While I've used recruiters in the past, right now I don't need one; I am gainfully employed and enjoying my work. That doesn't seem to stop recruiters from calling me. I view talking to recruiters as a necessary evil; I want to stay in their databases, and often I see it as an opportunity to educate them about what I'm doing, so they can target their databases more effectively.
But I had the most clueless recruiter the other day. She called me and started pitching immediately, without even waiting. "We have a great opportunity in your area," she said. "We're looking for a UI developer with five years of .NET and ASP experience. Some C# would be good, too."
I said, politely, "I'm sorry, I don't have any of those."
"You don't?" she said, somewhat surprised.
"No. I don't have any .NET or ASP experience. I have never developed for any Microsoft platform in my career."*
"So, you're not a UI developer, then?"
There was a long pause while I restrained myself from yelling at her through the phone. I took a deep breath and said, "UI development is a programming craft, not a technology. It can be done in many different languages and on many different platforms. I do it in LAMP. Some people do it for Apple products. You want someone who does UI development for Microsoft products. I'm not a good candidate for that."
"Oh," she said. "Well, thank you for your time." She actually sounded snippish, as if I'd lied to her or something.
* This is not actually true; I had an eight-month part-time contract in 1993 that involved both MS-SQL database development and a VB-based UI front end. It paid the bills. But I hardly think a job 18 years ago is relevant today.
But I had the most clueless recruiter the other day. She called me and started pitching immediately, without even waiting. "We have a great opportunity in your area," she said. "We're looking for a UI developer with five years of .NET and ASP experience. Some C# would be good, too."
I said, politely, "I'm sorry, I don't have any of those."
"You don't?" she said, somewhat surprised.
"No. I don't have any .NET or ASP experience. I have never developed for any Microsoft platform in my career."*
"So, you're not a UI developer, then?"
There was a long pause while I restrained myself from yelling at her through the phone. I took a deep breath and said, "UI development is a programming craft, not a technology. It can be done in many different languages and on many different platforms. I do it in LAMP. Some people do it for Apple products. You want someone who does UI development for Microsoft products. I'm not a good candidate for that."
"Oh," she said. "Well, thank you for your time." She actually sounded snippish, as if I'd lied to her or something.
* This is not actually true; I had an eight-month part-time contract in 1993 that involved both MS-SQL database development and a VB-based UI front end. It paid the bills. But I hardly think a job 18 years ago is relevant today.
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