I read an article by Debra Walker at NetTemp's Crossroads Newsletter titled the "Ten Things a Recruiter will never tell you". Naturally I was curious, since I consider myself a fairly open book and am not afraid to discuss much of anything with a candidate. I still can't figure out how to paste a link into this blog, so my apologies for you having to cut and paste this into a browser: http://www.net-temps.com/adcgi/banner.cgi?ref=crnews&ch=2885&id=crs_2885.

Here's the Ten Points, and my humble opinion following each point.

1. Your cover letter put him off
Yep - totally agree with this. If you want my attention a good cover letter is a good place to start.

2. Recruiters spend 5-10 seconds looking at each resume
Probably better worded recruiters spend 5-10 seconds looking for reasons to spend more time with the resume, but I won't dispute this one either.

3. Your resume is full of.... flags
Yep. No question about it.

4. Your age is obvious from your resume
What's your point Debra? Are you saying that I'm not going to consider someone because of their age? Isn't that against the law?

5. Your resume indicates you are not a cultural fit
We have a major employer here that has a reputation for paralysis by analysis, having 6 layers of management when 1 will suffice & having meetings to discuss meetings. People that spend their entire careers there have a difficult adapting to other environments. But you can't tell me you worked at ABC when you actually work at XYZ so again I'm struggling to see the point here. Advice she offers in this section includes Your personal information or extracurricular activities may actually make a negative impression on recruiters or potential employers.. I'm not sure I've seen personal information or hobbies on a resume that have been the singular reason to pass. On the contrary, I called a candidate partly because he belonged to my church - and I helped him get a great job.

6. The recruiters first motivation is earning commissions followed up by The recruiter’s loyalty is not to you; it is to the companies that pay his commission.
A good recruiter does not think like this and frankly I was a little insulted by this blanket statement. Oh, speaking of which - the guy from my church I just mentioned? Didn't make a dime on that.

7. He doesn’t care why the employer didn’t want you for a second interview. followed by If the employer isn’t interested in you, then neither is the recruiter.
Ok, now I'm getting a little ticked off at Ms. Walker. She's making some pretty broad accusations of the recruiting community that frankly aren't true of the majority of recruiters I know.

8. He doesn’t care why the employer didn’t make you the offer.
Well if #6 is true wouldn't this be wrong? I absolutely care about why someone didn't get an offer. I spend hours every month chasing down hiring managers trying to get them to give me more than just "not a good fit".

9. He won’t tell you the real reason the position you want is on hold.
Now she's accusing recruiters of being deceitful.

10. He won’t tell you the true salary range for the position.
Why not? Because according to this article corporate recruiters are trying to keep it low to look good and third party recruiters are trying to keep it high to maximize commissions of course.

According to her website, Ms. Walker was a corportate recruiter and "headhunter" prior to becoming a career coach. I wonder if she had this "whats in it for me" attitude. If so I'm not surprised she's not in the recruiting business anymore. Frankly I found her last 4 points insulting and not true of the many recruiters I know. If you're going to be a good recruiter there simply is no room to think like that. This is a people business - and to be good at it you have to CARE about the PEOPLE. It can't just be about you.

P.S. Anyone else find it interesting that the article continually refers to recruiters as "He"?