recruiters...

some good, most awful

i've landed a full-time job, so my recent run-ins with recruiters has been (thankfully) very limited. some still reach out with insanely bare details on LinkedIn a few times a week, and by the time by the time i respond most say it's already closed or no longer accepting resumes. however, most i just have to say no to because they aren't even related to my field.

at least half of them are for developer gigs that don't match up to any part of my experience, history, about me, etc... on the site. and most of the others are for much lower roles which, yes i could do, but wouldn't want to leave a staff/lead full-time role for a mid-level role that's on contract.

most of us in the professional world deal with this, its not new or interesting. but the reason i'm writing about it anyway, is i did take a call with someone this week, and they pissed me off.

she showed up 5min late to the call with no apology or excuse given. she didn't exchange any pleasantries to get the call started. she clearly had not checked my profile, resume, or portfolio before joining the call (despite her being the one to reach out to me via DM and email). and when she did see my portfolio site, ended the call immediately bc its design was not what they were looking for. when i offered to explain that my site is reflective of my personal style not what i do for clients, she either didn't care or understand and said if she had any "creative" jobs in the future she would reach back out.

i took the call because even though she wouldn't say who it was for, it was a principal ux design role for an ecomm client that required its people to be on-location in bentonville, arkansas (which everyone knows is code for walmart). do i want to move? no. do i want to work for walmart? no. but do i want to at least interview there and make some new contacts on linkedin? sure!

but, i also know they've been bleeding talent since the mandatory RTO earlier this year, so finding qualified folks to even take their interviews has been handed off to these third-party recruiters (probably also bc their HR / talent dept is now understaffed). and if my interactions are typical of what everyone is experiencing, good luck to them bc they will be getting third-tier talent at best.

you may look at my job history and wonder, why would you balk at a walmart job when you've worked for other big corps? part of it is growing up during the time that they killed all local businesses in the towns they came to; i definitely watched our downtown fall apart as a kid, and even today when i do revisit home it's pretty sad compared to what i remember. but i've also seen them crush union efforts with an iron fist, open and immediately close stores nearby which caused absolute havok on the neighborhoods, and just overall suck the soul out of people and places associated with them.

they also produce "alumni" that have no idea how to function outside of their walls bc they're used to living inside a monopoly where any business decision or design they tested works whether people like it or not, bc... well... it's walmart. they can shove it down your throats and make you deal with it. they've killed all their low-cost competition, so unless you've got a flexible income you're forced to go there.

and in some towns, whatever income you have doesn't matter bc they're the only game in town.

but i'm rambling now... so i'll just sign off on this: fuck capitalism. happy friday night. hope you enjoy your weekend. as for me? i'm gonna go kill nazi's in sniper elite 5.

12.13.2024 / fighting a 3 week cold