Are all recruiters just morons?

[Captain Jack]

So, a few weeks ago, I had yet another phone call from one of the billion recruiters out there with an 'exciting' role for me. Sent me a job description - looked OK, within my skill-set, decent pay.

The JD was for a Linux admin with some emphasis on automation using configuration management tools (such as Puppet). OK, let's have a phone interview with the company in question...

After a 30 minute chat it was quite clear that what they were looking for was actually a DevOps engineer with relative experience with continuous integration/development (CICD). I am not a developer OR a DevOps engineer, so I went back to the recruiter (let's call him Ellis, as that's his name) to say that based on the phone call, the role isn't for me and it would be a steep learning curve - and the company doesn't sound like they wanted a newbie. Ellis said he would speak to the company with my feedback.

An hour later he phones me back to say that they are NOT expecting a DevOps engineer and there's not a single word of "DevOps" or "CICD" in the JD. They just need a Linux admin. Now... the job is in Cardiff, which is 2 hours away by train from door to door but most of the work would be remote - either from home or client site. Considering that I am getting sick and tired of my existing role, I thought that it might be an idea to give this a go. So, I agreed to a face to face chat.

The "chat" is an all-day thing from 10 to 5, which comprises of a "big technical test", requiring me to spend £20 on a train ticket as well as take leave off work. When enquired as to what the "test" would be, I was repeatedly told that all I needed to do was bring my skill-set and I'd be fine. "The Apprentice" sprung to mind.

Anyhow... went there on Thursday and the first thing I asked was what the test is. They said - you should have been told what it was............ Doesn't matter, I'll do it anyway. The test was to create a continuous integration processes using a variety of DevOps tools to deploy a set of applications from source.

I don't expect everyone to understand but these are rather different things. It's like asking a dermatologist to diagnose a heart condition. While I did the test "OK", it is not my specialty and I probably looked a fool in front of what were clearly very smart people. I did say to them that this is not the job that I applied for and the test was pretty much irrelevant to my skill-set. I don't know whether *their* HR guy f*cked up or Ellis but I was really rather cross with all of them.

When I fed all this back to Ellis - he sounded very surprised and also was under the same impression that this is a Linux admin role, not a DevOps one. Argh! Can people really not communicate with one another any more?

Recruiters are almost as bad as estate agents - pushing jobs/properties that are really quite irrelevant to your needs and wasting people's time and money.

Whatever respect I had for recruiters is gone.

[OllieNZ]

I have a very large hammer in my toolbox you can borrow if that would help? ;)
That's pretty much been my experience with employment since moving over here. The only reason I have my current job is that I met one of the lads while changing his windscreen and after a bit of convo he mentioned that they were looking for mechanics and I was looking to get back into aviation so he set up an informal meeting with the gaffer. The gaffer decided I was what he was looking for and couldn't offer me a job fast enough. Weell long story short I'd applied for that job 6mths before and got told by the HR department I was not suitable for the position.........
Moral of the story, you can't underestimate the direct approach. Side step the process and go straight to the gaffer, most appreciate someone with the balls to walk up and ask for a job and if your the right person they'll make it happen for you.

[GingerMagic]

I agree with OllieNZ

A while ago, lets say about 20 years because that's how long ago it was, I was a bit* fed up in my job - so I had a look through the local paper for jobs. I applied for a position at a local courier company by writing my CV, drafting a cover letter and because I was a delivery driver at the time I went directly to the company to hand deliver the application. The manager there had received about 30 applications for the job, but after a 20 minute chat over a coffee he offered me the job on the spot - not because I was perfectly capable, but because I made the effort to call in personally.

I didn't take the job in the end, but since then I've always handed in CVs etc personally on the off chance I may be offered the job - you never know...

[trufflehunt]

All sounds familiar.

Long ago, I worked for a large computer manufacturer. I was a programmer, and decided to go freelance.
I phoned up an agent in London, and asked for advice about how marketable I was. He noted that I was very skilled
in scientific and technical programming. Basically I was a geek; I spent a large chunk of my job surrounded by piles
of programme listings, as I tracked down software errors.

Anyway, the agent said that with my CV, the contracts I would get would be highly paid but due to the specialised nature
of what I did, there would be significant gaps between contracts, thus reducing my earnings.

I arranged a transfer within the company, and gained some more marketable experience. A year later, I phoned that agent,
and he arranged a contract to start almost immediately. He was a decent, straighforward, no bullshitting bloke in a sea
of useless toerag recruitment companies.

I was always getting phone calls, from these outfits, asking me when my current contract was up, and would I be interested
in a contract doing.... ( insert whatever totally unrelated skills you wish ).

I freelanced for 12 years. Nearly all my work came from that first agent, or doing direct contracts with the company I'd been
an employee with those years before.

[Welly]

Can people really not communicate with one another any more?

No, and there's the problem.

Companies are 99% bullshit and then somewhere in a dark corner of the office and past all the shiny-suited wankers and bitchy women is a guy that KNOWS the work.

[steve_earwig]

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