4 More Tech Recruiter Do’s and Dont’s
My initial post, Tech Recruiter Do's and Don'ts, got quite a bit of attention. Probably because we've all been victim to poor recruitment in one way or another. The original reasons were good but it didn't take long to think up a few more reasons why tech recruiters often fail. Here are a few tips for tech recruiters!
Do: Ask About (and Offer) Relocation
Don't: Assume I'm Willing to Move
Some tech companies have gotten incredibly arrogant about their standing; they'll try to sell you on a job that requires relocation without saying up front that the job requires relocation. Can you imagine the stones it takes to do that? A kid fresh out of college may be willing to up and leave but someone with a family can't simply move. One of the first things a recruiter should mention is that job requires relocation and should state what steps the organization takes to help in relocation. Assuming candidates will move to your location, regardless of how great the job is, shows an unimaginable arrogance and skews the developer's view of the company for the future.
Do: Spend 10 Minutes Researching How to Contact Me Privately
Dont: Contact Me at My Present Job's Email/Phone
Another arrogant practice is calling or emailing talent at their current position. Contacting talent at their place of work is unfair because it puts them at risk for termination if management or even colleagues find out. In most cases you can quickly get another route for contact via GitHub, Facebook, LinkedIn, Stack Overflow, their blog contact form, etc. Getting a candidate fired is no way to recruit them to your business.
Do: Communicate Back to the Candidate Often
Don't: Recruit and Disappear
Once you have a candidate willing to interview for the position you think them the best fit for, do not simply walk away from the recruitment. After the recruit has interviewed with members of your team, press your interviewers to give feedback quickly so the recruit isn't waiting for days. Doing so shows the recruit that you aren't that serious about grabbing them and they'll either lost interest or end up contacting you, which is something they shouldn't need to do -- you're recruiting them.
Do: Email the Job Listing You Are Recruiting Them For
Don't: Recruit Them and Leave Them in the Dust
Once a recruit has bought into speaking with your team, be sure to send them the position requirements before the first interview. Too often I hear stories (I've experienced this as well) from developers that they weren't sent job requirements and were asked questions which didn't match their expertise. There are thousands of spoken languages in the world, and there are thousands of different programming languages out there -- don't assume developers know them all. Sure the concepts are mostly the same, but the languages are not.
Another set of common mistakes by tech recruiters. These posts aren't meant to disparage tech recruiters but to communicate to them how developers want to be recruited; what works and what doesn't. Following these steps ensure success for both sides of the transaction!
Nice explanation,
I want david to clarify the meaning of “Dont: Contact Me at My Present Job’s Email/Phone”.
Don’t email me using someone else’s name, attempt to retrieve it! Then expect me to reply when you send me the same email with my correct name and no apology for the previous email!
Tech recruiter here, 15 years in the business. Well written piece, and you could easily list another 100 do/don’t items. I write on similar topics and am trying to increase transparency between developers and recruiters by exposing recruiter methods, tricks, and motivations. Thanks for the insight.
@dave can you post your blog/site where you write? I’m interested in those topics :)
A friend of mine once struck up a conversation with me ‘about the new job hunt’ while I was behind the counter of my place of employment and my manager was right around the corner. THAT was not a fun week.