possible.

Five issues with recruiting

We see now and then recruiters coming on LinkedIn and Twitter to complain how hard their job is.

And it often ends up with applicants joining the discussion, which then boils down to this:

Recruiter: Life is too hard.
Applicant: At least you have a job.

Or:

Recruiter: An applicant ignored me today.
Applicants: Still waiting for you to answer our emails.

After talking with applicants AND recruiters, I was able to put together five major problems in the hiring process, that just make the whole thing ridiculous.

Here we go...

1. Read our resumes for goodness sake

Months ago, I was contacted for a job. The recruiter missed the phone appointment and when they finally called me, I was with my six-months pregnant wife at the supermarket.

So I left my wife in the middle of our shopping and I went to my car in the parking lot to deal with this phone interview without the surrounding noise.

(Obviously, I was young and naive. Today, I would have ignored that call.)

So, after 15-20 minutes, this happens:

Recruiter: But you only have X years of experience...
Me: Yes...
Recruiter: But our client needs Y years...
Me: *sigh*

Dear recruiter, when you're the one who asks for an interview, wouldn't it be a time saver for both of us to read our resume first?!

We won't do your job. We can't do your job. We don't know what your client needs.

By the way...

2. Failing to provide the requested information

When you ask about salary, and the recruiter does everything to dodge the question...

  • Either they ignore the information, in which case they have no answer to your most important questions, and the conversation will go no further.

  • Either they are deliberately hiding it from you, which means something stinks. The conversation will go no further.

  • Either they believe it's not right to think about money. They're still stuck in the 16th century, and the conversation will go no further.

Dear recruiters, when you are already working (in a company or as freelance), time is precious.

No professional is going to put their assignments on hold to have a call without knowing where they are going...

You're not the only ones contacting us in a day: either your offer is really interesting, or the job pays better than the one we already have.

It's as simple as that.

3. No, Java and JavaScript are not the same

It's not so much your fault. The name JavaScript is a great scam.

In fact, they are two languages at the opposite ends of the spectrum.
There are more similarities between tennis and table tennis than between Java and JavaScript.

Now that you know, don't try to convince an engineer to apply anyway, especially when they've explained already!

Would you ask Nadal or Federer to participate in a table tennis championship? No.

You're dealing with tech people. Be sure you know what you're talking about or the applicant won't take you seriously.

4. Automated messages

No, my name is not "Josh", and I'm not senior in PHP development.

And no, I am not going to "call you ASAP". I'm not at your command, and my time is no less valuable than yours.

5. Ghosting people

Ghosting is when you ignore people's emails, messages, etc. I've been guilty of it, we all have.

I understand that, as a recruiter, you don't have time to respond to all applications, especially when applicants are the ones contacting you.

But when YOU are the one messaging people, and they put together files, go through interviewing, etc., and then you decide to play dead... please don't come crying that nobody likes you.

Same thing when you promise to "call back Monday". Just say you'll call us back in a vague way, we know the deal. It's simple: just don't give a date.

Because people sometimes put things off to wait for your call, especially when they really want that job.

You work in human resources. You work with humans.

A final word

This article targets bad recruiters.

We tend to blame everything on every recruiter. And it's a little too easy to throw everyone in the same box.

If you don't do these five things, I love you (I really do). But if you do... change! Or just change your job.

Because you're actually making life difficult for a lot of people:

  • Job seekers who have enough problems already.
  • People who have a job and waste time for nothing because of you.
  • Honest companies who trust you to find someone.
  • Real recruiters, who are trying to do their job.

And there are good recruiters out there. Lots of them.

  • Recruiters who call the following week even if the answer is negative.
  • Recruiters who have taken the time to study your profile.
  • Recruiters who have done their homework to understand the skills they'll have to look.

And to those, I say kudos, and thanks.

Photo Credits: Eric Prouzet
Daniel Orchanian
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