This is a message for all the recruiters out here. Somebody needs to say it.
I understand you all need to do your job and I don’t want to put each recruiter on the same level here, but I think there is really a problem with the way some recruiters are working…

• Don’t telephone candidates unasked for (even if they accidentally let their number active on the site of the VDAB, the official Belgian recruitment office). It’s impolite and it doesn’t help. A sad record: I received about 20 phone calls in one morning. Would you appreciate this? If it was you? It’s annoying and it smells like spam. This is way too pushy…
• Please do an effort to read and take through a Curriculum Vitae. IT is not one job, it’s a sector and we all have our skills and talents and there are a lot of specialities and domains. It has no use to simply send through all IT-related job openings that sound similar. It’s like sending a job opening for a truck driver to a guy with a normal driver license: it might look the same, but it ain’t.
• Stop wasting people’s time with sending messages like “Hi, I have a job opening, are you interested?” without even including a basic job description. Nobody wants to have a look at a possible good car, without even knowing if it’s a jeep or a family car and how much it consumes. It’s like going to a garage, sitting in front of a sales guy or girl and getting the question “Are you interested in a car?” Duh…

The “hard-selling” style some recruiters are using, is pretty annoying. It’s contra-productive and its totally not about matching skills with the proper job. A minimum amount of empathy is also needed here! It would be beneficial for all parties! Please try to understand that people who are looking for a job have lives too. They have a family, they might be studying or following a new training and people are simply not available all the time.

Thanks a lot!