Why Recruiters are Jerks

I’m guessing if you’ve been an IT professional for any length of time you’ve run into a recruiter that was a jerk.  One who over-promised and under-delivered.   Who didn’t return your messages after they had ‘the perfect job’ for you?  Ever have a recruiter get downright nasty because you accepted a competing job offer?   It happens.  And it gives the entire industry a bad name. 

I don’t want to pretend I know exactly what makes recruiters like that tick, but I have experienced some general “jerk factor” behaviors that you will want to keep in mind when talking to a recruiter.

1.    They think you’re a ‘great fit’ for a job even when you're not.  You look at the details of the job and you’re not even close.  This is the hallmark of a ‘numbers game’ recruiter searching keywords in a database and reaching out to EVERYONE that meets their search criteria.  Either they’re not reading your resume or they don’t know HOW to determine someone’s expertise from a resume.   Either way it demonstrates a lack of commitment to recruiting professionalism.  I’d cut a newbie some slack but if they’re not inquisitive about what you do they’re not going to last long.

2.    There's a “hot job” for you so they’re your best friend until your resume is in front of the client.  Then they go radio silent – calls aren’t returned until a year later when they have another “hot job” for you.

3.       The conversation never strays off your resume and experience.  They don’t seem to have much interest in what will be important to you; they only want to make sure you’re a fit. 

4.       There’s not much enthusiasm to help you beyond a specific job they have in mind.  A good recruiter will always be a source of information and leads outside of their immediate client needs.

5.       You know the used car salesman stereotype?  Not that all used car salespeople are like this, but you know what I’m talking about – there’s just something about their approach that doesn’t sit right with you.  You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you have a gut instinct that this person shouldn’t be trusted.  Your gut is usually right.  The implications to your career are too important to not implicitly trust the recruiter.

6.       Commission drives decision making.  This one is a little harder to detect, but if you see other behaviors that make a recruiter a jerk this is probably an issue.  Recruiters in this business who are primarily driven by money don’t have a heart to serve & will not have your interests in mind.  Often it will manifest itself with a ‘hard-sell’ to get you to make a decision that you don’t necessarily think is the best decision.

To be honest, recruiters who are jerks usually have a ‘me first’ attitude.  You have to accept that there are people who are simply consumers.   They take every opportunity possible to use what they can to get where they’re going.  They don’t see the value in giving anything back.  This type of personality does not make a good recruiter. 

I had a conversation with a friend yesterday who has been a customer of mine for some time.  He recently decided to get into the recruiting game and said something that any good recruiter will have at the core of their value system.  He said what we do has such a profound impact on a person, both in the immediate and in the long term, that we can’t afford to get it wrong.  

He’s right, there’s nothing more important to me as a recruiter than making sure that we’re making a good match between candidate and employer.  And that goes well beyond buzzwords on job descriptions that align with buzzwords on a resume.

Some recruiters are jerks simply because there's jerks who are recruiters.