The Recruiter Roundtable on Yahoo! Hotjobs recently tackled the subject of a recruiter’s pet peeves. Here are a few things that seriously bug these talent specialists:
The Price of ‘Perfection’
My biggest pet peeve is perfect candidates. They only had successes, are perfect and can’t see any improvement to make on themselves — except maybe to “work a little less.” People who are too insecure to admit their shortcomings or even their mistakes make me feel that they lack good emotional intelligence. In all the reference checks we reviewed at Checkster, none were 100% positive, so be realistic. If not, you will be seen as either not daring enough to perform difficult things, or stuck in a myopic belief that you are perfect.
– Yves Lermusi, CEO, Checkster
Clueless Candidates
As a recruiter, there have been countless times when job seekers have asked, “What position is this for?” Job seekers shouldn’t just apply to any job. They need to spend their time effectively finding jobs that are a match for their skills and interest.
– Nga Nguyen, Technology & Operations Group Recruiter at Wells Fargo
Short-Cut Introductions
With more people looking for work in today’s economy, I’ve been seeing an increase in what I call “lazy introductions” come across my desk. It goes something like this: “I’m writing you to introduce myself. I live in New York and I’m looking for a job,” and in the signature is a link to a LinkedIn profile or possibly a resume. A brief introduction should come with a background, highlights, and reason for connecting. A job search is a job in itself and requires some personalization and effort for each and every introduction.
– Lindsay Olson, partner, Paradigm Staffing
Can’t Connect the Dots?
My biggest pet peeve is receiving resumes or applications that describe background and work experience wholly unrelated to the position being applied for. Also there is either no supporting material or a generic cover letter that fails to connect the dots between what’s on the application and what’s in the posted job listing.
– Noah Apodaca, lead recruiter for staff at the University of California, Irvine
Don’t Go Generic
Job seekers hurt their own cause when they don’t focus on specific ways they can help potential employers and instead simply mass distribute their resume. Individuals need to show hiring managers what they can do for the organization, not the reverse. Thoroughly research companies where you want to apply, customize your resume and cover letter for each opportunity, and in your communications with employers highlight your accomplishments and skills that demonstrate how you can positively impact the firm’s bottom line.
– DeLynn Senna, executive director of North American permanent placement services, Robert Half International
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June 8th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Oh, let me count the number my Pet Peeves. There are days when I reach for painkillers to numb the hurt in my brain…
Lindsay Olson’s “Sort-cut Introduction” is by far my biggest peeve as well. The bigger problem however, is not only the frequency of these emails (I get 3-5 a day now), but how vague they truly are. Unlike Lindsay (I’m almost envious!) most job seekers refuse to even tell me where they are from, hoping that their one-liner “Looking for job oppertunity (SIC)” is enough to entice me to click on their linkedin url. Please, if you are a job seeker, and you are reading this, please, follow Lindsay’s advice (see above).
Another great peeve, that astounds me as much as it does irritate me is the job seeker, that goes through the yellow pages, or googles my name to find my office telephone number, only to call me and ask me for more details about the job before they submit their resume. The single (not even top, but SINGLE) reason cited for the request? They do not want to waste their time applying to a job that don’t meet their criteria…
Dear Job Seeker, please explain how the 20 minutes it took you to find me, get me on the telephone and tell me all of this, was a better investment of your time, versus hitting attaching and sending me your resume to the address already posted on the listed job?
It is a tough time being a recruiter these days. Passive candidates are loath to find a new role, and active job seekers are hyper aggressive and numerous, good luck to everyone who is either still in business, or kept their job, it’s a crazy world out there.
June 27th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I have a pet peeve of my own for Noah Apodaca– he was the recruiter for a job I applied for at Irvine. I was “not selected for an interview,” which is fine, but would it have been so excruciatingly hard for the university to send me an email to let me know? THAT would have been courteous.
August 27th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
“Unlike Lindsay (I’m almost envious!) most job seekers refuse to even tell me where they are from…”- Konstantinos Kasekas
Trust me, if EVERY candidate told you where they were from you’d be bored out of your mind anyway. That’s the price for taking a job in which you read EVERY personal advertisement out there in order to fulfill it. Perhaps you should improve your method of screening e-mails; that’s what search-engines are for.
“They do not want to waste their time applying to a job that don’t meet their criteria…”- K.K.
No kidding! You wouldn’t waste your time recruiting someone who didn’t meet your criteria either now would you? Especially in this economy!
“Dear Job Seeker, please explain how the 20 minutes it took you to find me, get me on the telephone and tell me all of this, was a better investment of your time, versus hitting attaching and sending me your resume to the address already posted on the listed job?”- K.K.
It’s the same reason why telemarketers seek your number, then seemingly waste their time calling you; because it pays. Really, the world of job-seeking is not dynamically different from any other business venture. They both are subject to the laws of supply and demand. Sooner or later, you’ll find job-seekers using automated machines to advertise their services, the same way you see everyone else advertise their services.