Is it appropriate for a recruiter to tell me I need to be able to take calls during the day?

Question

A recruiter contacted me about a possibility for a job in my field and suggested having a phone call to discuss the details. I said I was willing to have a phone call, and asked if 7pm was too late for him (we are in the same timezone). He replied:

7pm is too late. If you are going to seriously start looking for a new position, you need to be able to take calls in the day. If you cannot, I won't be able to help you.

I found this extremely annoying, but I was wondering if my request was not really out of line, instead. In my opinion, 7pm is not like midnight. A lot of people still work at 7pm.

Was it unreasonable for me to ask for that? Is his response out of line?

Answer 1

Was it unreasonable for me to ask for that?

Not at all. If you can't take phone calls during the day, for whatever reason, so be it.

Is his response out of line?

A little, by insinuating you aren't serious about wanting a new job because of when you can be called. Which is a rather poor argument.

But really, they're just saying they are unable to help you if you can't take calls during the day; that's perfectly fine. Same as above; if they can't take phone calls outside of office hours, so be it.

I would just take it as a "We're not a good match" and thank them for their time, given that your schedules don't seem to work together.

Answer 2

When I was recruiting, I spoke with candidates when the candidates felt comfortable speaking. The fact that this recruiter, who contacted you about the position, is taking this attitude, is absurd. Is this an internal recruiter? If so, then the message he/she is sending about the company is one of excessive and pedantic control.

If it's an independent recruiter? "You know, you're right. You won't be able to help me. Please don't contact me again."

Now, if the client company and the hiring managers want to do a formal face to face interview... - of course, during work hours. Phone interviews with the company can go either way. I had hiring managers call and talk to candidates even pretty late in the evening, or very early, before work hours. The purpose is to get a desired candidate started in the process. Since companies value, like gold, people who are currently employed, they are often sensitive to not leaving obvious cues with a potential candidate's current employer, because, again, they want to encourage employed candidates to get into their process and consider their position.

There are plenty of other recruiters out there. Better ones (again, if not a company's internal person), if you do want to look around. Some of them might even be working to fill this same position.

Answer 3

Personally, when dealing with recruiters, I take the stance that I am helping them by going for an interview or talking about potential job offers. Why? The recruiter gets a cut from your new employer when you get the job. I think in the UK the rate can be between 10% to 15% of your salary. So if you're on £35,000 per year, you're quite a carrot in that respect!

If it were me dealing with that recruiter, I would remind him that he contacted you first. You haven't sought to get a new position, he's offered you one. He needs to help you to help him, so if 7pm is the only time you can take the call then he needs to understand that and accept it. It's not professional or nice to your current employer to take phone calls during the day over a new position if you actually can't take the call. Would your new employer appreciate it if you did the same in a few years time?

So to me, that recruiter is trying to pressure you in to going for that job for their benefit, not yours. I would tell him thanks but no thanks. If he asks why, point out the obvious to him.

Answer 4

7pm is too late. If you are going to seriously start looking for a new position, you need to be able to take calls in the day. If you cannot, I won't be able to help you.

This is COMPLETELY out of the line. If he contacted you first, it's exactly the other way around. If he's serious about poaching you, it's a #1 requirement for him to work around YOUR schedule. What's absolutely outrageous is that he's trying to reverse the situation by stating that he's helping you. If he contacted you, it means that it's him who has clients with positions to fill and it's you who's helping him to get his job done.

The situation would be the other way around if it was you who was actively looking for a job.

Now, I have painted rather extreme image. In reality, two parties working towards a common goal tend to go quite long ways into making each other lives easier. The guy is obviously trying to force you into doing whatever he says, so IMHO it's fair to be as unyielding as he is.

Answer 5

You should just have replied him that you, being a professional, aren't able to pick up phone calls during working hours because it wouldn't be professional in regard of your current employer.

Answering your question, it's perfectly fine to ask a recruiter to call you out of working hours.

Answer 6

It depends.

If they recruiter is a direct recruiter for the company, then they are likely an regular employee and expect to work regular business hours and not have to give up their personal time to accommodate you. If their work day normally ends at 17:00, you are asking them to extend their day by up to 3 hours to talk to you and make notes after. Not reasonable at all.

If they are an open recruiter, that is an agency that works to place people with multiple organizations, then they are your agent and working on commission. Then, it is their job to place you and they are working for you even though their commission is likely paid by the companies. In this case, the request would be relatively normal and if the recruiter is not willing to work with you on this, then they are not the correct recruiter for you.

Answer 7

If you can't make time for a phonecall during the day, when will you go to job interviews? I think that's the point this recruiter was trying to make.

Whether or not the comment was warranted is a different question, and not so easy to answer with just the information you've provided. It's quite possible that you gave the impression of not asking if the conversation could take place at 7pm, but stating that you would only be available at 7pm. As most companies still have business hours somewhere between 9am and 6pm that would make it very difficult for most companies to interact with you. It doesn't matter what you intended to convey here, it matters what the other person understood.

If what you've quoted is the verbatim quote, it doesn't read like it's out of line to me. It reads to me like they are saying "Assuming you're serious about finding a new job, not being available until 7pm will make things very difficult for you. I personally for instance, will not be able to work with you". That doesn't seem out of line to me, just open and honest.

Answer 8

Did you explain to him why you can't take calls during the day?

If you currently have a job, you need to continue doing your work during business hours. It's inappropriate of the recruiter to expect you to interrupt your work to take his calls. This should show that you're a good prospect for the new employer, since you don't shirk your responsibilities for personal reasons.

Recruiters must have to deal with people who are still working during business hours all the time, I find it hard to believe that he would consider this to indicate that you're not serious about looking for a new job.

However, if you're not currently working, your request seems unreasonable. What else are you doing during the day that's more important than looking for a job.

Answer 9

7 pm really is too late. In recruiting firms, some staff have to start the day extra early to cover for applicants in multiple time zones. They want to go home and relax and enjoy a few hours' peace, just like you do.

Aside from that, if you have a strong insistence on only dealing with the phone calls at that time, you're going to make the process painful for everyone else, INCLUDING the employer's staff -- who ALSO want to go home and leave work at work. I can't imagine a recruiter trying to get availability from you for a phone screen or interview, and the recruiter spending two or three days relaying that information between you and the client because you only want to take calls at a certain time. What's even more frustrating to think of is if the recruiter sets things up but has to contact you at the last minute because of scheduling changes with the client (it happens about 15% of the time)... and you're not answering calls.

If you're the least flexible person in the process of moving toward a job, the recruiter and client may find no shortage of other applicants who may be less qualified but a whole lot easier to work with.

Answer 10

I frequently have dealt with recruiters both in my local time and in another time zones. What it is expected on a recruitment negotiation process is some flexibility on both sides, and both remembering the person on the other side is busy with a job, a family and tasks to honour.

I advise trying to coordinate sensible times with recruiters as they also have a personal life and office hours. Especially in Germany and the UK, if working in an office, people are adamant about their 9 to 5 schedule as a rule.

Here in Lisbon, there are a lot of people that is from other cities, and as such, I avoid asking for Friday afternoon interviews unless the interviewer is fine with it. That said, I have had earlier-later calls from recruiters. Locally here in Portugal there is also a culture of working late, so 6-7PM face-to-face interviews are quite common, as the "official" dinner time is around 8-9PM.

I remember also having face-to-face interviews on a coffee shop, on Saturdays, or even in an hotel cafeteria at lunch time (and getting the job in two of them). Recruiters or upper management can be very flexible when they are really interested on you.

You could take a cigarette/coffee/snack break to talk with them, if it is a short screening call, or use the lunch hour for longish interviews over the phone. Another possibility is leaving earlier in a pre-arranged day when more advanced in the recruitment process, and if unable to reach home in a sensible time frame, making the interview call in a local coffee/Starbucks shop for skype interviews.

As for myself, as I live nearby, I often shorten the day, and/or enter the job early, so I can reach home in a sensible time frame (for me and them).

If the headhunter is willing to go the extra mile, late night or Saturday mornings interviews are not entirely unheard of. However, I would advise to wait for them to offer the possibility.

For confirming and rescheduling booked screening call/interviews, we live in a connected world, and any sensible interviewer will make use of instant messaging/linked.in messages during work hours to relay you scheduling changes ahead of the arranged time. Seasoned professionals, when calling you, often the first think they ask is if it is the right moment to talk.

About the theme of interrupting the work day abruptly, I advise reserving that for the final phase(s) of the recruitment process - there are only a few hours/days in a year we are able to take off. An headhunter saying you will have to have that flexibility from the get go is not a good sign.

However, if an interviewer is not willing to work with you to book a time both of you are comfortable with, maybe you should say you are not comfortable or at ease with the process and move on.

Answer 11

When dealing with recruiters EVERYTHING, from the moment initial contact is made, is a negotiation. By not taking the call during the day your stating that getting a new job\contract isn't currently your highest priority. If you were desperate you'd take calls 24\7. Likewise if they aren't interested in calling you outside working hours then evidently it's not worth it to them to do so. If they thought you were a strong enough candidate for a high enough paying position they'd call at whatever time you asked because the margins are high enough to make it worth it.

After 25 years of contracting and having dealt with hundreds of recruiters I have found that the ones that come off demanding during the initial contact make for very hard people to deal with throughout the duration of the negotiations and contracts. Keep in mind that Recruiters work for you. If you don't get the job they don't get paid (but then of course neither do you).

Answer 12

One thing you said that I'd correct is recruiters work for the client company, not for the candidate. Recruiters provide a free service to the candidate so I think the best mindset to have is to be forthcoming and well prepared. That goes for what you're looking for, about the job you're interviewing for, about what you bring to the table and so on. Otherwise, difficult candidates are typically difficult employees.