5 min read

I have some news on recruiting I’d like to share.

We can all agree: recruiters suck.

Whenever you mention recruiters in Slack channels, there is a collective ugh. That is usually followed by, I hate recruiters.

And if you take a look at articles from insiders, you see there is a real problem.

I Hit the Recruiting Jackpot

I noticed on the Holy Grail of tech recruiting vehicles, LinkedIn, that I got a message from a recruiter.

She was young, black,1 and spoke to me as if they were truly interested in getting to know me. I could tell something was different about this. It wasn’t the same as the other recruiters who message me.

It was odd to me that she wanted to know if we could chat and what time would be best. I told her 3 PM the following day. No call. I was beginning to think it was a quota fill after all.

That Friday. she messaged me, a day after she was supposed to call me and asked if we could talk that day. Another feather in her cap. And she actually called me.

I was super nervous and began stammering, like I do when I am nervous. Need to work and soon. I may not be able to finish Pitt because of dwindling aid. The sooner I can work the better.

We talked for about 25 minutes. She asked what I was interested in, going corporate or working for a tech company. Then she asked what I was looking at as far as compensation.

Compensation

Let’s talk about compensation as a side note. I grew up poor. Still kinda poor. So when she asked me about compensation, I wanted to really low-ball it. Would like a damn salary above what I am currently making. But I didn’t. I said between 60k-70k. Figured that’s what juniors get in Pittsburgh.

There was a job working for a local medical system/hospital here and the salary was really competitive and around what I was asking. Said she didn’t think I would like it. She told me that is was 20% programming and 80% learning their medical system. 2 I’d also be locked into a contract. With that kind of thing, depending on how long I worked there, I wouldn’t be growing my skills. I’d be known as a medical systems developer, essentially.

I didn’t let her finish when she said 20% programming and lock-in . I said, No right then and there.

The Finish

Finally, she asked me to shoot her my resume. I told her she wasn’t like other recruiters; it was weird. Her company’s philosophy sounded interesting, just what I want. We may even meet. She asked me if I had a problem driving through the Squirrel Hill tunnels or any other things I may not want to do during travel. I was shocked.

I sent her my resume. We will talk on Tuesday.

Not certain what I did to get this kind of treatment. And I can’t tell you how lucky I am to have this happen right at the end of my Pitt career, if it comes to that.

  1. Black and female, considering I am black and female, is a bonus. I think this company did their homework. ↩︎
  2. Am I developer or a medical assistant? ↩︎
    3. I have some news on recruiting I'd like to share. We can all agree: recruiters suck. Whenever you mention recruiters in Slack channels, there is a collective ugh. That is usually followed by, I hate recruiters. And if you take a look at articles from insiders, you see there is a real problem.

    I Hit the Recruiting Jackpot

    I noticed on the Holy Grail of tech recruiting vehicles, LinkedIn, that I got a message from a recruiter. She was young, black,1 and spoke to me as if they were truly interested in getting to know me. I could tell something was different about this. It wasn’t the same as the other recruiters who message me. It was odd to me that she wanted to know if we could chat and what time would be best. I told her 3 PM the following day. No call. I was beginning to think it was a quota fill after all. That Friday. she messaged me, a day after she was supposed to call me and asked if we could talk that day. Another feather in her cap. And she actually called me. I was super nervous and began stammering, like I do when I am nervous. Need to work and soon. I may not be able to finish Pitt because of dwindling aid. The sooner I can work the better. We talked for about 25 minutes. She asked what I was interested in, going corporate or working for a tech company. Then she asked what I was looking at as far as compensation.

    Compensation

    Let's talk about compensation as a side note. I grew up poor. Still kinda poor. So when she asked me about compensation, I wanted to really low-ball it. Would like a damn salary above what I am currently making. But I didn’t. I said between 60k-70k. Figured that’s what juniors get in Pittsburgh. There was a job working for a local medical system/hospital here and the salary was really competitive and around what I was asking. Said she didn’t think I would like it. She told me that is was 20% programming and 80% learning their medical system. 2 I’d also be locked into a contract. With that kind of thing, depending on how long I worked there, I wouldn’t be growing my skills. I’d be known as a medical systems developer, essentially. I didn’t let her finish when she said 20% programming and lock-in . I said, No right then and there.

    The Finish

    Finally, she asked me to shoot her my resume. I told her she wasn’t like other recruiters; it was weird. Her company's philosophy sounded interesting, just what I want. We may even meet. She asked me if I had a problem driving through the Squirrel Hill tunnels or any other things I may not want to do during travel. I was shocked. I sent her my resume. We will talk on Tuesday. Not certain what I did to get this kind of treatment. And I can’t tell you how lucky I am to have this happen right at the end of my Pitt career, if it comes to that.
    1. Black and female, considering I am black and female, is a bonus. I think this company did their homework. ↩︎
    2. Am I developer or a medical assistant? ↩︎