Best to not use recruiters? (applying, interview, job, company)

[ruciful]

I have found a couple that are actually decent, the rest seem to act dishonestly.

I am not relying solely on recruiters, I'm still applying plenty therefore I'm not expecting them to land me an interview or a job. I have the problem with the ones who lead you on and waste your time.

It's the ones that leave a message but when you call them back and only get their voicemail, it's odd unless they're just trying to meet a call quota.

I had a couple local recruiters give me a call about a "job opportunity" but I would miss these calls because I'm away from my desk sometimes. I'd return the call several times, leaving one or two messages thoughout the week....or the recruiter's receptionist would ask who's calling, put me on hold and then tell me the recruiter left the office. I would also email and there's still no reply.

I feel that if I used a fake name when calling they would answer even though they were the ones who contacted me. I'm guessing if they're avoiding us this way it's because they just need to meet a call quota.

The worst is when they pull you away from your current job to meet up in person even though they know you won't probably be a contender based on your resume; maybe to feed their inventory of job seekers. I have one or two recruiters who aren't like that but the rest seem to be.

I kind of understand, they're competing with the internet job boards.

Anyone have any similar experience or advice? What mistakes am I making? Thanks!

[blktoptrvl]

Most foreign recruiters seem not to understand what they are doing - especially when related to US labor laws. Also as I said in another post, I believe many are inept in a lot of ways. Many do not understand "per diem" rules, they don't understand that it is impractical to commute weekly from South Carolina to Washington state, and other things like that. But the thing is that, they are not trying to understand, all they want to do is get you to agree to let them represent you to the hiring contract company - for whom they do not always work. They are only interested in straight W2 or Corp to Corp agreements because that is the easiest for them to understand and work with.


You will probably get better results with an "American born and American speaking" recruiter, but like all other American born workers, they are (not so slowly) being replaced by the foreign born. Most of the calls I get are from non-American recruiters (95-98% these days).

My take on the call back thing is this... If a recruiter calls you, and they do not connect immediately, they go down to the next person on the list. And if they strike a deal with them, they do not need/bother to call you back.

But the thing is... You may not want to work with a recruiter (American or not), but they are almost the only game in town if you are a contractor. I couldn't say how it is when looking to become a FTE, but I suspect it is the same.

[ruciful]

These are local recruiters. I did however, get a call from an South-Asian sounding recruiter from Pittsburgh who was legitimate, but still prone to angry reviews.

Originally Posted by blktoptrvl

My take on the call back thing is this... If a recruiter calls you, and they do not connect immediately, they go down to the next person on the list. And if they strike a deal with them, they do not need/bother to call you back.

A few left a message to call them back, but I could not get ahold of them through phone or email. But the list procedure does make sense.