Hacker News Reader

Comment by decadentcactus | Hacker News Reader

Aw man, am I the only one who doesn't have this terrible problem of everyone wanting to offer them a job?

I'm sure I'm not doing 100% of what's possible to be able to sit back and pick and choose whether I want the 150k job or the 180k job, but almost all of these "recruiters suck" posts apply to a small minority of people, those near the top of their profession.

Maybe I need a "Do you make shitty weekend projects that end up going nowhere? Let us know" site.

View on HN

I'm nowhere near the top of my profession, so I'm baffled by it. I'm actually glad to read about it, since my non-dev friends don't understand it and get angry at me for bitching about people trying to offer me work! I am however, a minority in the field (a woman) so I sometimes think that this fact MAY have something to do with it :/

It really gives me even more reason to hate the recruiting spam - when I'm called "Mr." or when they tell me that "We're looking for a couple of great dudes like you!"

Ha! Definitely can relate (except for the great dudes part lol), but I wonder what kind of deals these recruiters have with companies? Do they really care about finding the right people for positions, or do they just want a quick cut of whatever commission they're making? It's flattering sometimes to see a voicemail full of recruiters, but one has to wonder if their intentions are optimally in line with what companies need.

Mostly the latter (the quick cut). They're basically like realtors in that sense. I've worked with a few recruiters on both sides of the fence (hiring and behing hired). They're are a few really good ones out there and a shitload of noise. The trick is to find one you trust and just run with them (or, increasingly, just use your personal network).

I'm nowhere near the top, but get these emails all the time. Want some of your own? Put your resume on any of the big job sites; just one is all it takes. You'll get calls and emails daily, usually several a day. Almost all of them will be a total waste of time. This is the recruiter spam they alude to.

Maybe it's just the information we put online, or maybe it's just the business, but I don't think it's a minority who have bad experiences with recruiters. I'd actually be really interested in hearing peoples' positive experiences, as they seem to be a very rare thing. I'm not trying to be cynical, this has just been my experience, enforced by just about every other developer I've talked to.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com