June 28, 2007

Sign Me Up

Being a corporate recruiter must be a thankless job.

I met and spoke with several recruiters during my last job search. They didn't do a thing for me and they were all complete idiots. I'm not just saying that because they hadn't read my resume or bothered to ask what sort of job I was searching for, I'm saying that because all of them offered me jobs that I'm not only not interested in but woefully underqualified for. It's like they didn't even read the description of the position they're supposed to fill.

I met with one recruiter here in New York last February and we were talking about what I want from my next job. When I told her my salary requirement, she raised an eyebrow and asked incredulously if I really thought I would find anything in that range. I responded cooly, "I've had two promising interviews today." Obviously, she didn't get my business.

I'm sure not all recruiters are stupid, but I've been annoyed with many. My biggest pet peeve with them, though, is their propensity to call me at work. I don't know how they do it, but they get the number to my desk and call up.

A guy called me yesterday and asked if we could chat. I said, "No," and he laughed. When I didn't return his chuckle, he said his goodbyes.

I would have been happy to chat with him, but not on my work phone and not spontaneously in the middle of my workday. Why not set up an appointment with me to chat so that I can arrange a more discrete setting to talk about my goals?

Posted by Flibbertigibbet at June 28, 2007 10:03 AM | TrackBack
Comments

The trouble with these recruiters is that they are essentially salesmen. Door-to-door salesmen. I loathe salesmen.

Posted by: Inspector at June 28, 2007 06:17 PM

Now, Inspector.... Did I ever mention that I work in marketing?

Good salesmen are beautiful, wonderful creatures. You should love and cherish them. Of course, the bad ones should be left on a mountainside in the winter before they grow to adulthood.

Posted by: Flibbert at June 29, 2007 08:08 AM

In the interest of full disclosure, who are your clientèle? I mean, I'm not asking to name names, but I mean who are they in relation to your business? Who are you selling to?

I've found that "marketing" and "sales" are two completely different lines of work. Especially when you are talking cold calls and door-to-door sales.

I've known some salesmen that I didn't hate. But the ones I do hate, I really hate. The profession lends itself to the worst kind of phonies.

Posted by: Inspector at July 1, 2007 03:46 AM

Well, we're a marketing agency. Companies come to us to figure out how to best approach their customers and prospects and convince them to buy stuff. Since we specialize in a single channel -- interactive -- our strategy work is largely confined to the question of message placement.

Posted by: Flibbert at July 1, 2007 01:04 PM

Totally different animal. You're safe from my comment, I think.

Posted by: Inspector at July 4, 2007 05:29 AM

Excellent! Everything is going according to plan!

Posted by: Flibbert at July 4, 2007 09:12 AM