Good recruiters, bad recruiters… How to tell them apart

July 14, 2016

Are you currently looking for a job?

Recruiters (or headhunters) are GREAT. They help you find awesome jobs based on your preferences. However, not all recruiters are made equal. Some are better than others. Some will waste your time.

The key is to find recruiters who work well with you, respect your time, and take the time to understand what you want.

A great recruiter…

  1. Listens to your preferences; focusses on YOU, not the jobs.
  2. Respects your decision (if you decline the offer).
  3. Does not contact you on your corporate/company email/phone.
  4. Does not spam you with automated, irrelevant emails.
  5. Is responsive, responds to emails/calls/voicemails promptly.
  6. Prepares you for upcoming interviews.
  7. Follows up with you after each stage of the interview.
  8. Keeps you updated of any progress.
  9. Has availability to speak with you over the phone.
  10. Most importantly: does not waste your time.

Examples

Bad recruiter: caring about the roles more than your preference

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Great recruiters should care more about what you’re looking for than the jobs they have. For example, if they know you’re looking for remote opportunities and they know that’s the kind of role you’ll be happy with, suggesting other kinds of roles (that you may not be too excited about) are nothing less than inappropriate.

It’s like asking someone to change their dietary preference. “Hi, I know you’re a vegetarian, but we don’t have any vegetarian burger here. Would you be open to hearing about our beef burger?” Now that’s inappropriate.

Remember, their job is to get you the roles that you will love, not the role that makes them the most commission.

An appropriate response should sound like this:

pasted_image_10_14_16__8_14_am
By Andrew Taylor
Here’s why Andrew is great: he knows that I was only looking for remote roles and he knows I won’t be happy with other kinds.

Another example of a great recruiter

trevorking
By Trevor King
Trevor did at least two things correctly:

  1. He sent a follow up email right after the phone call.
  2. He respected my preferences.

Great recruiters put you FIRST

By Pete Klochaney
By Pete Klochaney
Pete thinks of my needs first. He advises me to take the other offer, knowing that he will lose the potential commission he may get from placing me in the company he represents.

RULE #1 in this industry.. NEVER sit on an offer for an interview!!

Where can I find these AWESOME recruiters?

Here are few of the tech recruiters who have successfully helped me get great tech job offers from respectable companies and they did AWESOME-ly, in no particular order:

If you’re contacting them, please let them know I referred you and send them the URL to this blog post.

I’ve worked with all of the recruiters above. They have been very respectful of my time, have found me great companies to work with (formal employment offers made), and are truly great people to talk to. I highly recommend them.

Know other awesome recruiters you’ve worked with? Share them in the comments.

Note: the recruiters listed above did not pay me to list their names in this post.

Author
Ryan Harijanto

Head of Engineering. Former Sr. Engineer @Netflix , @HotelTonight , @Shutterstock. Previously a Senior Systems Engineer at Netflix, currently technology advisor and board member for emerging companies. Diverse technological knowledge and understanding of various industries.

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