Ask HN: Do you reply to recruiter emails? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Do you reply to recruiter emails?

24 pointsdrdrey24 comments

Is it rude to just ignore them? Do you use canned responses? I used to reply to each of them individually but it doesn't scale. Now I tend to ignore them but it only seems to make the problem worse as some recruiters send multiple follow up pings.

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My rules of thumb:

This is business - it's never rude to just ignore something that you're not interested in, unless it's from someone you know personally.

I always ignore the ones that seem like form letters. They are very generically worded notices for a short-term contract in a faraway city (eg. "Immediate opening for Ruby with ITStaffingPros at Portland, OH"). These people don't usually ping twice, and if they do, they all look the same to me anyway. They actually look so similar that I have filters in my email for keywords that I've learned to associate with low-quality job notices to go straight to spam.

I tend to answer or return cold calls only when I'm actively looking. Otherwise I just ignore them, or at most I shoot them an email saying I'm not currently in the market.

When I get a message from a recruiter who seems like they've actually done some research on me as an individual (and not just someone spamming to a database of leads), I'll usually respond to them even if I'm not actively looking. I've noticed these recruiters tend to be the ones with the best positions so I like to have them in my network.

I never speak in an impolite or rude way to a recruiter.

I do a lot of consulting, so I'm always looking for short contracts, especially if they are mostly remote.

I respond to almost every recruiter (even the generic emails) with something like:

"Hey _____, I would like to discuss this project further. A little about myself: I own a small consulting firm with 2 employees and depending on the work load 1-10 contractors. When you hire me, you are actually hiring my firm. We bill at $100 per hour plus T&E. If you would like to discuss this possibility further, you can schedule an appointment with my assistant (her email). Shoot over a few times, and she will get back with you if it works."

It gets rid of most of the riffraff and I don't have to put much thought into proposals. I've only gotten 3 gigs this way, but I have grown my network of contacts a bit.

BTW - My "assistant" is my sister-in-law who edits books and stories for a side business of mine, and the only other W-2 employee beside myself (2 employees).

That’s honestly pretty fantastic. How do you generally find your consulting work? Do you just use your existing network of contacts?

Yeah, or I reach out to product developers I like to see if they need any support, and sometimes product developers reach out to me thanks to my HN and Quora comments.

I respond with something along the line of "I'm not looking right now but thanks for thinking of me." if it's a recruiter I know or if they sending me a targeted email. I ignore the spammers.

I never add recruiters to my Linked network for the simple reason is that it would give me a lot of 2nd level connections with people I have nothing in common except that we both were contacted by the same recruiter once.

I treat my LinkedIn connections like my Facebook friends list in the sense that I delete people that reduce the quality of the service for me. In LinkedIn's case, I will initially connect to avoid the InMail charges to talk to them. However, if nothing happens because of the communication, I will remove them.

Yes and even though I'm happy with my current position, I typically inquire if the position comes with a semi-unreasonable but still believable salary to help move the needle on wages for my fellow engineers.

holy shit this is amazing, thanks!

They are sending hundreds of thousands of templates that all basically the same thing.. I doubt they care if you respond or not. They are trying to recruit you for their commission.

On LinkedIn, where recruiters are a dime a dozen, I am always willing to network with anyone, BUT ... we're approaching the year 2018. If you don't have a photo, I am suspicious of you on LinkedIn... no excuse to be a on professional service and not at least have a photo of yourself.

I glance at them, but only respond if they've actually taken the time to reach out in a personalized fashion. If the email reads like a mail merge, it's going into the spam folder.

I've also learned the hard way to do my own homework. I will never reply to a cold email until I have had a chance to look up details about the company, the recruiter themselves, etc.

Ignore completely if they get the skill match wrong or don't address me by name, auto-delete filter set up if they chase up still with the wrong skills/name.

Canned response if they don't list: Permanent role, Required skills, Location, Salary, Perks/Benefits, Paid time off

Personal response if they do list those, the job looks interesting, and pays well

No, nor do I speak to people who cold call.

This.

> only seems to make the problem worse as some recruiters send multiple follow up pings.

It’s an amusing problem, so many bozo recruiters – – only one of you. If you ever aspire to a leadership role; pay attention to the ‘good ones’. You may want to enlist their services to build your team.

Even if you don't aspire to leadership, pay attention to the good ones. You may want a new job someday. (I keep them in a file for exactly this reason. Haven't used it in a long time. But if the day comes when I need it, I'll be very glad to know some non-bozos.)

Business is business and if the recruiter knows both his sh*t and mine (from my profile) then game on.

I mostly read, but ignore them. I have a hard enough time getting back to friends and family. I do feel a little guilty about it and feel I should be more proactive about it sometimes.

Usually not. Most are generic and or automated. If I am contacted in a way that makes it feel it is a unique and personal contact then yes. Otherwise no.

I don't think it is rude to ignore them. They are probably mass messaging people anyway. If I do want to respond I use a short non-canned response.

I always respond to linkedin inmail because you're going to get deranked in employer searches if you don't. Paying to contact someone is a decent gatekeeper and means they were at least somewhat serious. I don't currently care about inmail but I see the usefulness of the service and don't want to be ranked out of it for being unresponsive.

I generically but politely decline the ones I don't care for and respond to the interesting ones. If I had ignored them all, I wouldn't have my current job.

I also try to be open-minded about opportunities by occasionally interviewing for positions I don't think I want. This helps me practice my interview skills and keeps me open to surprises of fortune.

If an Amazon recruiter emails you, just ignore them. Don't waste your time.

I've had three Amazon recruiters reach out to me (I have no idea how they found my email since I never applied to Amazon), and every time I reply that I AM interested, they never reply.

yes, why not? i keep it polite. they are just doing their job

I ignore them. In the past, whenever I've politely responded no, it seemed to be a signal for them to keep trying to talk to me, or to try again in three months, when the whole point was to get them to stop talking to me.

Worst, though, is when they somehow get ahold of your phone number (or, in a recent case, call, then text about how they've just called). This is just straight up creepy as I don't lightly give my phone number out. In these cases I do take the time to ask them to please stop.

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