This is probably a dumb question but:

I've (maybe embarrassingly) never been approached by a recruiter. Why does everyone hate them so much?

Wouldn't being approached by, say, a recruiter from Google or Facebook or whatever be something to be excited about?

This isn't a dumb question... only recruiters can ask dumb questions. ;)

I'm wondering that as well.

@JS96 for example, once a recruiter asked me:
"How much does a bottle of milk cost?"

To see if I know the world... I don't know, he was an idiot.

@Michelle thank you :P

@JS96 ehm...so then what's the answer? :P

@JS96 ahh, I see, so we don't like them because of the questions they ask!

@IDontGiveADuck ssshhh... I don't know the world. They didn't hire me.

@Torbuntu oh that seems dumb... They're like getting you to do their job for them it sounds like...

I get quite a few messages on LinkedIn saying they have something perfect for me in a language I've never used in an industry I have no experience in. I don't list as interested in job opportunities. I think you're thinking of more a head hunter, someone from a specific company. Recruiters just sorta shotgun candidates with vacancies.

I've had it from the other side too, recruiting people through recruiters they call loads and send any candidates your way in the hope of getting the commission. We have a fairly short list of recruitment agencies we'll work with. Even the job I'm in now was through a recruitment agency and I didn't really meet the job spec.

@Torbuntu so basically if I ever do get contacted by a recruiter I shouldn't get excited...

@Torbuntu Noted! I like it where I am anyway :)

@alwaysmpe interesting! That was informative and very helpful, thank you :) I didn't realize they worked off a commission like that although I suppose I should have known.

@Torbuntu Oh that's sad :( I'm sorry you feel that way... I wish I could help

Most recruiters play the numbers game as if it's singles night at the bar. They're offensive and downright ignorant.

Typically they say "Hi, send me your resume and let's discuss your future."

As if I gave a fuck about the 'up and coming, young, dynamic team who are going to take the (insert industry here) by storm, by having me sit my arse in a chair pushing pixels after a long commute while a fat idiot with the title manager, panting from a trip to the pantry, pulls a power trip by telling me how to spend my weekend'.

I've been contacted by a few people whom I genuinely enjoyed speaking to; these were internal hiring managers.

@Torbuntu well that's good at the very least :)

You are talking about an internal recruiter. A recruiter who recruits for a specific company. A person who knows the specific requirements and inner workings for the company he recruits for. People generally hate on the commissioned recruiters. You know... The guy who calls a JavaScript developer offering a Java role because his search query for java returned JavaScript as well.

@cyberlord64 ah, before in posted this question I didn't know that there were different kinds of recruiters!

@IDontGiveADuck

Don't be disillusioned by the name.

Its very rare for a recruiter to do their fucking job.

Only once has a recruiter helped me.. and that was because i contacted them over a popular job listing site.

A recruiter is literally the middle man who adds close to nothing of value to the recruitment process but does need to get paid... look up leech or parasite

@Alice 😢

@IDontGiveADuck yeah, recruiter fee is for us usually about 15% of the candidates first year of salary. I'm assuming commission is less than that but not by a huge amount.

@Alice me too sometimes 😊❤️

They're dumb, they don't give a fuck about you and they don't read your resume .

@alwaysmpe wow thats not bad... lol