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Questions tagged [recruitment]

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The process of finding potential new employees.

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82
votes
10answers
17k views

How to respond to a direct ask of salary earned and expectations?

What is the best way to fill out an application form for a role with an unspecified salary expectation where the following questions are mandatory to complete in a pre-interview form: What is your ...
79
votes
12answers
25k views

Why is quitting without having a new job lined up seen so negatively by employers?

I'm a programmer and I'm trying to understand why quitting without having a job matters so much. For me cash flow is not an issue - I have more than enough to live off of for 5+ years and in any ...
8
votes
1answer
33k views

Issue with background-check on previous employment start-date

I am a recent graduate and I was given an entry level IT job offer by a large corporation not too long ago. They required a recent computer science graduate for the position, I met the requirement and ...
26
votes
5answers
20k views

Are side projects acceptable “work experience” for an entry level worker?

Are side-projects good to list in lieu of work experience? I have a few on my resume, because I haven't had a job yet, and I want to demonstrate my ability. But some of the recruiters that I have ...
35
votes
5answers
5k views

What are the pros and cons of disclosing a spectrum disorder when applying for a job?

Should one reveal having an Autism Spectrum Disorder when applying for an IT job? From the one side this information could help getting the job. Asperger Syndrome is related with high intelligence ...
47
votes
7answers
30k views

How do I stop recruiters from contacting me?

There is a particular recruiting company that continues to contact me. I have been unhappy with their performance in the past and have been clear that I am no longer interested in their services. I ...
45
votes
7answers
54k views

This Recruiter wants my Social Security Number?

There's this really aggressive recruiter trying to get me for a job that sounds pretty good, is local, pays about right... and has sent me two voicemails and an email in the last 24 hours. Okay, ...
39
votes
14answers
25k views

What is the proper way to deal with a recruiter who calls during work hours?

I have been looking for new career opportunity. Sometimes a recruiter calls me while I am in the office, during work hours. I am having difficulty in dealing with recruiters. They ask me to describe ...
8
votes
4answers
3k views

Should I go through recruitment company or apply directly?

I sent my resume to a recruitment company last week and the recruiter called me and said that at this moment they had no job vacancies related to my IT skills. Yesterday I saw there a job ad ...
10
votes
2answers
6k views

How to display contract work and “career breaks” on a resume

I'm a contract software developer, and as such I've hopped from job to job as I do project work. Some projects have been three months long, and some have been up to three years long. Also, due to ...
1
vote
2answers
4k views

Interviewing for jobs after a long (no work) period of absence? [duplicate]

Although the question is general: How do you go back interviewing when you have a long period of unemployment in your CV, I do need to share some context with you. I have an inherited condition that ...
5
votes
6answers
32k views

Is it wrong to apply to a company directly when a recruiter told me about the job first

If a recruiter told me a about job and he gave me name of the company, would it be considered nefarious or underhanded for me to apply with the company directly instead of going through him in the ...
22
votes
9answers
14k views

Is a cover letter really necessary?

With so many posts about recruiters not really having enough time to look at the resume, I was wondering how ( or if ) cover letters really play a significant role in the decision process. How do ...
21
votes
4answers
37k views

How To Build A Business Case For Hiring New People?

I have identified that we are under-resourced in our team based on the volume of workload and methods of dealing with this high volume - lots of task switching to keep multiple projects going at the ...
4
votes
2answers
2k views

Pro's and Con's of sending a resume directly to a potential employer vs. through a recruiting agency

Recently I came across a job ad publicly posted on the internet by a recruiting agency. The agency is searching an employee to be directly hired by their client company, i.e. it is not about being ...
31
votes
6answers
5k views

Startup vs Big Company - ok to ask for details

Hoping for some guidance with this. I recently left the startup company where I was working as a senior backend Python engineer. The job had a lot of complications and the company suffered from a ...
25
votes
6answers
7k views

Should I share information about positions I have applied for with recruiters?

I posted my resume on popular job sites, and got many emails, and even some scams. I applied directly to a company and had a phone interview shortly after, possibly face to face next week. I then ...
11
votes
5answers
11k views

How long after a recruiter's introduction is it considered ethical to re-approach a company?

Here's a situation: a recruiter introduces a candidate to a company, and the company is very interested in hiring the candidate. However, if the process at some point breaks down, how long after this ...
2
votes
1answer
410 views

Creatively-formatted Resumes [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Add custom effects/formatting to my resume (to showcase my skills) Every so often I hear suggestions like "print your resume on bright yellow paper to help it get noticed" (...
71
votes
7answers
19k views

Protecting resume against recruiters, double-presentations, and MS Word?

Early in my career, I encountered unethical recruiters in the tech industry. In the worst case, a recruiting firm sent my resume to dozens of companies without my consent. This resulted in a double ...
91
votes
10answers
19k views

Recruiter is asking for sample code

After a good telephone conversation with an IT recruiter, he asked for sample C# (software) code of a project of my current employer. Although this is a logic question, it is impossible to send code ...
31
votes
4answers
11k views

Is it OK to bypass the recruiter when I don't hear from him?

I am working with a recruiter to get an out of state job. The company he found gave me 3 interviews, all with positive feedback. Things were moving pretty quickly, the 3 interviews were within a 2 ...
8
votes
2answers
4k views

Should I tell my new employer that I'm gonna quit soon for a better offer? [duplicate]

Background: I was job hunting for the past 5 weeks. I applied for Company A (dream company) and Company B at the same time. Company A's recruitment process is comprised of 5 steps, while Company B's ...
9
votes
3answers
2k views

Rescheduling a Coveted Interview

I am a senior in college and I've just landed a very coveted job interview with a well known company. I shared those details to paint a picture of how careful I want to be when handling this situation....
34
votes
5answers
7k views

How to deal with a potential turf war between three recruiters for the same job?

I was looking for a job in software development and I was pleased when in one day I had three potential phone interviews with the promise of emails containing job spec, company spec etc from the ...
74
votes
8answers
13k views

Should I bother to reply to emails from recruiters when I'm already employed?

Every now and then I get an email from a recruiter with a position they want to offer me. These emails are normally offering jobs outside my area of expertise and asking for skills I simply don't have....
10
votes
3answers
5k views

What is the purpose of a recruitment agency?

I have been told that our starting salary offer was being reduced by our recruitment agency. The name of the company that offered the job did not indicate that it was a recruitment agency, but when I ...
9
votes
4answers
2k views

Is a complex test which benefits the company an ethical practice? [closed]

Here is the situation. One of the companies I applied for as a software developer asked for a complex and "thorough" test. I agreed to it, but I noticed that I was supposed to add a module to their in-...
6
votes
1answer
372 views

Sent my resume to a recruiter but not heard back. Should I follow up? [duplicate]

I am in contact with a recruiter for a Company. This is the second time I've been in contact with this person. The first time was several months ago, and after an internal recommendation and several ...
60
votes
11answers
74k views

Why do recruiters ask how much is your current pay?

I have been through 2 recruitment processes. The first recruiter said "May I know what your current pay is, for my purpose?" during a interview over lunch. He told me that would be my current pay too. ...
58
votes
10answers
12k views

Are puzzles an effective part of the recruitment process?

Many companies - particularly in the tech sector - use puzzles of various kinds (including riddles, lateral-thinking questions, and guesstimation questions) in job interviews for potential new ...
23
votes
4answers
12k views

Is taking too many 6-month contract positions viewed negatively?

Is there a downside about taking too many short-term contract positions? I'm still early in my career (I'm 25) but I've only been in a perm full-time job once for 1.5 years. My other 2 jobs have been ...
13
votes
5answers
2k views

How to conduct an interview for a subject I'm not really good at?

I'm currently working for a small company as a website/software developer. I mainly write the server side code; the interfaces I create for the website are bland and don't really interact with the ...
12
votes
5answers
1k views

Potential employer asks for code sample

I recently interviewed for a software development position where the employer asked me to provide a code sample to judge my experience level. I provided an application I recently completed as a side ...
34
votes
5answers
50k views

How do I indicate I'm not a foreign national on my resume?

I'm a first-generation American, but my parents are from The Old Country and as such gave me a pretty traditional name for their culture. The problem is: in my field of choice, it's common for those ...
6
votes
3answers
20k views

Applying to a position I already allowed a recruiter to represent me for

I have been approached by two recruiters (A and B) for a position the same role at the same company. I was asked by Recruiter A first, and told them that I would allow them to represent me for the ...
29
votes
5answers
9k views

How should I respond to vague recruiter requests?

A recruiter contacted me with a pretty vague request. It's somewhat phrased as follows (modified to avoid arousing too much suspicion): Software Engineering Opportutnies @ LinkedIn Hi, we ...
18
votes
6answers
6k views

How to convince recruiters on LinkedIn to not ask for other interested applicants? [closed]

Most LinkedIn messages I receive are of the "We are looking for a candidate with your skill sets.." theme. These messages frustrate me not because people are finding my profile and inquiring me about ...
16
votes
5answers
94k views

Major differences between direct hire and contract to hire?

I have been getting a lot of recruiters calling me since I went on the job market and many of them have been pointing me towards contract to hire positions. Each recruiter assures me that if I get ...
7
votes
7answers
20k views

Why do recruiters ask for ID and/or references?

I am applying for jobs through a recruiter, and have just been asked to provide ID and/or references before being put forward for a role. If I get the job and the company wishes to have reference and ...
4
votes
6answers
1k views

What advantages does tailoring a resume have over sending out generic resumes?

Note: I am speaking from the perspective of a recent college graduate applying to firms with graduate programs/schemes. I don't know if this makes a difference or not! There are many, different, ...
9
votes
3answers
1k views

What is the ethical thing to do if I'm introduced to a company through a recruiter, then, company contacts me directly?

Through a recruiter, I interviewed for a company 3 months ago. I followed up, and was told they would know more the following week. I never heard from the recruiter again, regarding this position. ...
9
votes
4answers
4k views

Is it possible to bypass a recruiter that once introduced you to a firm? [duplicate]

So 2.5 years ago while I was still attending university I was once contacted by a recruiter, who later introduced me to a firm (firm A) where I had a interview but I didn't take the job at the time (I ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views

Improper addressing from recruiters in Germany (software industry)

I have now been contacted several times by recruiters in Germany and their behavior irritates me. First I need to explain that there are two different modes of addressing someone in Germany (and I ...
111
votes
11answers
33k views

Can I ask “How did I do?” at the end of an interview?

When an interviewer asks "Do you have any questions?" at the end of an interview, is it acceptable to ask (as one of a few questions) How did I perform/do during this interview?
81
votes
13answers
23k views

Should I remark on errors when interviewing a potential employee?

During a job interview I might ask the candidate some technical questions to get a feel for his knowledge on what we're talking about. What if his answers are completely wrong? Should I just accept ...
43
votes
6answers
13k views

The etiquette of connecting with recruiters on networking sites

I sometimes get contacted by recruiters on sites such as LinkedIn, asking if I am interested in a job they have available, and they usually want to make a formal connection on the network to share ...
22
votes
6answers
105k views

Is it okay to give recruiters last four digits of my SSN?

I have been approached by many recruiters recently. Some of them ask for the last four digits of my social security number or the whole number, while some do not. I never give my SSN to anyone unless ...
34
votes
4answers
5k views

Does the average candidate have any recourse when they encounter an unethical recruiter?

If you've been in the white-collar job market for very long, you have likely come across recruiters who exhibit questionable ethics. The most common way I've seen this manifested is when the recruiter ...
18
votes
7answers
12k views

How to politely refuse telling the client's name for the recruiter?

Usually when dealing with recruitment agencies and applying for certain IT job positions, at some point they share the client's name (either by phone or e-mail) and usually saying that I should keep ...

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