As he does most mornings, headhunter David Freier began a recent workday by hitting the phones. His target this day: finding a software engineer for a growing start-up in Cambridge.
By the afternoon, he had dialed about 150 numbers and had mostly gotten voice mailboxes, or people who just hung up on him. In the end, he had scrounged up just four qualified — and willing — candidates.
Comments
Good article, but someone could have done a better job on extending the nose.
There's plenty of talent out there. The recruiters have just gotten used to hitting Linked-In and sending an email to get responses. Not everyone with technical ability is sharing their entire lives on Facebook or twitter.
The recruiters and the companies they represent also need to stop assuming anyone born before 1977 thinks computers use vacuum tubes. I know a number of networking, security and data storage pros who get to an interview and the interviewer can't hear him or her because they can't get beyond the interviwee's gray hair. Even though he or she may be younger than the interviewer.
Couldn't have said it better myself. These so-called headhunters ignore the unemployed tech workers, especially the older ones. I also believe that many of the headhunter "firms" are younger than the companies they're recruiting for. They have blinders on, no doubt about it.
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“There are always new recruiters,” Machanic said. “Recruiting seems to be a default career path for English majors.”
This is an obnoxious statement. There are tons of liberal arts majors developing software, have been for years.
What was that story about the nose that grew and grew (Pinocchio, wasn't it?).
Opinion pieces....or blogs as some call them...should steer clear of topics that touch on employment opportunities.
Your opinion is misinformed. The fact that they are telling you they are going after the same people ought to be a clue that there are not many real jobs there...only a few companies who want to tout their talent to venture capitalists.
And while I have a great deal of respect for truly talented engineers and coders, let's remember that the average person can do a great job with most of the day to day work. Are they looking for people to test/debug?
Then there is the fact that, while the company may think a lot of what it is doing, the talented engineer may want to add real value in the world. Why work for PayPal or Amazon when you have an idea that can save lives, improve the environment, etc. The kids in school are working on more value than is being delivered by these on-line merchants. The Filene's Basement of the 21st century is still Filene's Basement.
I say bring back manufacturing! I worked in the consumer electronics (audio, loudspeakers) business for 45 years, at several Boston area companies. All gone now. Current jobs involve staring at a monitor and using a keyboard. BORRRING!!
On the one hand "not enough candidates" and on the other "we put them through rounds of interviews, coding tests, etc. to get just the right person because we've had to work so hard to find candidates"? Something doesn't add up!
If they were so desperate to find engineers, they'd be hiring people who are good, but may not the "perfect" candidate.
“Recruiting seems to be a default career path for English majors.” Nice 'dis, buddy. Check that arrogance though--recruiting is a cyclical business, and demand is constantly shifting. We've had more than one recession where techies lost jobs en masse. When that happens those English-major recruiters go find some other in demand occupation to recruit for while socially inept engineering majors go begging for work--
“There are always new recruiters,” Machanic said. “Recruiting seems to be a default career path for English majors.” Well, that still beats being a "database administrator at a Boston financial-services firm"- they get to keep both their souls and their personalities.
If only real people would read resumes and cover letters. Instead, they crunch them through their filters and reject a lot of very talented engineers, simply because a resume includes one tool or programming language but not THE ONE language or tool that the recruiter is looking for. It's analogous to screening out an applicant because he or she did not list both British English and American English. Believe it or not, even at 50-something, I can learn to say "boot" instead of "trunk."