Before I get into FAQs, I think it’s important to understand an important element of the recruiter’s workday. For years, recruiting companies have gathered first thing in the morning to discuss current openings, candidates, and what we are working on that day. We call this “Board.” It used to be a big physical whiteboard on a wall in a physical office, but this has changed to be more virtual since the remote world came upon us. Generally on board, we go through each position and each candidate in play.
It’ll look like this. We might be recruiting on a Senior Developer for Amazon and we have Suzie in play. Suzie might have had her final interview the previous day and generally a higher up will ask you questions in front of the other recruiters at Board. He/she might ask you “How did Suzie think it went? Will she accept? Why wouldn’t she accept? What other opportunities does she have in front of her? Where does she rank Amazon in that list?”
Reason being, if Suzie isn’t that serious, we need to quickly pivot that day and recruit heavily on the Senior Dev at Amazon that day.
Leadership values information and we can’t just slap things against a wall and see what sticks. Well, we could, but those are generally the recruiting firms devs are complaining about 🙂
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Recruiters will ask for post-interview calls to gather feedback, understand how the interview went, and assess your interest level in the position. This feedback can be crucial in tailoring the hiring process, as seen in the example above.
Also, generally we have feedback times with hiring managers. If you interview at 9am and we have a feedback call at 3pm with the manager, it’s a bad look to be on the 3pm call with the hiring manager where they ask “How did John Doe think the interview went?” only for you to say you haven’t heard from him yet. If we have feedback at this point, we can generally keep things moving more quickly and ideally schedule the next round on that feedback call.
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Discussing compensation early helps ensure that both you and the employer are on the same page regarding salary expectations. The last thing we want to happen is to waste everyone’s time, including your own. If we get to the finish line and the deal falls apart due to money, generally the recruiting company is the one who gets slapped on the wrist, or even fired from the client.
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Recruiters often ask about other opportunities to gauge your level of interest and urgency. This information can help them prioritize your candidacy and work effectively on your behalf. If I have a great idea of how things align, that helps me in terms of filling the role for my client, but may also be leverage for me to work positively on your behalf.
One example, I worked with a Senior React Developer last year for a role. He got an offer from my client but ultimately accepted another offer. After his other offer was signed, I was able to ask him why he went with the other offer. He said it was because the other offer had an in house designer and he didn’t want to have to work on wireframes and such, he simply wanted to implement them. What he didn’t know due to lack of communication was that my client had hired a designer the day before. He was bummed and regretted not having that information.
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Look, not every recruiter wants to be relational. My guess is that maybe 10% will ever talk to you again to just see how you’re doing. That said, if you find a solid recruiter who you have rapport with, it’s great to check back in with them once you’re looking. Generally they have a solid remembrance of who you are, your preferences, etc so that you don’t have to do the initial 30ish minute intake call again. Additionally, if you find a great recruiter in your local market, you can ask them for advice on the market, other companies in town you should check out (whether they’re a client or not) or even just if there’s anyone in town they think you should meet. Especially me, use me. I love making connections! It’s why I got into recruiting.
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Effective recruiters aim to present candidates who are genuinely interested in a role and well-prepared for the interview process. To submit you to a candidate I need to know that you’re truly interested, that you’re not too deep in other interview process that we have no chance, that you have values that align with my client, that you’re a solid enough technical fit, and overall that you aren’t going to do something that gets me in hot water on board :) I haven’t been ghosted much after submitting a candidate, but when I was, it was generally with candidates who were loosey goosey and only wanted to chat for 10 minutes. Being more thorough will obviously take more time, but a recruiter who is thorough is likely a good (relational!) recruiter and the quality of recruiter you want to work with.
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You’d be shocked how many people have missed an interview and when I call them they’ll simply say, “Sorry, I took another offer.” Obviously that level of communication makes us look bad. You may be a responsible adult who respects others’ time, but many recruiters are paranoid from being burned so often.
I think this is a bit extreme, but a recruiter I used to work with who helped teach me often told me we had to babysit candidates while they are in process with us. That may hurt, but there’s more truth to that in the overall candidate market than you might expect (Don’t shoot the messenger!).
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I’ve heard this many times and understand. But you have to understand, we are recruiting based on what the hiring manager told us they need. Every time we work on a role, we will do an intake call with the hiring manager where we discuss the must haves, nice to haves, and much more of what they’re looking for. I’ve done this 6.5 years and recruited for 50ish companies, and only 2 hiring managers have ever told me to “just find them a good engineer.”
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I have many stories on this. I’m not just being nosy…Like Jerry Maguire says, “Help me, Help you.” The more you make, the more I make so I promise I’m not just beating you down. My goal is to find the sweet spot where you and the client are both happy. I don’t want to price you out, but I also want to pay you enough that you’re there long term. A couple stories that might illustrate why this info is beneficial for me?
A couple years ago I was working on a Senior .NET Developer with particular EDI experience. I found a wonderful candidate who said he was great with $150k. I just kind of accepted that and didn’t dig much further. We go through the process, he loves them, they love him, but he gets the offer and rejects it after a weekend of thinking about it. I ask him why he said no, as I was befuddled. He disclosed to me that he was just making $190k and after talking to his wife about it, they couldn’t take that big of a cut. This to say, my internal manager wasn’t happy with me, and the hiring manager wasn’t happy with my company.
Last year I was working on a Senior Ruby on Rails developer. In this particular incident, I posted a role with one client for $160k to $180k. Like 90% of candidates I speak with, he wanted the top of the salary range. I didn’t dig into his circumstances and submitted him at $180k. He didn’t get the role. Another Ruby dev opens up with a client the next week. I submit him for $180k and they interview him. They like him but pass on him because they don’t think his skill level demands $180k. After a couple weeks, he comes back to me still unable to find a job, and tells me he’d take less money. We go back to the client and after some confusion, they interview him more and offer him for $160k. I come to find out he was just making $130k. I’m a big believer that past salaries shouldn’t dictate future salaries, but I had placed 5 Ruby devs with this client in the past and if he had consulted me a bit more on where he thinks he slots in, I likely could have steered him more effectively and saved some time. If you have a senior recruiter, trust him/her!
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Recruiters talk to many people. Our goal is to get to know as many people as possible, and also to remember as many people as possible! This is easier said than done and is obviously helped by databases. If I see a candidate who is looking, my natural inclination is to reach out to see how I might be able to help even if I don’t have a job for them. The hope is that I’ll be able to introduce them somewhere or that I will formally get a role for them in the next week or two.
But what might happen is the following. I speak with Jane Doe and really like her experience. I don’t have anything at that moment but my intention is to stay in touch with her. The following 2 weeks I talk to 50 more candidates, and though I wanted to continue to stay in touch with Jane Doe, recency bias can come into play. Or, I might think in my head, “Jane has spoken to 10 recruiters the past 2 weeks. I don’t need to check in with her. She wouldn’t remember me anyway!”
Obviously a perfect recruiter would check in with every candidate they’ve spoken with and keep them up to date if roles have come in, but you might see how that could be hard. If you check in with us, that will help your cause!