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The little things that tick me off
Aug. 13th, 2013 09:48 amI don't usually discuss much about my personal/business life in unlocked entries, but I think this incident is worth mentioning.
For those of you who don't know, I'm the co-owner of a small design firm. I am also female, which is not unusual for people in my industry. Today I received the following call from a (male) tech recruiter.
That was a very satisfying little "oh," let me tell you.
He then gave me an endless spiel about his .NET rockstar I was never going to hire, which he'd have known if he'd made even the slightest effort to read up on my company, because we are a tiny firm that doesn't offer in-house development. And then I got off the phone and fumed for a little while.
The morals of the story:
1) WOMEN. WE EXIST. WE RUN THINGS OTHER THAN TELEPHONE SWITCHBOARDS.
2) DO YOUR FUCKING HOMEWORK BEFORE COLD-CALLING.
That is all.
ETA: No, wait, that's not all -- because I just got off the phone with an entirely different recruiter. This one was female and confirmed I was the co-founder of the company before saying a damned word about another developer I'm not going to hire. At the end of her spiel, after I told her we're not hiring, I told her I appreciated that she'd taken the time to learn who I was and not assume I was the receptionist, like the last guy. You see, recruiters? Take even half a second to learn something and you won't insult the person on the other end of the phone! You might even get a compliment!
For those of you who don't know, I'm the co-owner of a small design firm. I am also female, which is not unusual for people in my industry. Today I received the following call from a (male) tech recruiter.
Me (answering the phone): Hello, this is [my name].
Recruiter: Hello, I'd like to speak to the head of your software development team.
Me (pausing, noting that the man on the other end of the phone hasn't even bothered to give me his name, but willing to give him one chance before I write him off as "he thinks I'm the receptionist"): We don't have a software development team.
Recruiter: Okay, then I'd like to speak to whoever's in charge of your technical hiring.
Me (frostily): You are speaking to the principal of the firm.
Pause.
Recruiter (obviously surprised and a bit deflated): Oh.
That was a very satisfying little "oh," let me tell you.
He then gave me an endless spiel about his .NET rockstar I was never going to hire, which he'd have known if he'd made even the slightest effort to read up on my company, because we are a tiny firm that doesn't offer in-house development. And then I got off the phone and fumed for a little while.
The morals of the story:
1) WOMEN. WE EXIST. WE RUN THINGS OTHER THAN TELEPHONE SWITCHBOARDS.
2) DO YOUR FUCKING HOMEWORK BEFORE COLD-CALLING.
That is all.
ETA: No, wait, that's not all -- because I just got off the phone with an entirely different recruiter. This one was female and confirmed I was the co-founder of the company before saying a damned word about another developer I'm not going to hire. At the end of her spiel, after I told her we're not hiring, I told her I appreciated that she'd taken the time to learn who I was and not assume I was the receptionist, like the last guy. You see, recruiters? Take even half a second to learn something and you won't insult the person on the other end of the phone! You might even get a compliment!
