Recruiters Ghosted by Candidates
Recruiters, especially those in tech and startups, are experiencing a significant challenge: difficulty getting candidates to respond to outreach. This is compounded by an increasingly complex sourcing process involving numerous tools, metrics, and personalization demands, leading to feelings of overwhelm and questioning the effectiveness of current strategies. The core issue is a shift in candidate behavior and expectations.
SOURCES (60)
“Internal referral is shit these days. As a tech worker, it’s more like: A: I’m very well established in the field and recruiters approach me every day with new opportunities. B: I’ve been working almost for pennies on the dollar as a student intern for…”
“I wanted to share this because I think a lot of people, especially when they’re actively job hunting, feel pressured to take every opportunity a recruiter puts in front of them. I was leaving my previous job because of a downsizing situation where practically my entire team was being told to start looking for new jobs. So naturally, I was interviewing and considering multiple opportunities at the time. One recruiter set me up with two initial interviews for a finance job. Both were normal one-on”
“Been casually looking for 6 months with a few recruiter approaches, but given how competitive the market is right now, I need to level up my strategy. For those actively applying or who recently landed a role hit me with your best advice! I'm looking for delivery management jobs in the software development sphere: * Where are you having the most success finding open roles? * Are agency recruiters worth working with right now? * Do you tailor your CV for every role, or stick to a few targeted”
“I know that Toptal isnt cheap but you are better off hireing a properly vetted engineer than a "trust me Im good" freelancer on UpWork. Dont get me wrong this is not a rant on UpWork, im just saying that sometimes cheaper can be more expensive in the end. Startups IMO have to be extra hard who they hire because their beginner clients are usualy very important and should consider delivery a priority to profits.”
“You don't need the recruiter to be worthwhile themselves, only need them to have a job posting and a pathway to an interview.”
“My experience is that during networking in person, side projects will get you leads and referrals if they’re really good. But during interviews no one cares, unless you turned it into a business/product. I’m glad to see some others apparently have a different experience, and I hope that theirs is more the norm.”
“Hey! I am working as a tech recruiter and I know the industry is fucked up now. Ask me anything and hopefully I can help somehow. I am working at a consultant company in Sweden submitted by /u/flipperdolphy94 [link] [comments]”
“Just wanted to get some honest advice from people in UK recruitment. I run a recruitment outsourcing company and we work with UK-based clients, mainly helping with candidate sourcing and the recruitment side of things. To be honest, things have been pretty slow lately. The biggest issue I'm finding is that clients will say something along the lines of: "If we have any vacancies, we'll send them over and you can work on commission." Which sounds great, but then... nothing 😂 The”
“No, you fucking jackass. God, my blood pressure is doing a number today. The reason WE aren't getting these job offers is because we don't have the network that THOSE people have to even get an interview. I'm working ALL the time building passion projects, working with Claude, constantly learning about code but that doesn't matter because I don't have an IN at these unicorns like Anthropic or OpenAI. Almost every single one of those candidates has worked with someone on the i”
“I posted this as a comment in another thread, but I think you guys will appreciate this daily dose of stupidity as the post it deserves. Last year I reached out to the cofounder of a company via email, he didn't reply but forwarded my mail to his cofounder. I had a call with him, we agreed to create a whole brand system on a freelance gig, then go for a real contract. I delivered the first half of the project, the other cofounder who never said anything wanted to have a call, so I had a call”
“Hello all! Although this is a bit of a self-promotion post as I am looking for anyone who is ACTUALLY hiring for Business/Data Analyst roles, overall I am just looking to get a feel for who is actually hiring in the current (US specific) markets. It seems like with PropTech on the rise and new laws being passed locally, things are changing fast vs even 3 years ago. Taking a play for a connection in LinkedIn, I want to be able to connect people on both sides of the aisle to foster connections and”
“yeah this is correct. recruiters started this first. And EVERYONE was shouting that this was going to turn out into an automated agentic mess for everyone involved when they rolled it out. And here we are. you have to be a special kind of stupid to not see this coming.”
“I’ve used LinkedIn for general searches but it seems like LinkedIn Recruiter has a ton of features and feeling a bit overwhelmed. I’m willing to spend time learning though so curious what the best course or resources are to properly master it? Ideally something just focused on that and not super expensive (eg not looking for someone’s course on being a recruiter or starting a business, literally just want to master LinkedIn recruiter) Thanks in advance! submitted by /u/Emotional-Ad-6”
“Same conclusion a couple others landed on here - appreciate the confirmation. Already pivoting outreach to sales/RevOps instead of recruiters, and will lead with a live lookup result instead of "here's a free API." Thanks for the specific framing on how to open, that's useful.”
“Laid off senior QA tester with some analyst experience. The market is a nightmare for everyone, but from what I can see it's even worse for manual QA roles - all the openings I see are for QA engineering roles which I don't have much experience in. I'd like to stay in the industry, but gotta get a job. Has anyone successfully transitioned out of manual QA into another role/industry, and if so, where and how? submitted by /u/Switchell22 [link] [comments]”
“Recruitment teams and tech teams are very different. Think about the people who interviewed you, would you get along with them or not? Once you onboard, the recruiter wouldn't appear in your slack/email at all.”
“Puh, for the entry level this makes sense. But do you really want to measure competency by years of practice? I mean, time is valuable and an indicator, sure.! But what happened during this time is really the important point. While entry-level roles can easily show a curriculum, grades, or smaller and bigger projects by "comparable" standards, a seniority level is not trackable; likewise, more politics, networking, and quite often pure luck play a role. I guess what recruiters are actu”
“I also worked at a FAANG and get recruiter pings about once a week, I’ve found that’s more often than my coworkers who did not work at a FAANG.”
“Can you share what do you do? like the kind of engineering you do? and the company you work for? Also what it feels like to have someone approach you with a job. Does it feel easier? Now I just feel numb whenever I apply to a job opening and if I somehow get an OA (not even interview) I feel very lucky and very anxious.”
“Can you tell me what exactly you do? Like what's your specific domain within software engineering and kind of work you do? Also if your employee is a known brand?”
“I’ve been having recruiters reach out to me for the majority of my 20+ year career. I’ve never worked for a big tech company. But, I am in the US and have had a number of popular tech stacks on my resume. I am currently in management. I am also a woman, which may help me get hits from those trying to fill diversity quotas. When I am interested in a position that comes to me this way, I almost always get at least a phone screen. It’s not a guarantee because recruiters are able to spam these messa”
“man I did another interview yesterday. Recruiter, as always didn't open his webcam but I did. I always do even if they don't. It's like a habit now. But am I making my employment situation worse by doing that? Literary people on payroll don't show their face and I won't consider myself a handsome guy either. I'm thinking of staying camless until I see the other guy open their. What do you think? submitted by /u/Optimal69 [link] [comments]”
“You don't. You need A-tier pedigree in either company or education (probably both). These are among the most selective hiring orgs in the country or even world. And everyone is trying to get in. Are you more gifted/credentialed than 95%+ of engineers?”
“Appreciate it, that lines up with what I'm hearing elsewhere too - targeting people already talking about the pain beats cold blasting a purchased list. Haven't used Lead monster, will check it out. Going to try finding people already posting about prospecting/outbound pain next instead of another cold list.”
“your sample size is way too small to call it. but fwiw i think the real issue is targeting. been using Lead monster to find people actually talking about prospecting pain on linkedin and the response rates are way better when you reach out to someone already complaining about the problem you solve vs cold blasting strangers”
“Thanks, this is genuinely useful. You're probably right that recruiters were the wrong buyer - they don't feel the "budget signal" the way an SDR or agency would, they're just filling reqs. I've also since seen an analysis (from an Indie Hackers thread) arguing job-posting growth is only weakly correlated with actual software purchases, so I want to be honest that the "hiring = buying signal" premise itself might be shakier than I assumed going in, not just th”
“Recruiters are probably the wrong buyer here. They get paid per placement, so a live feed of open roles and hiring velocity doesn't change anything about their day. The people who'd actually pay for that are SDRs and agencies, the ones doing outbound who want to skip companies that just froze hiring. And cold email to recruiting managers is about the worst channel for it, their inbox is all candidates and agency pitches, anything else gets ignored. Ten is too small to read much into, but”
“[20 years tech recruiting]. Unless your answer is a disaster, they're really listening for HOW you answer the question and not the actual strength/weakness. On the weakness side, acknowledgment and action are important --> I have trouble with X and to accommodate I did Y and the result was Z. Don't get caught up in the weakness as much as the result. And on strength, just make sure it wouldn't dominate in a collaborative team structure.”
“Hi all! I’ll be attending a recruiting event as a recruiter for the first time in a couple of weeks. We are a small firm and are specifically looking for an intern during tax season. I’m looking for some tips on what can we do to have good table engagement? It’s been a few years since I went to a recruiting event, and when I went I was a student looking for an internship. Thanks in advance! submitted by /u/One_Bedroom6228 [link] [comments]”
“Forgive the rant, I am just upset. I do marketing for a recruiting company and as of late no recruiters are making placements! There was a massive increase in recruiters joining the company, but now the company is struggling...but marketing had to get cut. Not the newbies who joined a month ago, but the marketing team. Probably going to get people in the comments saying oh your marketing clearly wasn't good enough... there are recruiters in the company that have been there for a year and onl”
“I am learning engineering hiring at small software companies and I am trying to understand where the process is disturbed and breaks. mainly tech recruiters please share your experience. Is the hardest part finding qualified candidates? or knowing whether someone actually has the technical ability they claim? Screening hundreds of applications? or getting good candidates to respond? Something else? I'm especially interested in what takes the most manual time or causes the worst hires. Not se”
“The fear of being decent for everyone but great for nobody is the right instinct imo. One thing worth asking, are the PMs and consultants actually reaching out to you already? If they're not finding you organically thats a signal that the pull isnt there yet.”
“Mine was through cold applying and the next, a year later, from a recruiter who reached out. Double whammy of things hated here lol”
“I recently started looking for job and I closed the tab immediately after reading this long list. How Is this normal? It is for Engineering Manager role. submitted by /u/snozzydy [link] [comments]”
“We have a VP position and the hiring manager wants to possibly engage an executive search firm. Are there any firms you would recommend? Highly preferred those in the Engineering or science arena. When I search two firms came up Cowen and Boyle. Have you ever worked with one of these before? submitted by /u/IllTangerine8235 [link] [comments]”
“I think outcomes are very bimodal. People in demand are extremely in demand and everyone else is not.”
“It's really bad especially if you don't have a bunch of experience and/or a solid network. Luckily I do have a bunch of experience and it's been pretty good for me. Hasn't been hard to get interviews and my network has a few people who would hire me tomorrow if I asked. I couldn't imagine being a new grad in these times.”
“If you read this sub, you would think software jobs are doomed especially for entry level/new grads and nobody is hiring. In your experience, how much is it real and how much is it the fact that people who are struggling,unemployed or looking for jobs are over represented and sharing their experiences here? submitted by /u/Odd_Explanation3246 [link] [comments]”
“Id love to know and understand a little bit more the recruiter perspective. What has made a candidate stand out ? What has made them flop? Do you prefer a quick overview or a more in-depth approach? What advise would you give to early carrer candidates? For screening interviews submitted by /u/Pure_Jellyfish_6224 [link] [comments]”
“Do you think the small regional firms will have more meaningful networking and less QR code bullshit? There will be a ton of smaller firms.”
“HR has literally destroyed the market to an unsustainable level where competence is seen as a treat, not as an important trait for the survival of companies. Only politics, meaningless meetings, and unproductive games - not productivity at all. Imagine companies where HR requires an "astrology synergy assessment". I was shocked when a friend of mine confirmed that it is true.”
“I’ve been contacted by several recruiters (my LI profile allows this), but it seems like they’re either just trying to boost their numbers or aren’t even taking the time to find a good match. So, I have more than 20 years experience as a writer, editor, and SEO/AEO marketing strategist, but the other day I was contacted by a recruiter about a 1-month contract at about $25-30 per hour (I typically bring in $50-$70/hr), AND he thought I was still at the job that laid me off last month. “Yeah, I’d”
“We made our hiring process much easier by showing candidates what the job is actually like before they accepted. I gave them a realistic sample week: amount of Slack, number of meetings, repetitive tasks, random requests etc. Lost a couple candidates because of it, which was good. Better they opt out before week 2.”
“I care way more about consistency than “wow factor.” I’ve hired people who crushed the test task and then became flaky three weeks later. Now I pay attention to boring things during hiring: did they show up on time, follow the requested format, respond when they said they would, send what they promised? Boring reliability is underrated.”
“So it's an external recruiter, but he also sourced this returning candidate, so he'll get his money no matter what. Your quote in the second paragraph is what the recruiter tried to assure me.”
“Lately I have been getting lots of reach out from third party recruiters for roles at financial firms but it hasn't gone anywhere in terms of getting an interview. They seem like they are knowledgeable about some of the tech stuff from our conversations on call but the roles they're coming up with are with elite firms in the industry like Five Rings, Headlands, Citadel, etc. with extremely high hiring bars. I don't think I even have that profile since I didn't go to a top school”
“We made our hiring process much easier by showing candidates what the job is actually like before they accepted. I gave them a realistic sample week: amount of Slack, number of meetings, repetitive tasks, random requests etc. Lost a couple candidates because of it, which was good. Better they opt out before week 2”
“I applied for a tech role at a mid-large company, it’s part of one of those training/academy type programmes, and the recruiter actually reached out to me first saying she thought I was a strong fit, so obviously I was interested. We arranged an initial call but it got rescheduled twice, first because she was on leave and then because she had back to back meetings, and she apologised both times so I just thought fair enough, things happen. After the third time, I messaged her saying that we’d no”
“I am learning engineering hiring at small software companies and I am trying to understand where the process is disturbed and wasting your efforts. mainly tech recruiters please share your experience. And this would seriously help me I have been talking to recruiters and engineering managers about how the engineers or developers hiring gets hard or like what processes or challenges they go through to find best engineers. And share anything that is making your hiring disturbed. knowing whether so”
“In the past week, I've had initial conversations with several reverse recruiting agencies. Many of them have similar sales pitches, make similar promises, and charge similar rates. Some of these required pre-qualifying, but I was able to pass than without any issues. While I have my own personal feelings after the conversations, I'd like to know if anyone here has worked with any of these companies, and if so, how did you feel about them? - Find my profession - Career Agents - Join Peake”