How to handle this recruiter behavior?

Question

I'm a Business ICT student in my last year and I've been contacted by a recruiter but the way he manages his process is disturbing to me. I've never worked with a recruiter before so maybe it's the normal process but I'm quite certain it's not.

Let me put this chronologically:

On March 22nd I went to a job fair organised by my university. There was a recruitment company looking for junior developers. I discussed with them and found the job interesting so I gave them my CV.

On March 28th I was contacted by phone by the IT recruiter (this person was not at the job fair). I couldn't answer and he left a message asking me to contact him back. He also sent me an email with the same job description I was informed at the job fair.

The next day I tried to call him but he was not present and the secretary told me he would call me back the very next day. I also replied to his email and said that I was interested in the job.

He didn't call me back the next day so I though that my profile did not interest him anymore.

On April 10th he called me back and we discussed over the phone. As I could not go to an interview because I was busy with my internship he asked me to make a Skype interview on the 11th or 12th of April around 7PM. I told him that both dates were fine with me. He told me that he had to check his schedule and that he'd inform me by email of which date is best for him within these two. Yet today I'm still waiting for his email.

I talk to my fellow classmate who gave their CV too and apparently I'm the only one he's contacted so far.

I don't really understand why this recruiter is behaving like that. Is it common thing? What should I do if he contact me back? Or should I contact him back? Any advise is welcome.

Answer 1

The date set for both interviews ( 4/11 and 4/12 ) has passed. At this point I would be inclined to stop working with this recruiter and seek out other prospects and use other recruiters.

What should I do if he contact me back? Or should I contact him back?

I would suggest you contact the recruiter and try to reschedule the interview. However, there have been enough days pass where the employer may have already filled the position.

Keep in mind that recruiters are trying to place multiple candidates. Like a job seeker should have multiple prospects, they have multiple openings they are trying to fill.

In the meantime I would continue to expand my job search, and use this and other recruiters as part of your job search efforts. The more irons in the fire, the better.

Answer 2

How hard up for a job are you, and what are your other prospects? If a recruiter went two weeks without contacting me, set up an interview, then neither confirmed the time nor just called me for the interview anyway I would be done with him. But I have a decade's living money in the bank and a resume that can get me a job as quickly as I want one in this economy.

If you have other good prospects but need a job (or no prospects but aren't looking too hard) I'd back burner him. Respond when he responds, but it isn't worth the aggravation of chasing him down.

If you're desperate for a job, then you're desperate. Continue to follow up.

As for how common this is- recruiters are human, forgetting to send an email happens. This sounds fairly extreme- I would either expect the position is low importance, you're near the bottom of their list, or they actually offered someone the job and got turned down. If not one of those, the recruiter is horrible at his job. The first gap of 7 days from the fair to first call was reasonable though. You get buried in resumes at job fairs.