The unrecruiting phone call
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
I'm no recruiting expert (I'm a software engineer/developer), but I have been on both sides of the fence, as a recruiter and recruitee.
From my experience, I think there is a right way to make a recruiting phone call and a wrong way to make a recruiting phone call.
The right wayIt's common sense to ask about professional experience, educational background, availability, and throwing in a technical question here and there doesn't hurt.
As a recruiter you want to, after all, find out if whoever you are calling can in fact help you solve whatever problem you have.
The wrong wayLet me be the potential recruiter and ask the question: "So I see you have experience in X. Do you know anyone with more experience than you that you can put me in contact with? You've worked for a year with technology X, you must know someone better than you."
What!?
Comments:
The only way to answer that would be to say
"I am looking for a job, and as you are in the business, do you know of a better recruiter? Probably not because you would not recognize one" :)
Reminds of the sales guy who, when I said I had chosen their competition, asked for my manager's phone number...