Recruiter Pet Peeves: Why You Need to Know Them



annetaintor.com

Happy Tuesday to you in the Blogosphere! Today I heard, for probably the thousandth time in the last 30 days, from an applicant wanting to "check the status of an application." These are literally THE most annoying 6 words in my recruiter vocabulary. I am now to the point with this person that I wouldn't hire him if he fit the qualifications to a T, simply because he is such a nuisance. That got me thinking about all the other small turn-offs that job seekers probably don't think are anything unusual, but in reality send their resumes to the bottom of the pile in a flash. I will share them with you now, and I will pray for all who see this to never commit any of these deadlies.

1. Don't call us, we'll call you. You've heard this your whole life, and I'm telling you there's a good reason why. There is only one scenario I can think of where it is acceptable to make a follow up call to a recruiter, and that is if the position you are applying for requires some sort of additional documentation. For example, if you're in marketing or graphic design and you want to submit a portfolio along with your application, I think it's perfectly fine to call and ask what method is preferred to submit it (unless the job posting specifies instructions). Other than that, leave it alone. If we need something from you or want to talk to you further about your skills, we've got your number.

2. I will not be your facebook friend. This happens so much more often than you would think! A recruiter interviews a candidate, and 30 minutes later gets a facebook friend request. WHY?? We are not friends! The one caveat to this is Linkedin. If you've completed an interview with a company, I think it's fine to connect with the hiring manager on Linkedin. That's what the site is for.

3. Extreme Earliness. I get that every article you've ever read about job-seeking tells you to be early to the interview, but when I have a 1:00 and the receptionist calls me at 12:35 (as I am scarfing down lunch at my desk) to tell me my candidate is here, it takes everything in me not to run down the stairs and throw the red onions I picked off my salad into the applicant's face! NEVER be more than 10 minutes early. Period. It does nothing for you except give you 25 extra minutes to get yourself even more nervous than you already are.

Pretty simple. I wouldn't say that not doing these things will get you the job, but avoiding a recruiter's pet peeves will at least keep your resume from being trashed due to you being annoying.

Happy job hunting!