Is It Rude to Ignore Recruitment Agents Messages on Linkedin?

happylime on 14/02/2022 - 11:01
Last edited 14/02/2022 - 12:32 by 1 other user

Is it rude to ignore recruitment agents messages on Linkedin?

I consider myself fortunate to work in IT and to have experience in a highly sought-after area. On average, I receive two-three messages about new job opportunities on Linkedin every week. "Open to work" Linkedin setting is not on and there is no indication that I am looking.

While being in demand feels good, it takes time to interact with agents and they often don't accept "no" as an answer. I get follow up messages, emails and sometimes phone calls (if they know my number). I stopped replying to messages at some point in the past. However, I feel guilty for being rude to them whenever I ignore a message. I understand that someday I may be the one sending them messages and waiting for a response.

Poll Options

  • 650
    Ignoring is okay, they don't care if you don't respond.
  • 15
    Ignoring is rude. It's important to provide a polite and short reply.
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Comments

  • POSITIVEVIBESONLY on 14/02/2022 - 11:04
    +33

    I put myself as "Not actively looking for a job" in Linkedin and they constantly message me. So I think it's perfectly fine to ignore everything.

    • dharmesht on 15/02/2022 - 08:38
      +4

      In most cases they do the same when tides are other way around. But i do make a point to reply them saying not actively looking for a job. Your idea seems to be better one though.

    • SierraBMel on 15/02/2022 - 11:17
      +3

      I left IT 7-8 years ago and moved cities 5 years ago. I’m clear about the industry and location change on linked in, and I still get constant spam from recruiters for jobs in an industry that requires extreme skill currency when I’m almost a decade out of touch - and with a 20+ hour commute from my house to the office.

      Ignoring them is by far the most polite option available.

      • rollin on 17/02/2022 - 08:18

        what industry did you end up moving into after IT?

        • SierraBMel on 17/02/2022 - 23:12

          I ended up in the disability sector. I went back to uni for a while to study an Allied Health field and worked with the Deaf community in a uni job. I kind of fell uphill from there into different gigs.

    • Dalton on 15/02/2022 - 12:01
      +3

      An agent might see "Not actively looking for a job" as an invitation to help you find one where they do all the active looking.

  • kanmen on 14/02/2022 - 11:06
    +6

    I think if you've replied once and have been clear it's probably okay not to reply after that. People I know have created stock standard messages they use to reply to people who reach out that they can copy and paste to respond to the initial message.

  • raptormesh on 14/02/2022 - 11:09
    +9

    It's fine to ignore. It's not like they'll write your name on post it and then put you in their shit list section of their wall.

    Well, if they DO then they're sociopaths.

    • resisting the urge on 14/02/2022 - 13:21
      +1

      Ignoring bots is not bad.

      Deploying, allowing or even just tolerating them on a platform, any platform, however…

    • dust on 14/02/2022 - 19:28

      I wouldn't mind if they did, probably means they won't bother you again.

  • SBOB on 14/02/2022 - 11:14
    +38

    not rude.
    They splatter gun the same message to as many people as they can.

    • toomuchdogfur on 14/02/2022 - 14:10
      +4

      Thanks, that helped me make sense of a message I got on LinkedIn recently:

      Diving right into it, I was having a click through your impressive profile and I think you've really stood out. There is a terrific Junior [Blah Blah] role coming up that I would love to have a chat with you about.

      I currently work in a senior position at my role, and have it on LinkedIn as such (with the "not looking for a role" setting as well to boot).

      I've never replied to random recruiters, but this was the first time I wanted to tell one to truly eff off lol

      • DoctorCalculon on 14/02/2022 - 19:30
        +4

        truly eff off lol

        Especially when they misspell the tech stack they are recruiting for, confuse Android OS with iOS, even though their own job title is Technology Consultant. 🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻

      • macrocephalic on 14/02/2022 - 21:35
        +7

        I sometimes get calls from recruiters. I tell them straight up how much money I would need to even listen (which isn't outlandish but has to be a bit more than I currently get) and that normally shuts them down quickly. There's no point listening to them when they're trying to fill a rule paying 30k less than my current job. If they're cold calling they're never trying to fill a high paying job.

        • kiitos on 17/02/2022 - 11:29

          . If they're cold calling they're never trying to fill a high paying job.

          Why is that? What would they do for high paying jobs?

    • jv on 14/02/2022 - 14:21

      They splatter gun the same message to as many people as they can.

      Mine are mainly personalised…

      • gromit on 15/02/2022 - 13:27

        how personalised? I would say at most 5% of the ones I get each week are personalised, those are usually when the recruiter has been asked to approach me by one of the competitors or one of the organisations I work with through my role as they contractually can't be seen to contact me directly. about 20% have some intelligent templating to make it appear personalised but aren't really. Then about 75% are just pure and utter splatter gun spam.

    • dust on 14/02/2022 - 19:29
      +2

      The spray and pray.

  • Big Lenny on 14/02/2022 - 11:15
    +22

    put them in the same category as real estate agents and used car salesman

    • djones145 on 14/02/2022 - 11:35
      +1

      and politicians

    • SF3 on 14/02/2022 - 14:20

      same category as real estate agents

      Yes, when you are the product they are selling…

    • imurgod on 15/02/2022 - 07:40
      -2

      This!

      None of these provide any value.

      • Daz91 on 15/02/2022 - 13:12

        Finding a job for you isn’t value?

        • imurgod on 15/02/2022 - 13:16
          -1

          When you can find and apply for a job (even the same role) and be viewed in a better light?

          Hell, they do so little research that they often even get the wrong industry!

          No, they offer no more value than telesales phone spammers.

          • Daz91 on 15/02/2022 - 15:45
            -2

            @imurgod: You’re either uneducated or misinformed if you truly believe that

            • imurgod on 15/02/2022 - 16:05
              +1

              @Daz91: No, I'm very educated which is why I don't need to deal with recruiters (a.k.a. telemarketers) nor need to resort to being one.

              I am an employer and I am approached by them daily and within 2 sentences it's clear that they are just calling around anyone without having done any prior work at all.

              This is why they are so poorly regarded. They don't add any value and the role requires no experience or education to do. Not very different to those offshore companies that call you to sell you a phone plan.

              Let me tell you, the vast majority do make no effort to even research roles or skill match and employers will always look more favourably on someone who applied direct unless the role is a rubbish role that nobody will stay in. They are also dishonest about the candidates history (but this is easily found out).

              No need to get personal because the truth hurts you so much. It's common knowledge. Just look at the vote ratio!

              • Daz91 on 15/02/2022 - 16:33
                -5

                @imurgod: Wow that’s even worse if you’re an employer - you’re not just ignorant, but wilfully ignorant.

                Let me ask you a simple question: if recruiters offer no value, why does nearly every ASX 100 company have a panel of preferred recruitment agencies they use for hard to fill positions, even if they have an internal talent team?

                Also I don’t give a (profanity) about fake internet points

                • bargaineer on 15/02/2022 - 17:55
                  +5

                  @Daz91: They are mostly useless. Like you’ve said, filling high profile positions they can add value.

                  Most recruiters however are bottom feeding LinkedIn scatter gunners.

                  There is a huge difference between targeted well executed recruiting and the telesales Brit expat types that just waste your time.

                  Many top companies hire permanent in-house recruiters to seek out day to day hires so they avoid having to use the bottom feeders and only go external for executive hires.

                  • Daz91 on 15/02/2022 - 18:34
                    -2

                    @bargaineer: So you, by your own admission, wrote off an entire industry because of the bottom feeders who contact you?

                  • imurgod on 15/02/2022 - 20:48
                    +2

                    @bargaineer: Perfectly put. Saved me time typing exactly this.

                    Clearly this person is insecure about their post in life and are just realising that they have a lot more common with phone scammers than actual business.

                • imurgod on 15/02/2022 - 20:42
                  +1

                  @Daz91: You've just shown how you don't understand anything.

                  I must be so ignorant to run a successful business, be at the very top of my game, provide stable employment in a happy workplace for numerous staff and have no shortage of staff waiting for our next available opportunity.

                  When you've stopped crying, you might re-read your weird flex re ASX listed companies and understand how you've just proved my point.

                  Thanks but it wasn't necessary.

                  You may want to read the room and notice how nobody shares your opinion. You're acting like a cult member and defending the indefensible.

                  I imagine you must be still quite young and inexperienced and that's why you're so clueless about this topic.

                  • Daz91 on 15/02/2022 - 22:51
                    -2

                    @imurgod: I feel sorry for your employees having someone as obtuse and ignorant as you as their boss. Clearly neither you nor your business are particularly important if you don’t understand the importance of strong recruitment agency partnerships, it’s obvious you know nothing about the industry.

                    • imurgod on 15/02/2022 - 23:02

                      @Daz91: You're upset at me but I didn't make you take a telescammer job. That's on you, princess.

                      Cry more and stay poor.

                      • Daz91 on 15/02/2022 - 23:03
                        -4

                        @imurgod: I’m not a recruiter mate, but good job putting your ‘maturity’ on show alongside your stupidity.

                        • imurgod on 15/02/2022 - 23:08
                          +1

                          @Daz91: Ha ha ha… Sure you aren't. That's why you're defending the indefensible so hard!!

                          No need to keep trying to justify your poor decisions to me, I'm not your dad.

                          Don't worry mate, once you hit your 20s you'll hopefully realise everyone was right and you wasted your time in that pointless role.

                          Hey if it doesn't work out, I'm always looking for someone to wash and was my cars.

                          Have an upvote to help you feel a bit better.

                          • Daz91 on 15/02/2022 - 23:21
                            -1

                            @imurgod: "wash and was my cars"

                            Jesus, not only are you a complete idiot who understands nothing about business, you can't even spell.

                            • imurgod on 16/02/2022 - 07:45
                              +2

                              @Daz91: You're reduced to picking out autocorrect errors.

                              My work here is done. Go do some harrassing on linkedin.

                              2 coats of wax, Biff.

                              • Daz91 on 16/02/2022 - 11:23
                                -1

                                @imurgod: You mean picking out that you can't even spell, let along understand how business works at the big boy level? Hope this insight into your stupidity was an enlightening experience for you.

                                • imurgod on 17/02/2022 - 09:34
                                  +1

                                  @Daz91: The proof, little man, is in our varying levels of success.

                                  I know a lot more about business than you. That's why I have a masters in business, a successful business and enviable personal wealth while you work on a tiny retainer and mostly commission for telescamming and doing something that a bot could do better.

                                  Good luck share renting for the rest of your life.

                                • Carmen Sandiego on 17/02/2022 - 10:44
                                  +1

                                  @Daz91: Wowwww nit picking someone's autocorrect/mistype/accidental type? How original.

                                  What will you attack me with? I miss words because I have a legitimate brain problem, but that doesn't mean I'm a write off tyvm. Heck, I even hold a degree in Literature and teaching said literature. Also, I am a POC so, thanks for the (almost certain) racism coming my way.

                                  FYI - I would more than happily work for @imurgod and he knows it. He's proven to be a measured, reasonable, insightful, and clever person to me via chats we've had, which is far more than I can say for some of my previous managers.

                                  So, good luck with your life @Daz91. We're just fine tyvm.

  • cypher67 on 14/02/2022 - 11:16
    +3

    They would have put less time in deciding to message you than you would have spent reading it

  • onetwothreefour on 14/02/2022 - 11:29
    +8

    Now I feel bad as I don't get any messages from recruiters :(

    • Soluble on 14/02/2022 - 14:54
      +9

      Same, but it did get a email every week saying 1 person had looked at me, so I deleted my profile just in case it was a stalker.

  • CrowReally on 14/02/2022 - 11:41
    +2

    I received a message from a recruiter that I replied to (as I was on the cusp of changing jobs) and they went "Oh, I have nothing for you after all". They're spambots who want to meet you for coffee.

    • Quantumcat on 14/02/2022 - 11:53
      +3

      Free coffee?

      • tallkid123 on 14/02/2022 - 13:15

        Yeah, from the shitty coffee machine at their office.

        • Quantumcat on 14/02/2022 - 14:14
          +1

          When the recruiters at my old job took people out it was to classy cafés in the city

      • us3rnam3tak3n on 14/02/2022 - 13:30

        Early in my career an agency took me for a round of golf and gave me a bottle of wine. Next job I signed on with them. Over the next few years they would have brought in over 60k from that one signature, so yeah, an agent taking a prospect for a coffee scores well on the risk/reward ratio.

      • Dalton on 15/02/2022 - 12:03

        Email from a robot, coffee from a robot.

  • Quantumcat on 14/02/2022 - 11:52
    +5

    Reply once at least (then ignore future messages). You want them to be on board with you if you are looking for a job in the future. If you ignore them completely they'll see that when they open up their message history with you.

    • mskeggs on 14/02/2022 - 14:25
      +4

      100% agree.
      I say I'm really happy with where I am now, good luck finding the right person.
      I might never encounter them again, but if I do I want them to start off thinking I'm professional.

  • Ocker on 14/02/2022 - 11:58
    +7

    Head hunters are vultures and you owe them nothing.
    All you are to them is the chance to earn a nice fat placement fee.

    • Kangal on 14/02/2022 - 19:35
      +1

      At least it is nowhere as toxic here in Australia (and I suspect NZ) compared to the likes of USA.

      I'm not so sure about Canada, UK, and Ireland, they're generally "better people" (more chill) but are closer to the influence of USA.

  • Drakesy on 14/02/2022 - 12:07
    +23

    Hahah
    No.
    IMHO they're on the same rung as used car salesman and real estate agents.

    Zero value add and want an abnormally large slice of the pie.

    My recruiter was paid $15,000 (15% of my salary) for forwarding my resume onto a Government Department, not even an interview, just 1 email and a 5 minute phone call…
    The government department had a contract with only a select few recruiting agencies so you couldn't go directly to them.

    Now that is a joke

    • de9299 on 14/02/2022 - 16:17
      +4

      Not sure why you got downvoted - this is accurate

      • DoctorCalculon on 14/02/2022 - 19:33
        +1

        Agreed. Certain large companies (and especially government departments) have these so called recruitment panels, aka preferred suppliers. They come up with the worst candidates most of the time as they don't bother doing any homework.

        • Shoshneaky on 14/02/2022 - 22:06
          +2

          More inside stories here - I once worked with a colleague who serviced a govt department's IT recruiting. As you correctly state, many of those roles were exclusive to the preferred supplier panel.
          The govt roles are often such 'hot' roles that often the maximum number of candidates that can be submitted can sometimes be filled within hours of the role going out to the panel. What happens is it ends up being who can submit the most satisfactory candidate fastest, rather than find the best candidate overall and that's how you end up with subpar candidates.

          • DoctorCalculon on 14/02/2022 - 22:29
            +2

            @Shoshneaky:

            rather than find the best candidate overall and that's how you end up with subpar candidates.

            Well said. "Quantity over quality" is their motto.

  • tallkid123 on 14/02/2022 - 13:13
    +1

    I don't feel bad and I don't care.

    I will usually however respond to internal company recruiters if the role is similar to what I'm currently doing.

    if it's just a headhunter, I'll ignore. I get the urge to sometimes respond f off if they also message asking if I know anyone who'd be suitable. Why would I want to help you do your job?

    I also ignore recruiter connection requests.

    I despise LinkedIn and this post actually made me just go through my connections and delete every recruiter on it.

    A personal dream of mine is to eventually put retired as my headline in the future.

    • mskeggs on 14/02/2022 - 14:30
      +10

      Instead of 'retired' put 'looking for the right opportunity' then tell every recruiter who contacts you that you don't appreciate their unprofessional tone.

      Might as well be the chaos in the world.

  • ultravanilla on 14/02/2022 - 13:16

    Are those recruiter messages ever real people?
    I thought that at least for the initial messages they were all just bots configured to scrape for certain criteria and spam matches. You might get a real person if you follow up, but definitely not for message initiation.

    • tallkid123 on 14/02/2022 - 13:19
      +2

      They're real people.

      Half the time, recruiters have to pay for inmail credits just to contact prospective candidates.

      • ultravanilla on 14/02/2022 - 13:46

        Good to know. Doesn't mean I'm about to reply to any of them though. I just assumed they couldn't be real as any sane person would look at my profile and ignore it given my employment history for last 5 years has one line and a bogus employer listed.

  • GordonD on 14/02/2022 - 13:44

    It is impolite to respond to people being polite to you with impoliteness.

    But its quite OK to be impolite and ignore people who are just feigning politeness to get you to give them money, like beggars and charity collectors at shopping centres, or salespeople at the door or on the phone or on the internet. Recruitment agents aren't being polite by contacting you. You haven't asked them to contact you. They're just doing it to make a buck. Its quite OK to completely ignore them.

  • Donaldhump on 14/02/2022 - 14:22
    +1

    they don't care, and they ignore you so it expected

  • Shoshneaky on 14/02/2022 - 15:39
    +3

    As a former agency recruiter, one polite "no" type message is my recommendation - particularly if they bother to genuinely engage you personally.

    Otherwise there's really no harm in ignoring them and getting it out of your headspace. Chances are if you were worth reaching out to once, there's going to be reason for them to want to reach out or hear from you again, regardless of whether you ever responded.

    The only thing I wouldn't advise is being rude, more so because that's just a shitty reflection of your own character, and there's probably still someone on the other side who isn't just a "used car salesman," and they're just trying to just do their job (not denying the bad salespeople exist in droves - I worked with a few, but many times recruitment is sold or misunderstood as an entry job to an actual HR career to usually a young, naïve soul who doesn't want to be there either). They'll also probably just ignore your message back but if they wanted to, they could possibly note that against you as someone who can't be trusted to just reply professionally, and may hurt you in the future.

    TL:DR No response is best.

    • Drakesy on 14/02/2022 - 16:42
      +4

      It's just
      Recruiters that were doing their job would act really keen, get you in for a 1 - 2 hour "verification meeting" with said recruiter who was keen to share my resume with employers offering $120k+. This happened 3-4 times before i gave up on them.

      Only for nothing to eventuate other than a lost lunch break and a courtesy email saying thanks for the opportunity to catch up.

      My guess is these 'meetings' are kpi's that the recruiters have to hit weather or not they have any jobs available.
      I found my current job the organic way and feel better knowing a leech isn't taking 15% of my wage for doing nothing.

      Ever since then i let them waste their time like they wasted mine.

      • Shoshneaky on 14/02/2022 - 21:57
        +5

        Agree with you on the time wasting - 100000% frustrating when you go through the sit down, coffee catch up… whatever it is.

        One point to correct though is that recruiters shouldn't ever take from the employee's eventual salary.
        Having been on the internal HR side as well, the employing manager would seek approval for additional spend to pay the recruiter - NOT take it out off the salary.

        Usually recruiters are not the first option so if a job has been advertised by the employer directly already, and they subsequently gave it to agencies when they were unsuccessful, it is almost too easy in a lot of circles to find out if a salary was decreased to give specifically to agency. Not to mention usually a role is given to multiple recruiters who are all competing for the same candidate pool and the first to submit a candidate gets exclusivity of that candidate. The candidate can often also hear the same job from different recruiters and it can be easy for them to find out exactly what the top of the salary range is if that is the case. Employers typically do not stop advertising themselves as well, even whilst the role is with recruiters so there is often veeerrry little opportunity to actually take a recruiter's fee 'from' your wage as you say.

        Recruiter fees are often negotiated with the employer (10-20% is pretty normal), and the agency actually makes that percentage of the base that is offered - In a way, the recruiter is incentivised to actually get you a higher salary as that means their percentage is greater, but obviously if the employer doesn't want to pay the higher salary, that's all part of the negotiation process as well. Additionally there are often probationary period requirements where if an employee doesn't pass probation, recruiters can potentially lose their fee.

        Although I would personally never ever get back into the recruiting world myself (just not the work environment for me), when done right, I actually view recruiters as a really really good service.
        It's the mediocre ones that will waste your time and obviously, from my experience and those of everyone on this forum, they're a dime a dozen.

        Done right and with integrity, they should be trying to understand your goals, put forward relevant roles because their incentive is to firstly put you into a job where you're happy at the max salary possible and at no cost to yourself, other than time spent in discussions.

        • trapper on 16/02/2022 - 14:05

          I don't think he means literally take it out of your pay. Just that it costs the company a lot money that could be better spent on increasing your salary.

          Also there is no real incentive for the recruiter to get you higher pay, as by asking for more they are risking being undercut by some other recruiter. That is a big risk for a small gain.

          ie 20% of 100k is $20k, 0% of $110k is $0

  • Gronk on 14/02/2022 - 15:54
    +1

    Not at all, although it's probably better for business all around if you just respond to the effect that you're grateful but not in the market currently - never know, you might want their assistance at some point further down the line.

    The ones I do ignore are the requests to tee up 'industry insight' sessions, those are just potential investors / traders trying to get an inside track.

  • mrhanky71 on 14/02/2022 - 16:23
    +2

    na, dont need to be rude to scavengers

  • de9299 on 14/02/2022 - 16:26
    +10

    Fun story (and off topic) about an encounter with an IT recruiter. About 6 years ago I was approached by a recruiter who was excellent at stroking my ego and making me feel special. He set me up for an interview for a very senior engineering role. The technical interview was quite challenging - both the hiring manager and I agreed that I was not suited for such a senior role at the moment. When I exited the interview, I had about 6 missed calls with the recruiter looking for feedback/updates. The recruiter was extremely interested in the questions I was asked and he was frantically typing/ noting what I discussed. He even asked me to spell out the technical abbreviations! He ended the call by saying he's got another candidate who could find this useful and he would get in touch with me for future roles. I have never heard back from him.

    • FiDad on 14/02/2022 - 16:36
      +2

      that is bloody smart on that recruiter part though

      • windrc on 14/02/2022 - 17:07
        +4

        that's what most (every) recruiters do, they'll just send through any candidates and try to get hold of interview questions.

    • tallkid123 on 14/02/2022 - 17:24

      At least he set you up for an interview.

      You got a better idea of what you needed to do to progress to a senior engineering role and he got feedback for the next candidate.

      Also, no point in him briefing you on interview questions, you somehow getting the job and then your manager getting rid of you during probation for whatever reason leading to your recruiter not getting paid.

  • suchan on 14/02/2022 - 16:33

    These recruiters would've used some kind of LinkedIn premium feature only available to paying recruiters to reach out to as many people as possible. Feel free to ignore if it doesn't pique your interest.

    I got a funny message from a recruiter recently that starts like this … "Dear <First Name>, I came across your profile on LinkedIn …", guess what I did to it.

  • orangetrain on 14/02/2022 - 16:56

    99% of recruiter messages seem like spam

    "Hi orangetrain, your resume is impressive! Call me"

    Are recruiters allowed to personalise inmail at all or its just send to all candidates in this location with these keywords?

  • randombrick on 14/02/2022 - 17:11

    I usually respond but only if the role is relevant to me (gets rid of some of the spammers) and if the company is not on my "do not apply again" list*.

      • usually ones I have applied to before and have had a "meh" interaction with. Includes those that ghost during the process
  • Carmen Sandiego on 14/02/2022 - 17:54

    TL;DR - No, I don't reply to 99% of the recruiter messages I get in LinkedIn

    I work in Insurance and I don't reply to the ones who send me random messages. Yes, they can scattergun all they want, but that doesn't mean I care.

    I've currently got 1 company specific recruiter message me every 3-4 months, thinking I'll reply - the answer is f no every time due to the things I know about the company they recruit for. They can tempt me all they want but, short of $1K/minute, I'm not going.

    It's worse if you work for one of the industry leading companies because, once you hit that 1yr mark, cue 3 messages daily.

    The only time I reply is for recruiters who have tried to help me find a job I was actually interested in. There are literally only 2 I trust and I'm happy to help out and give them leads because I know they respect me.

    During the time I was looking, other recruiters just called without asking me for the best time to call. And even when they, they'd ignore it and call me in the middle of commuting or in meetings…It pissed me off so much. And, weirdly, it was mostly the male recruiters who'd do this so, this felt like a gender issues since I'm female.

  • brawndo on 14/02/2022 - 18:57

    Curious to know which highly sought-after area you work in

    • happylime on 15/02/2022 - 07:48
      +1

      DevOps and security.

      • ThadtheChad on 15/02/2022 - 09:35
        +2

        Yup that'll do it!

        The recruiter commissions off high-demand tech jobs is pretty sweet given the relatively high salaries.

  • thatonethere on 14/02/2022 - 19:14

    I suspect they have some kind of crawler bit where they can run a search woth their premium account and mass initiate a convo via message.

    Sometimes they have a role - or they could be fishing for people so they have them on tap for later.

  • john_conner on 14/02/2022 - 19:32

    I don’t think answering if you aren’t interested is going to help anyone.

    Just wait till you need a job and message all the recruiters you have responded to previously. You’ll get your answer then.

  • st1ng on 14/02/2022 - 19:43

    My general rule is if they just send me a generic message then I won't respond. If they send me an e-mail (not a message via Linked In) or show they they've looked at my CV in a non-generic manner, I'll generally give them the time to reply with a not interested at the moment. I have a few recruiters who I actually trust and they know to contact me every six months (my current employee only does six month contracts).

  • dji1111111 on 14/02/2022 - 20:01
    +6

    Recruitment agents don't bother sending rejection emails or messages to all unsuccessful candidates either so I don't know why anyone would feel the need to reply to every unsolicited messages

  • dummyboy87 on 14/02/2022 - 21:08
    +3

    Connected with a recruiter when i was newbie in my field about 5yrs ago.
    He looked OK and recommended a few jobs all of which I wasnt successful.
    Anyway I moved on to a higher level role in a different firm, and he recruited my replacement for my previous employer.
    Fast forward to earlier this year, he reached out to me again and sent me the JD of previous role (my replacement has also decided to move on).
    Annoyed, I replied to him saying and quite bluntly told him to please refer to my progression since I left my old role before coming to me with new roles plz

  • No ONE on 14/02/2022 - 23:26

    two-three messages… on Linkedin every week

    Won't be rude to ignore with that message frequency.
    If it was one a month, wouldn't hurt to reply and maintain professionalism from your end.

  • faraz4oz on 15/02/2022 - 05:42

    Send some my way. Just got made redundant.

  • Nost-dc on 15/02/2022 - 07:31

    you dont get that many….. try 30-40 a week… drives me nuts

    Ignoring is ok, but personally I just connect with them and tell them I'm not actively looking or entertaining offers below $xx

  • tabitha731 on 15/02/2022 - 07:32
    +2

    Ignore the recruiter emails via LinkedIn. There a good chance that the recruiter is new to recruitment and just did a word match on your skillset. There's a high chance that the "job" they want to talk to U about isn't of any interest or relevant in ur field in IT. I can attest to this as I still get randoms recruiters contacting me when this my LinkedIn hasn't been updated in 5 years. Recruiters are useless, they earn a living off the candidates years of hard work and experience. If I'm looking for a job, I apply directly to the company I want to work for.

  • b0rnwithabeard on 15/02/2022 - 08:10
    +5

    a friend of mine in the same industry puts on his profile “Dear Recruiters: while I’m not actively looking for work, I’m always open to hearing about the right opportunity. If you think I’m a perfect fit, message me with the phrase PURPLE MONKEY DISHWASHER so I at least know you’ve actually taken the time to research who I am a little bit and not part of some mass email list”

    (slightly reworded so people can’t google that phrase and find his profile)

  • mlbrooke on 15/02/2022 - 08:25

    I have found some roles through recruiters reaching out to me and others through knowing the right people. I will reply immediately if the role is an interesting one and I am looking, otherwise I will mostly ignore their first approach, if they are persistent then I will say no not this time, or call out something in their ad that is not where I want to be.

    No recruiter doing a professional job is going to ignore you in the future because you didn't reply to them, LinkedIn messaging is generally one way ….. salesperson to prospect … with nothing but crickets coming back…. (and dust devils rolling in the wind for effect)

  • ameyas7 on 15/02/2022 - 09:25

    2-3 messages a week shouldn't take lot of time to revert back. You can always construct some generic reply explaining your situation and then it should be lot quicker to revert back.
    Please bear in mind that at some point the tables may turn and you may be interacting with same agents in future. At that time these ignored requests may not look good and they may ignore your applications as well. I'm not saying everyone will ignore but just a possibility of missing out on some good opportunity can't be denied. Being polite will always help you in the long run in every aspect of life.

    • ThadtheChad on 15/02/2022 - 09:43

      Unlikely though.

      The recruiter will not scoff at an easy 20-40k in recruitment commission just to prove a point.

      In niche high-demand fields, the power dynamic is always with the candidate - as an unprofessional recruiter can get relatively easily black-balled by word-of-mouth that can spread quickly.

  • Silly-sausage88 on 15/02/2022 - 09:52

    Ten bucks they would ignore you if it were you messaging them. Don't stress!

  • afah0447 on 15/02/2022 - 09:57

    These people are like used cars salesmen. They work on commission. Don't feel that you're 'special', they send out many many emails daily.

  • NotAnAudiophile on 15/02/2022 - 10:19
    +1

    I've been working for a very long time and never had a successful job through an agency recruiter.

    • nephilim on 15/02/2022 - 13:29

      Same thing, they seem to check my profile but never contact me. Its strange as my job role isn't a easy one to fill.

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