I am a technical recruiter and love to read stuff like this so I can see what candidates "really" think. But I'm also technical and keep up with the goings-on. But on this particular topic I wanted to bring up two points. I was once hounded by a sales rep at a software company that makes software to interview technical candidates. This particular rep was persistent and left me multiple voice mails and sent me multiple emails. In one of the last emails he referenced some pretty specific stuff in my profile, which shows he had done his reading, but he made a mistake and referenced a "GMAT" score when I had talked about a "GRE" score. But I didn't really hold that against him. It's the thought that counts, right? I just had no interest in taking the call so even if he'd dressed up like a clown and knocked on my door I still wouldn't have opened it... Which brings me to point #2. I once received calls about 3-4 times/week for 6 or 7 weeks straight. A quick Google search of the number told me exactly who it was - a business trying to connect about a product I had expressed interest in. So for the 30 or so phone calls I received from this number, I never once got a voice mail. And I never once picked up their call. I was curious to see when the calls would stop and when they would leave a voice mail. I also just don't like the fact that someone calls me multiple times for weeks and never once leaves a voice mail.
But also, with regards to messages I send and the lack of responses or responses I receive, I think I've come to the conclusion that it's a slot machine at the end of the day. You can have the best message in the world showing you've read every book, done all your research, etc. but at the end of the day it's a "sales call" and some people just don't respond to that. Some people would never even think about taking a job at a place where they don't already "know" someone. Also, as a corporate recruiter candidates are usually responding to the "brand" you work for, not you personally. So I think the best a recruiter can do is get the word out regarding the jobs they need to fill is to write the message, send the message, and hope for the best.
Comment
I am a technical recruiter and love to read stuff like this so I can see what candidates "really" think. But I'm also technical and keep up with the goings-on. But on this particular topic I wanted to bring up two points. I was once hounded by a sales rep at a software company that makes software to interview technical candidates. This particular rep was persistent and left me multiple voice mails and sent me multiple emails. In one of the last emails he referenced some pretty specific stuff in my profile, which shows he had done his reading, but he made a mistake and referenced a "GMAT" score when I had talked about a "GRE" score. But I didn't really hold that against him. It's the thought that counts, right? I just had no interest in taking the call so even if he'd dressed up like a clown and knocked on my door I still wouldn't have opened it...
Which brings me to point #2. I once received calls about 3-4 times/week for 6 or 7 weeks straight. A quick Google search of the number told me exactly who it was - a business trying to connect about a product I had expressed interest in. So for the 30 or so phone calls I received from this number, I never once got a voice mail. And I never once picked up their call. I was curious to see when the calls would stop and when they would leave a voice mail. I also just don't like the fact that someone calls me multiple times for weeks and never once leaves a voice mail.
But also, with regards to messages I send and the lack of responses or responses I receive, I think I've come to the conclusion that it's a slot machine at the end of the day. You can have the best message in the world showing you've read every book, done all your research, etc. but at the end of the day it's a "sales call" and some people just don't respond to that. Some people would never even think about taking a job at a place where they don't already "know" someone. Also, as a corporate recruiter candidates are usually responding to the "brand" you work for, not you personally. So I think the best a recruiter can do is get the word out regarding the jobs they need to fill is to write the message, send the message, and hope for the best.