> There are lots of techniques recruiters will use to waste your time.
Why is this? Why do they insist on wasting a candidate's time when answering some simple questions via email is much more efficient?
I've talked to HR people about this, and the answers I've received are not satisfying. A common response is that they want to get to know you, hear how you speak, determine if you might be a good fit. BUT, shouldn't they figure out if the candidate is even interested by verifying basic needs/requirements?
The responses come down to basically they don't value our time as much as we do.
> Why is this? Why do they insist on wasting a candidate's time when answering some simple questions via email is much more efficient?
That's easy: they want you invested. The sunk cost fallacy works.
Think about it another way: being a recruiter is being in sales. Sales people love pipelines (funnels) so if you think about the recruitment stages a simplified view might be:
1. Email candidate
2. Candidate responds to email
3. Discuss on phone
4. Candidate submits resume
5. Organize phone screen
6. Conduct interviews
7. Negotiate offer
8. Accept offer
Each of these steps has a conversion rate. Imagine you get paid $20,000 for placing a candidate. Work backwards through this pipeline and you might figure out you have to send 5,000 emails to place one candidate. That means each email you send, you've "earned" $4. Imagine if the response rate is 20%. Well, getting a candidate to respond by changing up the content or presentation of the email means you've now "earned" $20. If only 1 in 3 talk on the phone then each phone introduction you make "earns" you $60. And so on.
it's a numbers game. They're just trying to get you to the next stage in the pipeline.
i've had lots of recruiters that really thought their value was to harass me me by phone. even though I've emphasized repeatedly that there isn't anything more that they can do personally to help me...the insist on calling me nearly ever day to 'see where my head is at'
i'm pretty sure i've lost out on some decent positions in the past because i got so sick of spending 30 minutes here and there talking to the same idiot that said 'dont _ever_ call me back you asshole'
Why is this? Why do they insist on wasting a candidate's time when answering some simple questions via email is much more efficient?
I've talked to HR people about this, and the answers I've received are not satisfying. A common response is that they want to get to know you, hear how you speak, determine if you might be a good fit. BUT, shouldn't they figure out if the candidate is even interested by verifying basic needs/requirements?
The responses come down to basically they don't value our time as much as we do.