So, I had two phone interviews this week. I thought that they both went fairly well. Well, I know that they went fairly well because I was invited to in-person interviews for both. Yay! So, while I will happily keep dreaming that they turn into job offers eventually, I'm currently telling illiterate recruiters to keep dreaming. I was contacted by phone and email by five recruiters this week. The first was for an account management position. I asked for more information because it sounded like a Sales position, and I'm not interested in Sales. Her response said "it's an Account Manager position." Well, that was super helpful. I told her I was declining her offer. She writes back inviting me to reschedule. Keep dreaming. Next I get contacted about a position which requires a Ph.D. and experience in Engineering. I don't have either of those. Keep dreaming. Next I get contacted by two recruiters for HR Technology Analyst positions. One I was not remotely qualified for, and write back telling her as such. Her response is, "Well, just send me your resume, and I'll present it to the client to make that decision." I acquiesced, and have not heard back. The other recruiter called, and told me the position was in the NW suburbs. I live in the city and don't have a car. I said that is not an area that is easy to commute to and that I was not interested in relocating. He then sent me an email with the job description. Keep dreaming. Finally, a woman called me stating "based on my education and experience she had a position that I might be interested in." It was a customer service position, and it paid $11/hour. Please note, I have a graduate degree in business. I politely told her to keep dreaming.
So, based on all of these interactions, I've determined the underlying pattern is that none of them read anything--not the job description, my emails, nor my resume. Perhaps people just don't read anymore. The woman with the account management position clearly didn't read my response asking for more information about the position, nor did she read my second response stating that I was not interested. The next two recruiters clearly didn't read the job descriptions for the jobs they were tasked to fill because I was not remotely qualified. Yes, they're likely using keyword scanners, but why not bother reviewing that stack of screened candidates' resumes before contacting them. The next encounter is more an issue of not listening rather than not reading, but still, I said I wasn't interested based on the location because I can't commute there. Since the location of the company won't change, and I said I was not open to relocating, why send me an email? The final woman clearly didn't read my resume before she called because my education and work experience does NOT match that of an entry-level CSR position.
I understand that sometimes when someone doesn't take the hint, it's them being tenacious, but shouldn't that tenacity be reserved for when someone has at least expressed some interest in the position? If a recruiter contacts you and doesn't take the hint that you're not interested, which you dropped by stating "I'm not interested/qualified," the next step is to tell them to take a hike (politely, of course).
So, I ask you, people of the Internet, have you had an experience with an illiterate recruiter?
Yes, I hate when recruiters contact me with positions that are absolutely irrelevant to my interests/background. Next time they do that, I'm gonna tell them to "Keep Dreaming".
ReplyDeleteTechseeker, we're obviously on the same page. I just don't understand why recruiters bother contacting people if the job is clearly not a good match. Oh well. Hopefully the sourcing process improves, eventually.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there are other recruiters like- http://www.addonusa.com/ who say they'd provide you free month long training and promise to place you on IT jobs on completion of the training. Its so hard to distinguish if these are actually good recruiters or are they just a scam? Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteTechseeker, unfortunately I am not familiar with addon. It sounds like they have a pretty comprehensive recruiting process. While I don't know if they're legitimate or running a scam, if you're interested in IT opportunities I would definitely connect with Volt or Dice. I have been contacted by both for technical opportunities.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the suggestions. I have actually received a few calls by applying on Dice...will check out Volt as well. Hope your search is going good!
ReplyDeleteTechseeker, I hope that you receive a few calls from Volt as well! Thanks for the positive vibes.
ReplyDelete