Monday, January 7, 2013

No Go with Pukes in Concord, ON

Today I have just passed a 12-month contract in Concord (which is on the bad side of Toronto traffic-wise). The contract was Embedded Linux but for some weird reasons they also wanted some W1nd0ws development [an idea I do not quite entertain]. The recruiter was professional but the pukes (aka. her client) wanted candidates to go in and sit a test. I.e. waste of half a day.

When will these Canadian pukes get in their heads that senior/competent guys have busy lifes an no time to waste on their HR flighs-of-fancy?

It is true that the amount of half-dimwit and/or straight incompetent developers out there is staggering [and I speak from experience working with them or recruiting them] but a 30-min phone call/interview can probe very well into a candidate's experience and competency. The HR person/hiring manager must then be competent as well which is now always the case.

-ulianov

Chance Encounter with a Flesh & Blood Recruitress

Today at the indoor playground I've met a charming lady who used to be a recruiter. Unlike 90% of recruiters I've dealt with she had received training for this line of work and she was harbouring a few lovely old-school [and largely passé] ideas about her trade:
a) that candidates worth their salt would be marketed by a recruiter;
b) that recruiters keep in touch with former candidates [does happen but only the very best long timers do that];
c) that agencies add up only 10% on top of the candidate's hourly fee or salary [in reality this ranges between 30% and 50%].

-ulianov