I’ve interviewed with a good number of tech firms.  No, not as a job hopper – rather as having been unexpectedly (temporarily) disabled. I experienced a longer than expected recovery time and one overconfident false start.  Hiring managers have ghosted me the majority of the time.  A solid education and diverse experience is not enough to shield that.  I’ve even blocked a few recruiters for their behavior.  And now I’m happy to say I’m enjoying watching some Karma come the way of these firms.

A recruiter recently reached out to me for an opening.  I offered to see if I had any friends in the area that might be relevant if the recruiter let me know the name of the firm.  Wouldn’t you know it?  It was one that ghosted me.  I respectfully let the recruiter know that the firm had ghosted me in the past and that I wasn’t willing to put any potential friends or past coworkers into that potential scenario.

Needless to say, if I was looking I’d be hard pressed to work at a firm that treats people like this.  Especially people stressed trying to find employment.

What To Do About This

My fellow tech workers, I have the following to recommend to you all:

1. Keep track of all of your interviews and why/if they didn’t go anywhere.  This will help filter out opportunities in the future.  When a different recruiter reaches out, let them know how you were treated and that not only are you not interested – you won’t recommend any friends or past coworkers to them for this role.
2. When a recruiter treats you like a number, don’t hesitate to block them.  Odds are this won’t reduce the reach they do have – six degrees of separation and all.  It does offer a small dose of satisfaction though.  And who knows, maybe they’ll partially remember you and pull out some hair when they can’t find you.
3. For the recruiters that do treat you well and are there for more than a paycheck, make warm introductions for them where you can (legally).

Take the Survey and Sign Up!

My old job aggregator project included a way to track some of this . . . perhaps that is another one to dust off and tinker with.   And if this topic interests you, the old survey is still up.  If I fire it back up, I could use your help to beta test!

Photo by Abhinav Chadha on Unsplash, cropped by author.