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I feel the pain of candidates, as a recruiter and a candidate both (not at same time) I have seen some pretty shoddy practices, even now I get emails saying ‘I see you are a NOC manager, I have a role as a PHP programmer so apply if interested and ask a friend if not’. Talk about cast a wide desperate net! I would never use someone who would not even have the decency to offer me a role I was qualified for let alone one who just throws an email in the hope I have a buddy who want a job. If you do all your own legwork then you will get appropriate qulity.

I think many do understand the jobs, they just don’t understand the people. The more I think about it, the more I realise Recruiters are from Mars, Tech people are from Venus. Utterly different species that sometimes must work with each other. The result of this sometimes amusing, but sad experiment is what we see on social media where the men are the recruiters, chasing any bit of skirt, and the Tech people are the more feminine, trying to find someone who understands them. It’s clear to me that just like men and women, neither party really understand the each other, and sometimes get things done when they don’t have much of a choice, or are backed into a corner. Mostly its seems to be a series of one night stands, where neither party can remember quite how they got there, or the other person name. Running all the risks you would from getting involved in short term transactional relationships with people you don’t know, and normally wouldn’t associate with. So, a trip to the GP it is, followed by trying to explain to your significant other where it was you slept last night.

Very interesting observation Mitch, I really like Jonathan’s comparison above, it’s very amusing yet sad as it’s quite true. What I have found as well walking in the shoes of both this is the most frustrating thing tech candidates face with recruiters, it’s their ability to understand the roles and technology involved. And this is fascinating to watch because technology has moved really fast but recruitment is quite stagnant in comparison and it’s amazing to watch how participants try to address this by taking different approaches. Many recruiters are left dazzled and trying to guess why candidates drop off mid engagement or why wouldn’t they pick their calls. while no one is actually taking the time to stop and ask those candidates what they really want or understand what makes them tick.