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WHY Won’t Recruiter Give ME the Time of Day?

November 7, 2009 by sparktalk 

Dear J.T. & Dale: There is one recruiter who has a lot of the high-end jobs I qualify for, but for some reason she has yet to respond to me about any of those listings. Why hasn’t she contacted me? Is it rude to call her and ask if I have been considered? — Lynne

J.T.: Most recruiters are overwhelmed with applicants right now. So, just calling or e-mailing once isn’t good enough. I would contact her and ask what is the best way to get considered for the positions she has available. In particular, inquire as to whether there’s a process she likes new applicants to follow to make sure they get her everything she needs for them to be considered. Framing it this way is more pleasant and shows respect for her role in the hiring process.

Dale: This is another case where questions are the answer. In sales, it’s called permission marketing — you ask people how they want to be contacted and what you can do to help make their decision easier. If you can’t reach the recruiter on the phone (likely) and you end up asking those questions via e-mail or voicemail, maybe you still don’t get a response back, but you’ll have done a classy follow-up and increased your odds of getting noticed in the right way.

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Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a professional development specialist and founder of CAREEREALISM.com. Dale Dauten’s latest book is “(Great) Employees Only: How Gifted Bosses Hire and De-Hire Their Way to Success” (John Wiley & Sons).

Please visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via e-mail, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10019.

© 2009 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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Comments

  • alice01
    Good post.Good information has been given. The post seems to be very informative one. But nowadays we no need to worry about getting jobs. Because One of my friend got a good computing job with the help of cloudjobs.net.Now i am feel http://cloudjobs.net very useful to me.

    Thanks
    Alice.
  • apiedi01
    Dear J.T. & Dale: I was working with a recruiter who went away for a few days. We'll call him Neil. He had another recruiter, we'll call him Cameron, contact me about a job that I would have liked but this new recruiter was rude and unprofessional. I spoke to Neil when he returned and he told me that the account was now with Cameron. He said that Cameron would be meeting me on my interview day so he could introduce me to my interviewer. I declined the interview because I was uncomfortable with Cameron's work ethic and unprofessionalism. I was then accused of "burning a bridge" because I turned down the interview specifically because I didn't want to have anything to do with Cameron . When I applied to another job recently, I got an email reply from Neil that said: "I'm sorry, but this position would not be a fit." and if you scroll down, you can see an email from the other recruiter that said: "Hey Neil, your old friend applied again. Too bad she's burned a bridge." This is the only staffing agency staffing for this company right now and I have an excellent chance of being hired there. Is there anything I can do to get around going through the staffing agency? I can't help but think there has to be some discrimination laws being touched here too.
  • This is challenging. There are no discrimination laws being broken. The staffing company is sourcing candidates on behalf of the company. Given how many qualified people are looking for work, they aren't going to have a hard time showing there were lots to choose from. And honestly, they are going to spin it to the employer that you had a 'bad attitude.' Sadly, that's not the real story, but for now, they are only going to get to hear the side that makes the staffing company look like they saved their client from a bad hire.

    As far as getting around the process, your best shot is to befriend someone who currently works in the organization. A reference from an internal employee who can vouch for your character will trump the staffing company. Moreover, the staffing company charges a fee, so the company would save money if they hired you directly. Now, if this is a temporary job and the company has a contract that says all temporary hires must work through them, you've got a challenge. However, the reality is that if you can get referred in and make an amazing impression, you'd be able to tactfully share what happened with the staffing company and most likely, the employer would tell the staffing company that they had to use you. It might be awkward, but it would work.

    I hope this helps and best wishes. Those situations can be tough, so you have to find people who can offset the opinion of the naysayers of you will find it quite challenging to overcome.
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