Comment by dotBen | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dotBen | Hacker News Reader

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I agree recruiters are a waste of time and money for startups, and it is particularly annoying if you write on your job listings "no recruiters please" and they still contact you.

But there is definitely a need for recruiters in the wider industry (especially to help big firms that are not in the technology industry but need programmers, eg finance, insurance, healthcare etc. Good programmers are hardly banging on their door and usually the firms have to chase the talent.)

My point is, sure, send pesky recruiters who bother about positions that clearly state "no recruiters" to that form. But don't try to waste their time just because they contacted you out of the blue. There's nothing wrong or illegal about a company to cold-calling/emailing another about potential services and so just politely say "no thank you, we don't pay recruiter fees" and move on.

You're right in principle, but by this comment strike me as someone who hasn't fielded a lot of cold calls from recruiters. Cold calling is fine. Boiler room hard sales tactics on the other hand aren't. Recruiting as I see it practiced in the real world is pure inside sales, rewarding mostly the kind of people who specialize in being hard to get off the phone.

They're the only people I've had to literally hang the phone up on in the last 12 months, and we get debt collection calls for the former owner of our house every other day.

Actually, I have fielded my fair share of recruiter calls.

As I said in my parent post "we don't pay recruiter fees - never have, never will" is usually enough. You might have to say it twice and leave them hanging but it is a pretty direct response.

It's not saying "no I don't want to use a recruiter" - which creates the opportunity to try to change your mind. It is saying I don't pay the fees, which is a fact and leaves them little room to argue. I can sit there and agree with the virtues of a recruiter but then I say 'yeah but I don't pay the fees'. And we're done.

From a sales funnel perspective it positions me as not being a prospect because I'm not in the market to make the purchase/expenditure.

Yep - essentially this. I have made cold calls in the past and I have no problem with people trying to make a living. However, we get many calls where it's very hard to get the caller off the phone. These are 95% recruiters. Despite the fact that we politely tell them we aren't interested.

Also, it becomes obvious so quickly that it's really not much more than a way of saying "not interested" and getting off the phone.

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