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Ask HN: Handling unsolicited technical recruiter calls

by dadro on 5/25/11, 3:11 PM with 5 comments

tl;dr - Tech Recruiters keep calling me, how do I get them to stop?

I've been getting daily unsolicited calls from technical recruiters (mainly from various employees of 1 company). I've emailed them politely mentioning I'm not interested. This caused a brief pause in the calls but now they are back.

I'd imagine quite a few HN readers have dealt with this problem. Advice?

  • by scottyallen on 5/25/11, 5:38 PM

    Brainstorm a product idea for which recruiters are the core market segment. Every time a recruiter calls, treat the call as a free half hour customer development interview or usability study. As you continue to refine the idea, build some mocks/prototypes that you can have the recruiter walk through while you're on the phone.

    Two possible outcomes:

    - The recruiters quickly learn you have no intention of talking about job opportunities, and stop calling.

    - You develop a very well validated product that you can effectively sell to recruiters, a space that is red hot right now.

  • by Peroni on 5/25/11, 3:38 PM

    It's quite easy if it's one specific company. Call them and ask to speak to their regional manager. Once through, inform them that you don't want anymore unsolicited calls and they will take you off their system.

    As for stopping calls from recruiters completely, well it's near impossible. That's part of the reason why the vast majority of people can't stand tech recruiters. I don't necessarily enjoy calling people I haven't previously spoken to before but I do try my best to ensure I have a valid reason for calling.

  • by allwein on 5/25/11, 3:23 PM

    Tell them you're dead. It's the only effective way I've seen of delaying them more than a few months.

  • by roedog on 5/31/11, 4:38 PM

    At first I tried to reason with them. When I brushed off one, another one from the same office would call back. I started hanging up as soon as they announced themselves and not saying e anything. If I had caller ID at that job I would have just answered and hung up before they could even announce themselves. After a few of those they stopped.

  • by vinced on 6/8/11, 1:50 AM

    Just tell them to remove you from their database or mention legal action. Always worked for me.