Why are Recruiters so Rude?
I have waited to blog on this one for a while… I’ve worked with over 4500 job seekers in the last 2 years, and the area I probably hear about that frustrates people most is that recruiters don’t give the job seeker a chance. I’ve heard over and over again the disgust some job seekers have with recruiters. Here are some of the complaints I’ve heard recently.
- If they just would look at my resume, they can tell I’m qualified for this job.
- Why can’t they get back to me? At least an email please…
- They won’t even give me 5 minutes to explain why I am the right person for this job.
- They are paid to recruit, so they should follow-up with me. I’ve left 5 messages and sent 10 emails.
- and so on, and so on, and so on…
Yes, it is true, some recruiters are rude. However, just about every recruiter I have met is actually a fantastic person and trying very, very hard to place the best possible candidate for the job.
I know from the job seeking standpoint that it is extremely frustrating to know you are the perfect fit for a job and not get an opportunity to showcase yourself. Below gives you an idea of the recruiting process and why you may never hear back from some recruiters.
Much of the recruiting process begins with a company’s applicant tracking system. This is where the candidate goes after they fill out an online job application – the entire process is managed through this vehicle. If there isn’t a good ATS (Applicant Tracking System) in place, then it makes the recruiters job very difficult to track every candidate. Here’s a very simplified timeline of the beginning phases of the recruiting process.
- A candidate applies online (or sends a resume via email).
- The recruiter gets an email or some type of notification. The recruiters are busy and get 100′s/1000′s of these each day.
- The recruiter documents the candidate somewhere. Sometimes the only candidates they can actually document are the ones they have selected. Many resumes will not even get reviewed due to the volume. If there isn’t an ATS for the company, then this could be in a an Outlook file, in an Excel spreadsheet or a homegrown database.
- They contact the candidates that meet the criteria to move forward. All others continue to sit there – they have no time (due to their expectations on the job) to get back to each candidate.
Let’s take an actual example of one of my friends that is actually recruiting for 30 open positions.
- If he gets 30 candidates per day per position then that is 900 candidates.
- To spend even 1 minute on each candidate is 900 minutes (that is 15 hours of admin work, none on even talking to candidates that are a good fit).
- If a recruiter does this, then they never even get to a place to interview the qualified candidates. This recruiter would be fired quickly for not producing results.
I hope this helps clarify some of the issues that you may see while job searching. Many recruiters will do everything they can to notify you if you aren’t the right fit for the job, especially if you have gotten to the interview phase. This notification may be a standard email that is sent from the ATS, hopefully now you understand why.
Oh, please also stop complaining about this topic. It really doesn’t do you any good, and it could hurt your brand. Recruiters are your friend, make more friends and you’ll land much quicker!
Praying for your landing into the career of your dreams!!!
Jessica Pierce
Hello Jessica & all job seekers,
I appreciate this article and it’s open, honest view about the recruiting process. As a recruiter and HR leader….and former job seeker I can comment from both sides of the spectrum. I will always remember the recruiters who sent a personal email or phone call to let me know that I was a qualified candidate….and I quickly lost count of the companies and recruiters who never responded….”the black hole” as we all call it, even though I knew many times that I was the most qualifed candidate!
When I landed at Power-One I made a personal commitment to remain active within the job seeking networks that helped me keep going during my job search. That commitment has allowed Power-One to hire many AZ job seekers into our company. I also wanted to commit to responding personally to everyone that applied at Power-One….it was an impossible task and commitment. In the first two weeks of my new job last year we received over 3,000 resumes! Recruiters must rely on candidate tracking systems, key word searches, LinkedIn, resume databases and employee referral programs to identify the most qualified talent. It isn’t a “personal” process….so don’t take it personal.
My advice to us all is “just keep going!” The right job is out there….when it is meant to present itself, it will! Keep networking and keep in touch with all those companies (and recruiters)….even if they don’t respond back personally.
Good luck!
Jennifer Swenson
Global HR Director
Power-One
Jessica you nailed it! You are absolutely right that recruiters, do everything in our power to find potential job seekers a job. In today’s world we are inundated with hundreds of applicants many of which are not qualified for the job and we aren’t able to get back to each person as quickly as we’d like. Keep in mind, employers today are also very specific about what they want/need and often times, they delay the hiring process too because they are operating with less manpower and have demands on them as well. Recruiters can and want to be a job seeker’s ally versus enemy. Thank you Jessica for your support, too often we are criticized versus commended for our efforts.
Hi Jessica,
Thank you for taking the time to post this! It’s a direct picture of what happens on a daily basis. We are in the business because we love people and would love to be able to put each and everyone back to work with our clients. However, as you stated, it is our job to find the perfect match for the employee and employer.
Well done, Jessica! One additional perspective as to why recruiters might not get back to people (btw…I think the administrative burden Jessica wrote about is at the top of the list of the reasons why job seekers don’t hear back from recruiters)…I believe many recruiters enjoy matching a candidate with an opportunity, and not just for the commission check they’ll receive. I believe they genuinely enjoy placing people into great opportunities. There is a “rush” of sorts that comes from saying, “Yes!” to a deserving candidate.
On the flip side of that coin, there are umpteen “Nos” for every “Yes”. Let’s face it, it’s a drag to call up or email an eager candidate to tell them they aren’t moving forward in the selection process. You can’t avoid it for people who have interviewed (at least, that shouldn’t happen), but it is easy and much less painful on the front end of the process to not even go there. It’s a downer for the recruiter AND the applicant to have a “No” conversation.
So, maybe it isn’t heartlessness that keeps a recruiter from responding to anxious or anticipating candidates. Perhaps they are shielding themselves from the pain of having too much heart!?
Thanks to Jessica for taking on a difficult topic!
Brett Gilliland
Built to Last Champion
Infusionsoft
Thanks Jessica for your input on this topic. I encourage job seekers to still do what they can to contact recruiters directly if they know they have all of the qualifications. Sometimes we have so many qualified candidates we can only contact a few. If a qualified candidate makes the extra effort to express interest in the position, that truly sets them apart from the crowd. If you meet the qualifications, politely showing genuine interest in the position and highlighting your qualifications in a phone call can help make the recruiter’s job easier.
Hey Jessica, great job! Yes, it is unfortunate that there are some recruiters out there that are rude, however they are the minority. Most of us are very passionate about helping people get back to work as fast as we can however, please keep in mind that we are also looking for the right candidate for the job who is also passionate about our organization as well. We truly understand that it is a tough market out there but we also have to protect our companies too. Orienting a new employee takes a lot of time and money and if at the end of the day, it is not a perfect match, then we have wasted both our times.
With that said, it is extremely important that candidates ensure that their resume clearly indicates that they meet the minimum qualifications of the job that is posted. I cannot tell you enough how many times I get a call from a candidate checking on the status of their application and once I share that they had been declined based on failure to meet minimum qualifications they then begin to share that they do. Because we do receive 100′s of applications – this small step is critical.
Let me echo what DeAnne said in her first paragraph – reply 6 above.
Recruiters are people who have a life outside of work – family, hobbies, friends, etc. If you have a job that you really want to achieve an interview, be aggressive with the recruiter and be up front with him/her.
I have personally spoken to 100′s of rude recruiters – sad indeed.
Rude personality equates to making decisions on the fly as to what qualified candidates to call on any given day. Been there and doing it today.
Words of Wisdom to the Job Seeker:
1. Never Give Up on Yourself.
2. Give the Recruiter a Chance – call him/her back once a week over two weeks. No response, move past it and keep looking.
3. Maricopa Workforce Connections – a Gold Mine for Job Fair listings. Use it.
4. Work with multiple recruiters to improve your likelihood of success.
5. Attitude is Everything. Think positive! “I will get a job this week”, etc.
6. Daily routine is important: wake up, breakfast, go for walk or exercise, dress for focus and success.
7. Recruiters are very good at energizing a Resume. I would be happy to review your Resume and to offer suggestions for improvement.
8. Take time out for personal stuff – rest, relaxation, meditation. It makes a big difference in your attitude.
Thank You Jessica for this blog post about Recruiters!
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The lack of time is very true. However, if someone calls or emails to follow-up and check in, I will get back to them as soon as possible.
This article would be particularly helpful to candidates to know that in no way is anyone purposely attempting to be rude or uncommunicative, and I think your presentation of what really goes on the back side of sending a resume to a posting can’t help but assist in the process. On the other hand, it is such a good reminder to all recruiting organizations to offer the most courtesy possible – even great recruiters are on the receiving end of how challenging communication can be when when they are looking for a job.
What I can offer additionally is that there is a difference between following up (making a phone call or sending an email after a submittal/interview/taking testing), and stalking – keep it on the professional follow up side and your probability of success increases greatly. I like to reward patient persistence, but I don’t always have right fit positions at the right time for various candidates.
When you remember that agencies and recruiters only make money/continue a viable business entity when we make placements, this should assure you that we do everything in our power to place you. More placements, more sales! Candidates are the center of the universe in the placement business – no candidates, no income. We all benefit when we place the right candidate in the right opportunity.
Great job, Jessica!
Well the problem with most of these recruiting agencies is that they have hired these inexperienced 20 something girls going through the resume of candidates. They don’t have the breadth of mind and intelligence to estimate a cv and assess that which candidates can perfectly fulfill a given task. You have to have the AAA string of characters matching the clients requirement if not, your CV will be binned.
Secondly people get angry sometimes when they phone agencies, a job comes onto a rectuitment advertising website or the jobcentre website, and when you phone, you are always told that “Tom” is out of the office…then you ask for “Sam”…he’s out of the office too….and what about “so and so”? they’re out of the office as well…
I phoned up one with a list of all their staff as I was getting fed up with this kind of response on the phone (prepared for it), asked for the two on the job advert (Rocky and Sasha..funny names) …both out of the office…so I asked to speak to another 3 people one after the other….you guessed it all were “out of the office” and I could hear the woman struggle to hold back a chuckle on the other side…..I lost the rag and gave her a mouthfull then smashed the phone down… So if you folks are looking for a job try to get in touch with the Hiring Manager directly rather than going through a recruitment firm.
Jessica, Well done and well said. Yes, there are some very rude recruiters out there who does not understand the law of the boomerang. What goes around comes around. A little humility, empathy and genuine customer care pays great dividends.
Well – what a suprise that most of the comments are positive for recruiters.
In real life recruiters and agencies are very rude and ignore applications.
I have spent many hours filling in on line applications and never, never received a reply or response.
This makes you feel very worthless. I know that I am suitable for the jobs that I apply for – if only I can bypass the stupid person who is reading the e mail.
As for the recruiters having a life – I am not in the least bit interested. I am only interested if they are able to do the job they are paid for and read an
application properly.
I reply e mail takes little time and no cost so they need to learn some manners and reply to people
Let’s talk about real life here, since I also know a few facts because I happen to be in the business….
First and foremost, recruiters are not “friends”. The only thing they are friend with is the percentage they will get on your salary if you stay for 9-12 months in the company they have placed you in. Period
That said: although I fully understand that, no recruiter can be expected to send an individual thoughtful reply to each single application they receive, I would like to shed some light on the recruiting process.
-1-Today, resumes are computer-sorted by keywords (so a recruiter sorting himself 900 applications… Hum that was probably back in 1990!).
-2-I know also that, weirdly, some companies manage to program their career application software/service to let the applicants know that the company will not carry on with their application (I can prove this point to anyone interested). The computer sends the applicants a notice. This takes 0 min of the recruiter’s precious time, so there is no excuse whatsoever.
Bottom line: Some recruiters/HR give the applicants some consideration, hence, they place the one phone call it requires to have their IT dept programming their software accordingly. Some (probably very much considerate) choose not to.
There is no excuse for this. It is a question of manners, priority & organization. Period. I am not complaining about it, I am stating facts.
-3- Icing on the cake, a vast majority of recruiters are also playing this little scheme: They contact Rob the applicant for an interview. Rob makes time in his schedule & the interview goes just fine. Then, THEY get back in touch with Rob, saying “OK, we decided to move forward with you, I will give you a call at 3.30 PM”. Rob clears his schedule for them a second time. At 3.28 PM Rob receives an email saying “Oh, so sorry my afternoon has been swallowed by a bunch of urgent things jumping in, I will call you tomorrow by 4pm” so Rob clears his schedule for the 3rd time. Then at 4pm the next day, no call, no email, no nothing. At 4.15, Rob calls the recruiter’s office & leaves a message, the recruiter doesn’t call back. 4.30 the assistant says that “he is out of his office but I will make the message” (oh really? Weren’t we supposed to have an appointment right now?). And the recruiter never returns Rob’s calls or emails!
At this stage, the short list goes down to what? 5 names? Is it that difficult for the recruiter to take 5mins (5 mins X 4= 20 mins!), pick up the phone and say” we have found someone who better fits the profile” or “you are our #2 pick so we are awaiting an answer of our #1 pick, I will get back to you if we can’t reach an agreement with him”? I guess not, considering how much time they still have to spend on Linkedin trying to reach the 500+ connections status! Truth is, this does not have anything to do with time, it has 100% to do with having (or more likely not having) the guts of holding this conversation several times in the day. But Hey! That’s part of the job recruiters are paid for, right? So well…No complaint (right?)
Bottom line, this behavior is not only extremely rude but reveals also a total lack of respect, assertiveness, basic politeness, social skills and business etiquette! Would recruiters like it if someone was messing up with their oh-so busy schedule? No? So who do they think they are for doing that to other people? And this, on such a large scale that the internet is literally crippled with the same legit complaints?
I have been there. I am now a manager and I make sure that NO recruiter dares to behave like that on behalf of the company I work for.
Now take it or leave it; what is sure is that this behavior just tarnishes the image of the entire profession and of the company they work for!
Nice to have someone that has your back, but when I jump to fix my resume or cover letter, or rearrange my life to accommodate yet another certification to prove I can do the job, the least recruiters can do is the following (Not all recruiters, but the majority of the recruiters):
1. Return my email. Once I hear that the employer is suddenly moving slowly on the position, I know they have somebody else in mind for the job; and I can move onto applying for the next job.
2. No matter what any recruiter tells me, I apply to a job a day, everyday, until I get a job. There is no loyalty anymore to the employees or job seekers, and recruiters can not expect that from job seekers either.
3. I had a recruiter reply to me that I was not qualified for a job one time, and I knew I was qualified. He was looking to dump on someone that day, so I blocked his emails from then on. I need someone that is positive and honest, not a recruiter that is rude, and not constructive.
4. When recruiters leave me a voice mail, SLOW DOWN YOUR SPEACH, SO THAT I CAN UNDERSTAND YOU. SLOW DOWN, SLOW DOWN, SLOW DOWN.
5. Also please enunciate your words.
6. Slow down the speed at which you give your phone number, so that I don’t need to listen to your voicemail 3 times, to get all the numbers written down on the paper.
7. Dave from Alevity, was great so far with me out of 9 months.
8. Filling out all these forms for a job, and then being asked for M/F and Race/and citizenship from EEOC, is so discriminating. I feel like a Minority, but am not treated like one by the employing companies. (The middle class supports america’s bank, and if they are frowned on, then the entire society is then 5% rich and the rest are very poor. The poor get poorer. What then? The EEOC just depresses me anymore, just like SS is used for government funding and not the people that it is intended for using.)
I have to agree with job seeker. Also, If my resume says I’ve only been a Brain Surgeon for the past 30 years why are you asking if I’ve ever designed kitchen equipment? Recently a recruiter asked me a lot of questions about my work history. I answered the questions and asked why certain questions were asked. It’s been 2 weeks…..no response
A good majority of recruiters are these cliquish type girls who grandfather and don’t give the time of day to external applicants. The mistake they make is often their disposition to people who are interested in the organization. It’s a shame because many companies lose out on some amazing employees because they are not monitoring or aware of the behavior of the recruiters. Since it is a buyer’s market this means recruiters often are allowed to get away with less than professional behavior. I can honestly say maybe every 3/10 are decent people. The rest… Well… I think it’s good for organizations to re-vamp their personnel frequently unless they have an outstanding and polite recruiting team.