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Comment by michaelchisari | Hacker News Reader

I've started writing recruiters back with this question:

If there was one book I could read to understand this company's business model and future, what would it be?

I'm very careful about what company I join after a string of bad experiences (or even good experiences that failed). I don't just care about engineering, I want to understand the product and business I'd be working on/for on a deeper and broader level.

So I'm not asking this to be pedantic or anything. I love to read, so anything a recruiter responds with I would 100% take the time to read.

So far, nobody has ever written me back.

I haven't yet formed a theory on what that means, but I can't help but find it disappointing nonetheless. I'm literally asking the teacher for more homework.

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  If there was one book I could read to understand this company's business model and future, what would it be?

  I don't just care about engineering, I want to understand the product and business I'd be working on/for on a deeper and broader level.

I like everything about this and everything you're saying fully resonates with me. At the end of the day companies themselves need some sort of pressure on them to at least raise what's currently the "minimum." I know it's not the recruiters fault generally, and definitely a large part of it is the company itself and the incentives they setup that make it cutthroat.

On the line about the book, I would also read it. It's good for me, it's good for them.

Thinking of a recruiter as a teacher doesn't seem accurate to me. They should not be expected to understand the company well or the role of the software team in the company. Recruiters are intermediaries whose role it is to save the hiring manager's valuable time. They will focus on the initial scanning of profiles (does this vaguely look like a developer profile?), be responsible for scheduling and maybe salary negotiations as this means you can start a fresh relationship with your hiring manager without the potential tension left over from a salary negotiation. The exception are executive search professionals who will understand the business model well, but even they would not be able to recommend a book.

| Thinking of a recruiter as a teacher doesn't seem accurate to me

That's a comedic throwaway line you shouldn't take too seriously. The joke is about me being the kind of dork who asks for more homework.

| They should not be expected to understand the company well

I fully don't expect the recruiter to be the one who determines the answer to that question. All they have to do is ask someone higher up though.

Probably too much effort for the recruiter to figure out. Understandable, I've been in my company almost 5 years and still wouldn't have a good answer.

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