Responding to Recruiters

Submitted by Ken L
in
Career Management
Should I bother responding to recruiters who send me job opportunities who clearly have not read my resume? Recruiters contact me to offer positions for my consideration that I was over qualified for years ago. Leading me to believe they never read my resume. Am I right in thinking "If they did not take the time to read my resume I do not need to respond to their inquiry"? As background my last three jobs over a seven year period have been managerial. I get at least two job opportunities a week for entry to mid-level individual contributor roles. It is made more annoying by them stating this job is a perfect fit for me. Thanks for your thoughts. -Ken
Submitted by Mark Horstman on Friday January 12th, 2007 7:51 pm

Ken-

Thanks for the question. Have you listened to our podcast on responding to recruiters? We address this pretty directly.

Mark

Submitted by Ken L on Saturday January 13th, 2007 12:40 am

Hi Mark,

Yes I have listened to them. I did not feel your "typical" interaction matches my "typical" interaction. I am guessing from your response that you do.

I have been getting 5 to 10 e-mail inquiries a week from different recruiters who are getting my information from job sites. From your reply I hear you saying I should be contacting each of these guys no matter how little effort they seem to have put into their initial inquiry.

The irony here is if I had a 15 - 30 min. conversation with each of them I would need a recruiter. :)

Thanks for your response,

-Ken

Submitted by Mark Horstman on Saturday January 13th, 2007 12:59 am

Ken-

Sorry I misunderstood... though I admit to feeling "gotcha-ed" a little, knowing more. :(

I think you're right to have a different mentality with these email pings. This isn't quite the same thing.

I'm still leaning towards responding. Are you not? I would think that if the role is quite beneath you, it would be boilerplate: "Thank you, but it's clear to me that that role is probably not commensurate with my abilities. I appreciate your inquiry, but I don't think it's a fit."

We're going to be nice, and say no. Not responding is saying no and NOT being nice. For the small difference in work, isn't it a better choice?

Mark

Submitted by Ken L on Sunday January 14th, 2007 12:02 am

Hi Mark,

Please accept my apology. My original post was vague. I'm sorry I created the "gotcha'd" feeling for you.

The highroad advice was perfect. I'll get some good mileage out of it.

I'm sorry and thanks again,

-Ken

Submitted by Edmund McKay on Sunday January 14th, 2007 7:14 am

A bit off topic but i'd appreciate some views. In my world (not for profit)using recruiters is rare but is begining to happen slowly. My organisation has said it will never use them, but occasionaly I get phone calls from recruiters to introduce themselves and their services, how should I deal with these calls given that if their use increases I may some day want to use them if I'm looking for another job

Submitted by Edmund McKay on Sunday January 14th, 2007 5:20 pm

[quote="mahorstman"]CEO-

Did you listen to our cast on this?

Mark[/quote]

Yes sir, I listened to all 3. All recent calls from recruiting agencies get put through to me because I manage the organisations operations. These calls are usually the agency introducing themselves, their candidates and their services and hoping that my organisation will use them in the future, they hav'nt tried to "headhunt" me, however from listening to the casts I thought it would do me no harm to try and cultivate a relationship with them. My query is how do I go about this? given that I have to tell them that my organisation has no intention on using their services,
Edmund

Submitted by Mark Horstman on Sunday January 14th, 2007 7:31 pm

Ahhh. They are calling to sell you candidates. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

It would be inappropriate to not tell them of your firm's intentions... though there are folks who would tell you differently.

If you know that there is no chance, my recommendation is to visit with them and be direct about your firm's lack of interest. Be a professional, treat them with respect, and tell them that things may change at some point, and one never knows.

Would it be appropriate to have a separate conversation with 1-2 of them for yourself, some time afterwards? Sure.

Mark

Submitted by Edmund McKay on Monday January 15th, 2007 7:36 am

Hi mark,
Thanks for the advice, I think thats what I'll do when I next get a call
Regards
Edmund