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Every single recruiter that is contacting me is sending me word document/pdf of 1-2 pages and additional copy-pasting essay on linkedin/email "why our company is the best" and then again reciting it on face-to-face meeting.

The problem is, that 99.999% of what I hear from different recruiters and different companies is exactly the same. I can even with high probability foresee what will be their next word. It's boring and useless for me. I do not care for what company I will work - I care what technology do they have and what can I learn from team members.

Every time when I said clearly that I do not need to know anything more about company they react as I would offend them.

I understand that everyone would like to advertise his/her company as best and unique but it's just not working (on me).

How can I politely say "please do not waste my time on advertising Your company" so that no one will get offended and we will be able to skip to next point?

It's especially frustrating when such recruiter after reciting for 5 minutes straight asks at the end "so, are You interested in this job offer?" and I do not know if I am interested in because all she said was meaningless bullshit that every single company says.

I usually say that I need to speak with an architect (I'm doing software engineering jobs) and then I will know if I am interested in. They never contact me again, so I guess that honesty is not a good answer.

What would I expect: if I am sending cv then it can be assumed, that I am interested in, company replies so they are interested in too, we schedule talk with an architect that says how job looks like from within (opposite of HR that have no idea of how software engineering looks like - I'm not blaming them, I have no idea how HR works so that's fair) and then we can mutually confirm our interest or not.

I really do not understand what recruiters are trying to get by doing this?

EDIT: Please also note, that most of recruiters that call are just middle mans and don't know anything more about final client than they have read from docx/pdf with job offer.

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    You cannot just not read the document?
    – paparazzo
    May 24, 2018 at 22:14
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it reads like a narcissistic rant with no clear purpose other than blowing off steam.
    – AffableAmbler
    May 25, 2018 at 0:44
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    Technology is just a tool. It's pointless without a purpose. If you aren't interested in what my company is doing, why would I ever hire you to use our technology?
    – Seth R
    May 25, 2018 at 4:20
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    I didn't have chance to vote to close. If I did, I would VTC for "Unclear what you're asking" because I don't understand what you want to ask. What do you want the recruiters to say about their company? "We are not the best"? If they said that, people would ask who is the best, then what do you expect them to say? Push their clients to other companies? Please realize that they are looking for business while you're looking for job !
    – Nobody
    May 25, 2018 at 9:59
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    @spam, how is your ability to take your knowledge elsewhere a reason why I should hire you? How is your knowledge going to help my company when you aren't even interested in learning what my company does? Technology is used to solve problems. If you aren't interested in the problems we are trying to solve, how is your knowledge of technology useful to me?
    – Seth R
    May 25, 2018 at 12:29

3 Answers 3

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As an interviewer, I would not be enthusiastic about a candidate whose attitude was "don't care what you do, I just want to know what technology you have".

For one thing, anybody with an ounce of self-interest should be interested in some of the non-technical aspects of the job. Stuff like:

  • What are the options for promotion?
  • Are you likely to be required to work nights, travel overseas?
  • How long will you have to wait to hear whether you got the job?

Obviously each person has their own priorities, but if a candidate isn't thinking about anything along those lines, I would have concerns about their judgement and maturity.

For another: if you don't take an interest in what it is we do, and how we do it, there's a high risk that you will end up building solutions that don't meet our needs. I've seen this happen, with a scary-smart technical whiz who didn't understand that our IT policies were very different to the places where she'd worked before; she put a lot of effort into building a software tool that didn't meet our security rules.

As an interviewer, I'll do my best to avoid wasting a candidate's time. But if I notice that a candidate is getting impatient after just a few minutes of talk, that doesn't bode well for how they're going to cope on the job.

If it's only five minutes, your best option is to be patient, nod and smile, and think of some questions that the recruiter can answer. You may waste a few minutes listening to their canned spiel, but it's better than wasting hours having to put in another job application because you alienated the interviewer for this one.

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  • 1. Promotions - good point overall but outside of fact that I cannot really relay on what recruiter will promise because they will promise everything just to get me in. Even if they would be honest, then in few months something within company may change that will make this promises empty. Simply if I won't get promotion that I want then I will change job so there is no point of asking. 2. Travels - I have explicitly stated in resume that I will not leave my city so (assuming that recruiter read cv) I should not receive offer in first place. 3. How long to hear - I am totally not in hurry.
    – spam
    May 25, 2018 at 7:20
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    @spam I think you're taking much too simplistic a view of these issues. For example, some organisations structure their career progression so that the only path to high-level positions is through people management; others have pathways for technical leadership. Knowing which model a company uses can tell you a LOT about your long-term prospects, and it's not the sort of thing that's likely to change in a hurry.
    – GB supports the mod strike
    May 25, 2018 at 10:06
  • @spam anyway, these are just examples of the sort of thing a recruiter can tell you. I can't tell you exactly what questions are relevant to your personal situation and preferences, but if you don't have any questions that a recruiter can answer, that might count against you.
    – GB supports the mod strike
    May 25, 2018 at 10:08
  • I understand Your point of view, but I just wanted to make clear that all I care about is technology and all other aspects - including promotions - are irrelevant. I'm good with choosing company where I won't be able to get promoted as long as I will be able to learn some new cool tech. I will simply leave afterwards so lack of ability to get promoted is not going to hurt me. Same goes for all other company properties. By leaving company I will leave all of those properties. That's why from m point of view that's irrelevant - it's just temporary benefit or encumbrance.
    – spam
    May 25, 2018 at 14:42
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Why do companies do this? Because just as there is competition between job-seekers for the best job, there is competition between companies for the best job-seekers.

I do not care for what company I will work - I care what technology do they have and what can I learn from team members.

Many job-seekers do care which company they will work for - and so every company and their recruiters are going to try and sell their company's image to the job-seekers in the knowledge that those job-seekers are very likely applying for other companies at the same time.

And you can absolutely guarantee that any company out there would prefer to hire on any candidate that at least pretends to care about the company over any one with an attitude of "I don't care where I work".

It's especially frustrating when such recruiter after reciting for 5 minutes straight asks at the end "so, are You interested in this job offer?" and I do not know if I am interested in because all she said was meaningless bullshit that every single company says.

I usually say that I need to speak with an architect (I'm doing software engineering jobs) and then I will know if I am interested in. They never contact me again, so I guess that honesty is not a good answer.

It's quite possible that your attitude (reacting to "meaningless bullshit" in a disinterested or even a confrontational manner) combined with "asking to speak to an architect" is coming across to the recruiter as "you don't know what you're talking about - and I don't want to waste my time with you". You know what they're going to do? They're going to talk to the other 100 candidates that have applied and continue with the ones that don't have the same attitude.

While it is quite common for the recruiter to be HR, it is just as common for them to actually be a developer or someone who manages developers. Even if they're HR - a good software company would brief their recruiters on what they need, what they're doing, and what technologies they're doing it with.

If you need to ask questions about the company and their practices and technologies - ask the recruiter. If they do answer you, and you're happy with the answers then you've won - you've shown interest in the company, and gotten your answers. Otherwise, you're free to just move on to the next company.

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  • The only really important question for me is: what will I be able to learn? Recruiters usually react to it in one of following ways: 1. "You will be able to change the world with us and do everything else too", which is ... well ... I think bullshit is just precise word to describe. 2. "Let me just re-read out loud again essay about our company which have 5 lines of generic description of position that is same for every other company - example for software engineer - You will learn building distributed systems in clouds". Then I say I have few years of doing this so it's nothing new to learn.
    – spam
    May 25, 2018 at 7:15
  • Well, if that's the case just hang up or walk away and move on, if you don't have anything new to learn. And post a rant on the internet about it
    – HorusKol
    May 25, 2018 at 13:45
  • I can do this, but I won't know if there is anything to learn before I will talk with an architect. And they do not organize meeting with an architect before I will tell them that I am interested in. I am looking for way to get past HR to an architect without lying to HR that I am interested in when I do not know if I am interested in.
    – spam
    May 25, 2018 at 14:44
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Every single recruiter that is contacting me is sending me word document/pdf of 1-2 pages and additional copy-pasting essay on linkedin/email "why our company is the best"

If they are sending you this "why our company is the best" content to to your inbox you can always ignore it if you are not interested. If it's too insistent I wouldn't hesitate to send them to trash or spam.

Also, if you see this sort of material and it is as repetitive as you say I suggest you refrain from pursuing any further those options. Use your time for others that don't look like spam or are more of your interest.

Every time when I said clearly that I do not need to know anything more about company they react as I would offend them.

If you literally said "I don't need to know anything more about the company" then I am not surprised they were offended. That phrasing is not recommended. It's better if you ask "so, what do you use for Version Control", or similar, but I wouldn't recommend dismissing them like that.

When during interviews, if you feel they are just speaking about not so relevant things you can always politely ask them about their technologies and other relevant information to you. If they continue to be evasive or plain ignore your questions you can always say "I'm afraid that I can see this won't be a good fit, thank you for your time" and leave. No point in wasting your time there.

However, have in mind that in the interview process it is not rare to have different sets of interviews, usually some by HR or a recruiter and others more technical; in the latter is where you can satisfy all your tech inquiries. Perhaps these experiences you've had are just the HR part (if not, then you should decline if you are not satisfied).

On a further note, I would like to warn you about something I sensed from your comment:

I do not care for what company I will work

You should care for what company you will work. Maybe they have and use the best technologies and tools out there, but it can be a hell when it comes to company culture, communication, etc.. There are many other aspects of being in a company besides what they do.

If you are not careful, you may well be lured into some "nice" company with cool tech, but in fact turn to be a negative experience for you.

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  • When I am receiving copy-pasted pile of text on email then I simply reply with mine copy-pasted text prepared for this opportunity and I never open those docx/pdf files, so this part is pretty much easy to avoid, although still irritating. Much bigger problem is telephone call which is essentially 100% of my time wasted as I never get anything relevant and they just ask about things that are clearly written in cv (because they didn't read it). Same for face-to-face.
    – spam
    May 24, 2018 at 22:12
  • Asking for ex. VSC is not working because they simply have no idea what it is and when I ask them "what technology do You use that I do not yet know" then they become evasive because - I assume - they are too lazy to go through my whole cv and their whole offer and look for missing technologies (strange-words).
    – spam
    May 24, 2018 at 22:13
  • @spam I would suggest you don't even reply back, just ignore them. It's unlikely they will stop doing that because you tell them to (although your intentions were good).
    – DarkCygnus ♦
    May 24, 2018 at 22:13
  • also, if the telephone call is equally empty and evasive I suggest you apply the phrasing suggested in answer and disconnect/leave. To be honest this sounds like those guys that call you offering credit cards, and one wouldn't hesitate to hang on them (politely of course)
    – DarkCygnus ♦
    May 24, 2018 at 22:14
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    @spam seems that you are currently having a hard time finding a new place that is good and tolerable as the ones you've had. I am sure that if you keep looking you will find some place that meets your standards.
    – DarkCygnus ♦
    May 24, 2018 at 22:17

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