What to do when your recruiter fails to follow through?

Question

I'm wondering whether I can reasonably pursue the opportunity on my own, and if so, what may be the consequences. Here's the background:

A recruiter recently brought me an interesting opportunity. He asked for my resume, but I encouraged a conversation first, during which he seemed reasonable and professional. After providing my resume we talked again, and things were going very well. At the end of that second conversation he asked my salary range and/or rate range. I felt since I had yet to get an interview that the salary discussion was very premature and (I didn't say this to him, but) not a conversation to be had with a recruiter. He explained that their client requires they provide a salary range and two references when they submit a resume.

Granted its been a while since I've conducted a job search, but this did not seem reasonable.

I knew nothing more about the opportunity than what was in the job description, and nothing about the company except what was available online. Nevertheless, I agreed to work up some numbers; I felt I could provide a very broad range and qualify it as specific to the current opportunity and not to be taken generally. Though I didn't express this, I did not intend to disclose reference information until and unless I got much further along in the process. I then investigated market salaries for the job, calculated what I felt would be fair for my skills and experience, and settled on a pretty wide range. The following Monday we kept missing each other. He suggested a date/time for the next day, at which time I called but he did not pick up, nor did he call back. This is unprofessional, and I don't know what the problem was. He could be in a snit over the timing, or there could be a reasonable explanation. I have since confirmed the job is still available, and I am still interested and very qualified.

Because I am not savvy about the recruitment process, I'm unsure as to the best way to proceed. I am not going to pursue the recruiter. But I would like to pursue the opportunity. Any advice?

Answer 1

I felt since I had yet to get an interview that the salary discussion was very premature and (I didn't say this to him, but) not a conversation to be had with a recruiter.

External recruiters often only earn money when a candidate gets hired. If you are outside the company salary range, then they will waste a lot of time introducing you.

He suggested a date/time for the next day, at which time I called but he did not pick up, nor did he call back. This is unprofessional, and I don't know what the problem was.

Simple. You have stopped being potentially useful to them and as a result, they stopped caring. I had an internal recruiter just three weeks ago approach me on LinkedIn and want to set up a call. I always take such calls, so I agreed to a time the following week.

Two business days after arranging the time, she asks for my resume (which if anything is more impressive than my LinkedIn as I keep the resume more up to date). On the Friday, I waited and waited and waited for the pre-arranged phone call. It never arrived.

I went and looked at the job postings they had and I had and found that their stack is primarily PHP. I haven't written PHP for nearly a year and just did one internship. I do not list PHP as one of my skills on LinkedIn or my resume and just did it for one internship. Now, languages can be picked up of reacquired, but I found it to be strange. What I suspect happened is that she set up a call without reading a damn thing about me and then read that I did not have much experience with the tools used.

This is unprofessional, and I don't know what the problem was.

This has repeatedly happened with both internal and external recruiters and a friend of mine who was a recruiter for a co-op tells me it routinely happens on their end as well. As soon as a candidate was no longer a frontrunner, they got ghosted as speaking to them did nothing to further their goals. It is just how that side of the tech business currently works.

I have since confirmed the job is still available, and I am still interested and very qualified.

You did you learn this? I assume that it was by following up on the company website (if you knew that)?

Because I am not savvy about the recruitment process, I'm unsure as to the best way to proceed. I am not going to pursue the recruiter. But I would like to pursue the opportunity. Any advice?

Just apply directly. Companies prefer that as then they don't need to pay fees to the recruiter.

Answer 2

There are good recruiters and bad recruiters. Bad recruiters strip mine you for information to fill out their little web form. And, yeah, they'll get annoyed when you don't play along by giving them your salary and your first pet's name. And, yeah, they ghost you when their incompetent pitch of you fails. Fuggedaboudum.

Good recruiters work for you. They're matchmakers. To make a good match, sometimes they need information that seems too personal.

How can you tell the bad from the good? Ask for an explanation of how the recruiter will tell the hiring manager about you. "What do they need to know?" "Are there many other candidates?" "How long does the interview cycle take?" "How do they decide?" If you get a worthwhile conversation when you ask these questions, you have a good recruiter.

If you find a good recruiter, maintain a relationship with her or him.