Recruiters Suck, Right?

Not my words…. are these the words of job seekers?  Do they think recruiters suck?

Check out this post, written by a recruiter: I am Recruiting, and I do not suck.

I agree with just about everyone else that the job acquisition thing (finding a job, looking for talent, the interview and hiring process) is quite broken.

Broken presents opportunity for markets, but that’s another topic 🙂

Frank Zupan talks about the pride he takes in his work, and the results he gets, and who he’s most interested in “pleasing.”  He says:

“As for me, I’ll continue to pay attention to those that really count for something; my hiring managers, my new employees, and my candidates.”

Who does the recruiter care about?

Many recruiters care about, well, everyone.  But they can’t please everyone.  To earn their money (aka, not go broke), they need to do their job well, and their customers are:

• The hiring manager,
• The new employee (that they placed),
• The candidates (the ones they are working with, not every sloppy resume that crosses their desk).

I love the comment by Steve Levy, who writes:

“…sometimes we’re only making 1 out of every 100 or more people happy. The rest believe we’re callous, uncaring, idiotic, couldn’t recognize “talent” if it hit us between the eyes, etc.”

Steve and I roomed at a conference and I know he cares about people, big time.  But he can’t help everyone who sends him a resume…. so one person thinks he is the hero, the others think he is  a low-life.

Here’s what I had to learn in my job search:  The recruiter has a specific role, and that role is not to be my job search agent.

I thought they were, but they aren’t.

Understand the role recruiters play, don’t be so dependent on them to find you a job, and your perspective on them should change dramatically.

Check out Frank Zupan’s post, and take a gander at the comments, it’s worth your time.