I hate recruiters who expect me to do their job for them

This one is for Leah Backes, “BWBacon Group, Denver CO”

How are you?  I came across your resume/profile/portfolio and just wanted to send a quick 
email to see if you know of anyone in your network that might be looking for a new 
opportunity.  We have several positions open throughout the Denver metro area (both full 
time and contract opportunities).  Please feel free to pass my contact info out to anyone 
your know.  Our open positions can be viewed at the “check out our current openings” 
link below.  THANKS!!!

Let’s dissect this:

… I came across your resume/profile/portfolio

Had she actually looked at any online resume, profile, or portfolio, my hope is that it would have scared her away from contacting me in the first place. My LinkedIn profile clearly states I don’t work with recruiting agencies, and my blog, well, you’re here reading this, aren’t you?

… [if] anyone in your network [is] looking for a new opportunity

You and I have never met in person. We are not friends. Forwarding a message from you implies endorsement and I have zero information about you, your company, your screening practices, your track record, whether you’re just another filthy spammer… so why on earth would I forward job opportunities to my friends and colleagues?

… both full time and contract opportunities

Yet you decline to tell me important information like whether you’re looking to fill senior roles, junior roles, and I’m certainly not going to click on your web link, although it doesn’t appear that the URL you included in your message contained any sort of click tracking or even any open tracking (like hidden images).

… feel free to pass my contact info out to anyone your [sic] know

Uh, no, do your own sourcing, thank you, that’s what you’re getting paid an average 15%-25% commission on what’s likely to be an $80k-$150k position. Low end is $12k, high end is $37.5k given those averages, so how’s about you stop spending so much time sending spam and do your own job finding candidates through proper channels.

wait, spam?

Yes, recruiter emails like this are technically spam. Think about it: her business benefits financially if she sources me as a candidate and I get hired. This classifies her message as unsolicited commercial email, aka spam. And by federal CAN-SPAM laws, she’s supposed to include a means to opt-out of receiving any future message from her or her company in the future (she must comply within a certain time period and violations of the opt-out can be quite severe)

My response

My response to Leah was pretty mild compared to other recruiter-spammers.