Recruiters have really left a bad taste in my mouth lately. I still entertain them every once and a while if they have something that might be particularly intriguing, but they have really become increasingly unprofessional.
Story #1: About a year and a half ago, I was contacted by a recruiter for a position at a larger startup locally of whom he was representing. After some phone interviews and a technical interview, I really liked the product I'd be working on and the team. I received an offer and accepted.
My boss was on vacation that week, so I asked to start in 3 weeks, so I could give a proper notice. I spoke with my boss toward the end of the week and she asked if I'd be open to a counter-offer. I took the weekend to think over my options and it was that weekend that my wife and I found out she was pregnant with our second child. Monday, my boss came back with a counter offer that was not only stronger, but it gave me a promotion to a higher position with the promise of building out a team of developers under me.
Now, somewhat freaking out over the news of a child and the uncertainty of my employment, we both felt much more comfortable with me staying where I was, especially since I'd be getting a pretty large raise, so I declined the other offer. What happened over the next few days is the craziest amount of unprofessionalism I've ever experienced.
The recruiter called me at least 50 times over and over throughout the course of 2-3 days. There were ~15 emails and countless texts of him telling me I was making the wrong decision and he could get me even more money (he told me before the offer they gave me was as high as they'd go when I tried to negotiate, but then started promising me $20-30k more 🙄 - keep in mind, he doesn't work for this company). The company itself actually, very nicely, offered to pay Cobra insurance for me to accommodate the gap in coverage I'd have with their 90 day policy, but in the end, there was no way I was accepting just because of the crazy recruiter.
Story #2: I've chatted with a recruiter before and even gone out to lunch with her and really liked her and loved her approach... She contacts me for a job out of the blue and asks if I'd be interested and I tell her yes, giving her the usual update on my skills, blah blah blah. We talk about the position and I'm getting pretty excited, then she asks me to do a React assessment because I've never held a position working with it at a job.
At first, I thought her question was reasonable, but I have 5+ years of experience and hold a senior level-position. I have vast experience with Vue and have done significant work in Node and PHP and get my hands dirty in .NET if I have to. I use React on several side projects, and have used Angular 1 and it's newer variants on a few projects. If they're only interested in hiring someone who can answer useless React trivia in some outdated multiple-choice assessment, then I'm not your guy. For an entry-level person who has zero work experience at all, at an entry level position, sure, but I felt super insulted, especially coming from someone who I thought I'd cultivated a pretty good and understanding relationship with...
Story #3: I interviewed for and was offered a position at a company and offered a ~$25k raise. Up until this point, everything was great, the company was awesome (some of the smartest devs I've ever met), the recruiter was an ex developer who really knew his stuff, the company was a 5 minute drive from me and the technology they were working with was right up my alley. I distinctly remember the recruiter delivering the offer to me over the phone and saying, "I'm going to send you the offer and the benefits, definitely go over everything and make sure it works good for you and your family. At the end of the day, you have to do what's right for you." I thought this was super cool, FINALLY, a recruiter who actually cared about me.
Wrong. After looking over the benefits package, everything looked great, except the health benefits, which were twice as expensive as what I already had. The offer letter also contained a clause, which I went over with my attorney, that stated that they had sole rights to any work I did outside of the position, regardless of if it was done on company property or not (this is a no-go for me, as I freelance on the side). Moreover, they were unwilling to write a work-at-home day into my contract, which I had specifically told the recruiter was a deal breaker for me if they couldn't deliver on other fronts.
I declined the offer and the recruiter told me he was, "Sure they could make good on all my concerns, but it seemed like I made up my mind, so he wasn't going to wait for me." How they going to change the health benefits they offer everyone for one person...? 🤣
Moral of the Story: My current company is awesome and the grass is definitely not always greener on the other side.
Trouble maker and Problem solver ⚙️🔧
Loves simplicity, hates bullshit 💩.
Productivity obsessed, avid learner 🖥🚀
Sport and outdoor freak 🧗⛰
Metalhead 🎸🤘 Father of 2 👨👩👦👦
Opinions are my own
thanx for sharing your "interesting" stories. :-)
I understand they can get pretty upset of seeing all their efforts ( and their share) vanish when you change your mind, but seeing them become annoying or rude is very sad and proof of their unprofessionalism.
I also feel kind of insulting, when in introductory chats or ( even some tech interviews ) after having discussed infrastructure design, cloud architecture, leadeadership and mentorship skills etc, you are handed over a silly coding task..
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
Recruiters have really left a bad taste in my mouth lately. I still entertain them every once and a while if they have something that might be particularly intriguing, but they have really become increasingly unprofessional.
Story #1: About a year and a half ago, I was contacted by a recruiter for a position at a larger startup locally of whom he was representing. After some phone interviews and a technical interview, I really liked the product I'd be working on and the team. I received an offer and accepted.
My boss was on vacation that week, so I asked to start in 3 weeks, so I could give a proper notice. I spoke with my boss toward the end of the week and she asked if I'd be open to a counter-offer. I took the weekend to think over my options and it was that weekend that my wife and I found out she was pregnant with our second child. Monday, my boss came back with a counter offer that was not only stronger, but it gave me a promotion to a higher position with the promise of building out a team of developers under me.
Now, somewhat freaking out over the news of a child and the uncertainty of my employment, we both felt much more comfortable with me staying where I was, especially since I'd be getting a pretty large raise, so I declined the other offer. What happened over the next few days is the craziest amount of unprofessionalism I've ever experienced.
The recruiter called me at least 50 times over and over throughout the course of 2-3 days. There were ~15 emails and countless texts of him telling me I was making the wrong decision and he could get me even more money (he told me before the offer they gave me was as high as they'd go when I tried to negotiate, but then started promising me $20-30k more 🙄 - keep in mind, he doesn't work for this company). The company itself actually, very nicely, offered to pay Cobra insurance for me to accommodate the gap in coverage I'd have with their 90 day policy, but in the end, there was no way I was accepting just because of the crazy recruiter.
Story #2: I've chatted with a recruiter before and even gone out to lunch with her and really liked her and loved her approach... She contacts me for a job out of the blue and asks if I'd be interested and I tell her yes, giving her the usual update on my skills, blah blah blah. We talk about the position and I'm getting pretty excited, then she asks me to do a React assessment because I've never held a position working with it at a job.
At first, I thought her question was reasonable, but I have 5+ years of experience and hold a senior level-position. I have vast experience with Vue and have done significant work in Node and PHP and get my hands dirty in .NET if I have to. I use React on several side projects, and have used Angular 1 and it's newer variants on a few projects. If they're only interested in hiring someone who can answer useless React trivia in some outdated multiple-choice assessment, then I'm not your guy. For an entry-level person who has zero work experience at all, at an entry level position, sure, but I felt super insulted, especially coming from someone who I thought I'd cultivated a pretty good and understanding relationship with...
Story #3: I interviewed for and was offered a position at a company and offered a ~$25k raise. Up until this point, everything was great, the company was awesome (some of the smartest devs I've ever met), the recruiter was an ex developer who really knew his stuff, the company was a 5 minute drive from me and the technology they were working with was right up my alley. I distinctly remember the recruiter delivering the offer to me over the phone and saying, "I'm going to send you the offer and the benefits, definitely go over everything and make sure it works good for you and your family. At the end of the day, you have to do what's right for you." I thought this was super cool, FINALLY, a recruiter who actually cared about me.
Wrong. After looking over the benefits package, everything looked great, except the health benefits, which were twice as expensive as what I already had. The offer letter also contained a clause, which I went over with my attorney, that stated that they had sole rights to any work I did outside of the position, regardless of if it was done on company property or not (this is a no-go for me, as I freelance on the side). Moreover, they were unwilling to write a work-at-home day into my contract, which I had specifically told the recruiter was a deal breaker for me if they couldn't deliver on other fronts.
I declined the offer and the recruiter told me he was, "Sure they could make good on all my concerns, but it seemed like I made up my mind, so he wasn't going to wait for me." How they going to change the health benefits they offer everyone for one person...? 🤣
Moral of the Story: My current company is awesome and the grass is definitely not always greener on the other side.
thanx for sharing your "interesting" stories. :-)
I understand they can get pretty upset of seeing all their efforts ( and their share) vanish when you change your mind, but seeing them become annoying or rude is very sad and proof of their unprofessionalism.
I also feel kind of insulting, when in introductory chats or ( even some tech interviews ) after having discussed infrastructure design, cloud architecture, leadeadership and mentorship skills etc, you are handed over a silly coding task..