to ask people to remember that recruiters are people too?

[NotRobots]

Absolutely prepared to be slated for this because many people seem to hate recruiters but anyway

I’ve worked in recruitment for years, quite senior level, so I have quite the thick skin. I’ve experienced nearly all the abuse one can via phone, email and sometimes in person. I fully expect to be told horror stories of recruitment on this post, or be told this job isn’t right for me because I’m a whinger (despite being in the field years now 🙈)

but an issue this morning has really gotten under my skin. I am experiencing some major health issues at the moment, and am awaiting treatment. All my colleagues (who are my friends at this point) know, but obviously I’m not advertising my struggles to candidates.

These symptoms flared up recently and I had to reschedule a call with someone. Well, wasn’t that the most offensive thing I could do? The reaction from the candidate was more so I’d killed her entire family rather than just rescheduled a call to the next day. I apologized profusely, but I refuse to give my medical details as explanation when it’s not her business, so I won’t.

But AIBU to remind people that when dealing with recruiters, there is an actual person on the other side of the line? With real problems, real deadlines, and absolutely no personal vendettas against you/no intention to mess you about?

When we reschedule, or when we’re late with feedback, it’s not because we want to or want to be, but there are things beyond our control. Some recruiters are absolute wankers, but the majority are just trying to do our jobs so we can survive and pay our bills like everyone else.

Oof, I second this! Sometimes the feedback is genuinely “this candidate is the worst in the entire industry, knows absolutely none of the required information, and presented as such an egotistical brat, I had to stop myself from yelling”, to which the recruiter nicens that up and wishes the candidate all the best while providing “general” tips on how to best come across in interview or better their skills.

Ouch yeah they’re terrible recruiters!!! Why in the world would they push you to take a salary below what you’re already on?!?! Especially nowadays

Honestly, I hope that if a recruiter reaches out to you, they’re the best in the business! You’ve clearly seen the worst, and that’s not a fair reflection of 90% of recruiters tbh.

For myself, I recently placed someone who was so lovely, he cried when he got the job, and I teared up too! I’ve been in contact with him every week since he started, and know the names/ages of all his children, just through enjoying our conversations.

Yep, the harassment is insane. I called someone on my personal phone as I was out and about, and his schedule required I call after my own working hours.

He sent me a dick pic afterwards.

I also had a candidate tell her interviewers that her child was in hospital, only to tell someone else (who she didn’t realize was connected to me) that she lied and just didn’t want to go to the interview anymore. She used her child as an excuse!!! She could have easily emailed me and said she didn’t want to be in process anymore, and I’d have handled it for her no problem

I sympathise because the general public are really generally awful

But I’ve also had my fair share of terrible recruiters. Ones who lie, or keep you hanging on, or just don’t answer the phone because they’re clearly waiting on something when they could just be honest about it. I’ve also had some really lovely, wonderful ones. But unfortunately it seems to be something within the industry where they use little white lies and avoidance to keep candidates hanging around while they’re waiting if preferred candidates will take the job.

as an aside, why do you rarely advertise salary bands? It is SO frustrating applying for roles which are then way more junior than it seems on first look

I assumed now there's linkedin and the Internet it negates a lot of the need for recruiters anyway, can't people network, find opportunities and apply themselves?

they really can't,

which works out well for me as it's how I make a living 😂

If you want a decent recruiter, pick an agency without a high turnover of staff. Experienced and long standing recruiters build relationships, prove their skills, and charge accordingly.

When you have an agency with staff who only last a few months, it's obvious they are only there for the short term, often gamble on number instead of quality. It's a waste of everybody's time.

Ridiculous, nobody has the right to be rude. Even to Traffic Wardens..! Get well soon OP.

My company decided this. Absolutely bloody nightmare. Bring back recruitment agencies say I.

Again, maybe it’s different in the UK, but I’m in Ireland, and every role I’ve ever advertised has had salary listed. Even candidates I’ve sourced, the first words out of my mouth is “this is the salary”.

High volume roles take too much time for higher ups in the companies to go through themselves. It’s not as simple as looking at a CV and hiring someone, there’s guidelines and regulations that need to be followed. Then there’s potential issues with visas, GDPR concerns, background checks, etc that recruiters are trained to manage.

Linkedin, google and AI can only do so much

why do you rarely advertise salary bands? It is SO frustrating applying for roles which are then way more junior than it seems on first look

because we work for a client. You can talk until you are blue in the face, they have the ultimate say on the way recruitment is done.

Also, you cannot always give a fixed salary point, because there is a bracket, and salary will often depend on the skills, experience and the candidate. And on negotiations..

Recruiters are people too!

You can talk until you are blue in the face, they have the ultimate say on the way recruitment is done

what does this mean?

It means if a client specifies they do not want to see a salary in any advertisement, you do not put a salary in the advertisement.

You can refuse clients, or candidates, you don't take on a client but disregard their instructions. You can try to convince them they are wrong as hard as you can, if they are firm, there's nothing you can do, apart from telling them to go elsewhere if you really can't agree.

People pay recruiters to avoid dealing with things, so clients don't get too involved, but the salary issues come up regularly.

It's not even that companies want to pay as little as possible, it's more that they reasonably want to pay what the candidate is worth.

Totally agree and unfortunately it stems from the fact alot of recruiters don't give recruiter a good name because they don't seem to care about candidates feelings. You are dealing with a group of people who in quite alot of circumstances, might be unemployed and going through their own real struggles. But yes everyone can be kind to everyone as we never know what they are going through. I've had to cancel client calls because I was going through a miscarriage and I knew they would have been vile to me.