Article: 121110 of alt.peeves From: emr@idiom.com (Elaine Richards) Newsgroups: alt.peeves Subject: Life's Little Instruction Book for Headhunters Date: 16 Feb 2001 00:16:34 -0800 Organization: Unknown Lines: 50 Message-ID: <96inl2$24i4$1@idiom.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: idiom.com X-Trace: news.idiom.com 982311395 67712 216.240.32.1 (16 Feb 2001 08:16:35 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@idiom.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 16 Feb 2001 08:16:35 GMT Path: news.meer.net!nntp1.ba.best.com!news2.best.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news.kjsl.com!news.idiom.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.meer.net alt.peeves:121110 Now that I have told My Corporate Masters about my imminent departure from the land of Logo Merchandise, I can feel free to post Life's Little Instructions to Headhunters: 1. What part of "not willing to relocate" is hard to understand? 2. You have gotten a letter from a recruitment web site that has the full text of my resume. Don't ask me for a Microsoft Word copy of my resume as an attachment. 3. If it is not on the resume, I don't do it. I would not hide a marketable skill. Really. Unless I DON'T WANT TO DO IT. 4. If my resume says, "U.S. Citizen", you don't have to ask questions about my H1 visa status. Really. 5. Don't expect me to call you long distance. There are 30 other headhunters who either have 800 numbers or take email. 6. Check the area code on that number I gave you. If you are in a timezone east of me, an 8AM call will not get answered. 7. If I tell you I don't want to drive 1 1/2 hours to work every day, don't try to convince me that I really need to work at some "hot" company 1 1/2 hours away from my house. There is an entire city full of "hot" companies just across a bridge from my house, 1/2 hour by bus or carpool, not to mention the 20 or so in the little town 3 miles south of my house. 8. NT is not UNIX. CVS is not Clearcase. QA is not Release Management. 9. After 14 years in the industry, 60K is unacceptable. Sorry. The mailroom clerk should be getting that. Rents here start at $1300 per month. !Peeve: This latest ordeal has given me five really good, smart and energetic headhunters. So, on the "up" side... 10. Spend about 20-30 minutes asking the person you want to represent what they do, what they would like to do, what places they want to work, and bounce ideas off them. 11. Help negotiate details like salaries, when interviews happen, expectations on both sides and so on. 12. Keep a file on the candidates. One of my recruiters found out I'd contacted them 5 years before. It was a simple update and saved a lot of time. 13. Accept that even if the candidate gets an offer, something better may come up. The days of disposable jobs are over. Everyone wants to stay put these days. 14. Use email. Understand that not everyone wants fancy formats. Have plain text versions of everything at hand. 15. Let your candidate know what his or her references had to say. It helps to not have bad references, and a good recruiter knows that. Next Installment: Potential employers who must be on crack.