10 Ways to Annoy a Recruiter

You need every friend that you can get when you are looking for a job, especially those who are financially incentivised to find you the perfect job. Every time you annoy a recruiter, you lose a valuable friend.

Having great relationships with a select group of recruiters is critical to your long-term career prospects. Most of the good ones will likely stay in your industry sector for a long time (if they are decent, there is serious money to be made), so keeping on their good side is incredibly important. Sure, they might not place you, but there is always next time.

Recruitment is a high-pressure occupation with countless obstacles to making a placement, so any candidate behaviours that are likely to annoy a recruiter are well worth avoiding.

10 things to annoy a recruiter

Ignore the need to build a relationship. If you do not allow a recruiter to get to know you, they won’t be able to help – now or in the future.

Don’t bother to do your research. Don’t rely on the recruiter for information about the role or company you could have found yourself. It will waste their time.

Be hard to reach, ghost them, or respond slowly. Recruiters communicate with hundreds of candidates every week. Make every effort to be the one they don’t have to call back.

Act secretive about other opportunities. You don’t have to share everything about your search, but you should let them know if other possibilities are nearing a conclusion.

Fail to perform in an interview (or simply not turn up). Recruiters put you forward because they believe in you. You make them look bad if you don’t perform (or if you don’t turn up).

Play negotiation games with them. Negotiating a job offer is entirely normal, but if you involve recruiters as the pawns in your game, they will not appreciate it.

More annoyances

Make small talk or discuss irrelevant matters. Recruiters want to build a relationship but don’t waste their time with small talk or subjects unrelated to your job search.

You have an unimpressive social media presence. Again, your candidature reflects their competency. If you have a terrible LinkedIn profile, it will reflect poorly on them.

Lack of clarity and purpose in your job search. Recruiters are not career coaches or therapists – they can only help you get a job if you know what you want in the first place.

You hassle them far more than is required. Do. Not. Chase. Recruiters. Trust me, they have a self-interest in getting you a job, so they will be in touch with you when the time is right.

Amidst the pressure of a job search, it is easy to think that recruiters are disposable assets who are out to make a quick buck. This short-sighted attitude will lead to you annoying any recruiter in your industry. There is no way back when you are on their block list.

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This blog is shared with Job Seeker Duetists. 

Written by former recruitment ghostwriter Paul Drury (not AI).