Is it ok to contact a company recruiter with questions about a position?

Question

One of the recruiters of a particular software company recently posted a note on a job listings Linkedin group that they are recruiting for a particular position, but there were no additional details.

The recruiter stated that if someone is interested he can contact him. The position does not seem to be advertised at the company's careers page nor at some job board, so the details are not available anywhere. I'm interested in hearing some more information, but I'm not sure I will apply so I'm a bit dubious about whether I should contact him. Will it make a bad impression if I contact him and don't apply (i.e. my application will be frowned upon if I decide to apply sometime later). Is it ok to have a conversation with him about the position and say that I am not interested right now if that is the case?

P.S. To make it clear - the recruiter is working for the software company, not for some recruiting agency, etc.

Answer 1

Ask for more information.

If you're curious about the job details then get in touch and politely ask for more information because it piqued your interest. That's the reason they posted the job information on a group in the first place so they're expecting people to ask about it.

Go over the job details and decide if it's something you'd be interested in and if it isn't, get in touch with them again and just say that it's not right for you. You're looking for something else. They're looking for a new employee, they're not looking for a new friend so don't worry about hurting their feelings.

Be professional and polite and tell the truth; say it's not what you're after and move on. It happens all the time and sometimes people know beforehand that the job is not right and they just want to double check. Just ask and you'll be alright.

Answer 2

The recruiter stated that if someone is interested he can contact him.

What more do you need to know? Being interested doesn't obligate you to apply for the job -- you're interested enough to have questions, and presumably you might apply if you like the answers, and there's nothing wrong with that. (If you wouldn't apply under any circumstances, then you wouldn't have questions in the first place, right?)

Is it ok to have a conversation with him about the position and say that I am not interested right now if that is the case?

It's perfectly fine. The recruiter's job is to fill company jobs with great people. An essential function, then, is to tell anyone you about the job(s) that interest you. If you decide it's not for you everybody wins: you don't risk ending up in a job that's not right for you, and they don't end up interviewing (or hiring!) someone who'd rather be elsewhere. And there's always a possibility that it'll be exactly the right job for you and vice versa.

Will it make a bad impression if I contact him and don't apply (i.e. my application will be frowned upon if I decide to apply sometime later).

No. Chances are, they won't even remember you unless you remind them that you've talked before (and perhaps not even then).

Any recruiter would be happy to talk to you if there's a chance that you might apply for an open position. Even if it turns out that the job in question isn't for you, there may be other spots that would be better suited to you, or the recruiter might know of positions that will be opening up in the near future. If you think you'd like to work for the company, it only makes sense to reach out to them and explore the available options, and a company recruiter is exactly the right person to contact.

Answer 3

Literally a recruiter's only job is to make contacts with the people he recruits from. Even if you decide not to apply for this job, he's building a rapport and relationship with you, and may find something else that's a better fit in the future. A good recruiter is happy to do so.