The secret to working with high class "talent"

I fear that the word "arrogance" is about to raise its head again...

But at my career level, the commission for a recruiter (or more likely the firm) is going to be around $20K. For that amount of money, I feel that I should get something for salary I am giving up.

Some guy I don't know (but who is apparently big SQL stuff) named James Serra wrote a very excellent post from the standpoint of a candidate in the recruiting process. While I agree with most of his points, our different needs and lifestyles mean that we don't necessarily want to same thing from a job. So here is my own interpretation of some of his rules:

• Don’t call first. Send me an email...

This is why my phone number is not even listed on my resume. With the number of calls I get, I'd need a personal assistant to actually keep up. There are 20 unheard messages in my inbox right now. And that's after I cleaned it up this morning... I can weed out a recruiter very quickly over email, but voicemail takes work. There are two things that get you deleted immediately: being from out of town and sending me bad positions. More on that second one later. The problem with out of town recruiters is that they don't know local culture, market conditions, or geography. These things are very important.

• When you do email, send a description of the job, and indicate the pay rate and job location, start date and contract length...

After job duties, location, and salary are the two most important things for me to know. And if the job if is more than 15 mins from my house, I really not interested. A downtown location is really not a plus for me.

• Read my resume…

Seriously, just because I have .net and cf on my resume doesn't make me a developer in those languages. My role is to work along side them, not in them. This will also make me delete your message immediately.

• Don’t send me full-time exempt positions. I am only interested in contract positions...

I am actually the exact opposite on this one. Until Congress decides on a national health care system, I need access to an affordable group medical insurance plan so full-time direct hire only please. And none of that "contract to hire" crap. COBRA is around $500 a month...

• Don’t call my home phone. I wish I could figure out how some of you get that number.

Double seriously on this. And don't just call and hang up; I have caller ID.

• Don’t ask me to come to your office so you can meet me. Offer to buy me lunch at a place close to me...

I have only had one recruiter meet me a location convenient to me. She's one of the two I still talk to and refer others to regularly...

• Don’t ask for my resume unless you have an actual position you are recruiting for...

Actually, don't ask for my resume at all... You have my resume already. It is how you contacted me in the first place. It didn't change overnight...