I’m just going to write this once, and point back to it in the future. If you are a recruiter representing an executive quietly looking for a new job, it probably isn’t the best idea to call and leave a voicemail with details on the person and asking for advice on which companies would be a good fit.
Yes, we probably have a good idea of who’s hiring and might be interested. But we’re also a blog and we quite publicly write about this stuff, usually before the executives have actually resigned or told anyone internally. And you just handed me a great story.
LOL
well…where’s the story?
Haha! I can’t wait to see the story that comes from this one!
Come one now. Give us the story!
i really just want to post the mp3 of the voicemail.
yahoo lol
It possible that its a setup…
What the hell were they thinking? Please post the voicemail!!
POST IT MIKE! Crunchers demand it! And then put the recruiting company on BLAST! Someone needs to be fired. [Besides Jerry of course, lol]
In all actuality, probably just a clever hoax to smear someone or blow speculative smoke. You could really blow up someone’s spot by pre-empting their departure via this way.
please post the voicemail
Hey Michael you might have heard of me….I am representing a senior exec from Yahoo who is a VP managing a very important product that might turn around Yahoo, but unfortunately there is a chance that just like his other valuable contributions this might just contribute to Yahoo’s downfall further…..So to cover his downside he is looking for VP/CEO level opportunities in early stage venture funded companies in online media or social network space….funded by top VCs only….(you know who I’m talkin about right….)
anyways….if you know of some companies….point me to them….and if I ever place this playa….I’ll ship a bottle of Schnapps to your web address…..
call skoop
It’s amazing how stupid recruiters can be. I’ve had recruiters who’ll call my cell in the middle of the day, won’t ask if I can talk, and will just asking me if I’m happy at work and try to coax me to go into detail.
Michael, how about posting a transcript with the incriminating evidence ommited?
Nothing wrong with shooting off an email to see if they know of anyone, but ya, the voicemail was pretty dumb.
In defense of the recruiters, that’s what they, they try and find the guy a gig. I guess you could do all the hiring all by yourself.
Ok if someone leaves you a private voicemail that doesn’t mean it’s on the record. If you want to be a journalist, please play the game correctly.
LMAO!
Very funny! really did not think recruiters are following TC also.. thought only tech people..
Cheers, Nag
This is what I like about you Michael. In the first interview I saw of you - I think it was with Guy Kawasaki - you told everyone NOT to advertise on TC as a startup. Now you’re telling recruiters not to bring you great stories… love it.
Seems like ‘nobody’ is taking your advice
That recruiter
Has the IQ of Cooter
http://farm1.static.flickr.com.....a3be_o.jpg
Or is the recruiter smart? TechCrunch posts that the exec is looking, he/she gets fired, doesn’t know the recruiter had anything to do with it, and now the exec is less picky and has to settle for the lose startups the recruiter represents.
They should go look on http://www.BountyJobs.com. This is the largest Company/Headhunter marketplace. We post what we are willing to pay for a hire. It also cuts down on all the cold calls.
I love using this site to manage all my recruiters and get great candidates. I think there is 100’s or millions of open bounties on their system.
This recruiter is just behind the times.
Could you at least tell us the company the executive works for (could it be Yahoo?) or maybe just the recruiting firms name so I can avoid them in the future.
Dumbasses.
They should go look on http://www.BountyJobs.com. This is the largest Company/Headhunter marketplace. We post what we are willing to pay for a hire. It also cuts down on all the cold calls.
I love using this site to manage all my recruiters and get great candidates. I think there is 100’s of millions of open bounties on their system.
This recruiter is just behind the times.
MICHAEL - POST THE MP3 OF THE VOICEMAIL.
IN THE NAME OF RECRUITER STUPIDITY - POST THE VOICEMAIL !!!!!!!!!!!!!
1938 Media - Post the video Mike. F*CK! Just post the video
1938 Media, Loren Feldman here. Correction, post the audio. 1938 Media.
@ Brad. They are called fees, not bounty’s. But go ahead and supply world class talent to engineering teams the will produce million of dollars of income, for your bounty.
Post it.
Isn’t it the recruiter’s job to know which companies would best fit his/her client? I can’t believe they contacted Techcrunch for info they should already know.
You really should post the audio of that message - whoever left it is getting paid a pretty penny at his/her job while far more competent people with way more common sense are out of work in this market.
You should start your own jobs page, like moconews.org but add the 2.0-social-VIP thing… you know… executives can tell your jobs page who they want to know that they are leaving before they leave. Like Facebook but with the jobs… err
If they didn’t reveal the name of the exec or the company, it’s not that stupid. And if it’s a hoax and they want information for another purpose, the joke’s on you. But then again we haven’t heard the AUDIO!
I prefer to work with CMU grads over Stanford
It’s about Steve Ballmer, I just know it.
Stupid - Recruiter
Dumb + Stupid - The exec dealing with the recruiter
there she blows!!! the plus size bra ad again
@ blogger
blogger - dose not work well with others.( needs to be alone, often angry)
smart recruiter - avoid blogger, unless technology evangelist
damon - get a screen shot, i haven’t seen it yet.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080701......html?.v=1
Its over for the bay.
hmmm, better find that meth dealer
desperate measure require desperate needs
Could you post it while bleeping out parts of it?
People really should understand and be tuned in with the landscaped if they are in the internet recruiting space.
Poor recruiter, someone please teach and help these people
All recruiters are pimps and the talents are just prostitutes…..you can hate your pimps all you want and call them names….but at the end of the day all you Hos need your pimps…..so be nice to the good ones….they might make you rich someday…..the valley is littered with top class talent who can’t find a decent fucking job on their own…..
to the point of the post….the right thing which all good recruiters do is to establish some initial relationship before start sourcing or fishing for leads…..anyways Michael you are in a business where I’m sure this is not the last voicemail of this kind that you’ll receive….
Michael,
Is it possible to converse with you off the record? If so, then should people like that ask to be off the record first?
ZW
lobbing a call into Arrington pretending to be a headhunter scouting out an exec; only to have arrington post the fake news.
That would stir the pot and could even lead to a legal fiasco.
That said, Mike, you better watch your ass. Blogs are not the wild wild west anymore
Hey, I know this cool dude looking to split, you know anyone looking for this background?
TC could of said: Ummm no, but I have this really cool jobs site, he could check it out. But TC didn’t say that
He can’t post it.
what? - its hard to talk back to voicemail.
zach - yes, i talk to people confidentially all the time. but leaving a random voicemail with juicy information when i don’t know you isn’t what i would consider “off record.”
My vote is for you to post the MP3.
Spill it! C’mon, you can’t just dangle a juicy carrot like that and not expect us to drool.
Or just edit out the person/company names and then post it.
Can’t be sure whether it’s fake or not?
Good afternoon Mike, I’m calling from ExecuRecruits. I’m working with a very high placed senior exec at a large internet co based in Sunnyvale. Although he is the co-founder and ceo, it seems that his board and shareholders have not realized the substantial value he brings to the firm. In any case, he may soon be taking a leave of absence and was trying to test the market for a new place to go. Got any ideas?
Josh - wow, yeah, send me his resume and I’ll post it.
Haha. The best post on TC in a long long time.
@55 You forgot to point out the job site, again. Need someone to run TC job board, god know I have dumped tons into postings?
wink! ping me
So grow some balls, post what you threatened to post, or shut the lard-arse up about it. Christ, you’re acting like a 7 year old.
How about putting up a poll to decide whether it should be posted here? I already know the result though
That’s hilarious. Wow, what an intelligent move by that recruiter. This could really screw up this guy’s career at least for a brief moment, if his resume or name gets disclosed to all of us. I think the recruiter might need some neural reconditioning… http://www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2
Hey all. I thought I’d jump into the fire and offer up a perspective from a practicing software recruiter/headhunter (since I don’t think any others chimed in).
So the guy that called Mike did something very right and very wrong. I’ll explain. And please take my thoughts with a grain of salt as not every recruiter works according to the same practices.
So this recruiter did something very right by recognizing that Michael Arrington could be a valuable resource and may actually be accomodating enough to pass along a lead. Why not give it a shot. We are tought in this business to utilize all avenues possible when exploring opportunities for our candidates and cleints. I’ve called many executives and people of influence and some are actually very helpful, even when I call them cold. Because they know that maybe one day I’ll be in a position to return the favor and don’t want to close the door to a potential opportunity down the road. Or maybe my call allows them to perform a favor for somebody they know (like a friend or a company). Who knows, but it’s always worth a try and a call (or email or text or ping on facebook/linkedin). History has proven it to be time well spent.
This recruiter messed up by probably leaving too much information about his candidate (thereby giving up his identity) which goes against the code of confidentiality that all recruiters are supposed to up hold. Or maybe the candidate doesn’t care about his confidentiality being revealed in which case, no hard no foul in this instance. If the recruiter did give up the candidates identity and it did cause injury to the candidate’s job, the recruiter could be held liable for his actions (and probably should be by either the candidate or his employer). Or maybe he will be once Mike actually publishes this story.
Boris
I knew it was fake. I called it in @53. You guys were suckers.
yo thats siiick
slander, backbiting, gossip, and more…
(the devil’s grinnin while yall be sinning)
Lmao
Mike, you now own that recruiter. Use your power wisely
mike,
how about posting the names of execs rumored to be leaving a company, a few companies that you (or staff) think that they’d be a great fit for (ie: were they can do the most good) and letting us all vote on it?
dude — stop writing about Arrington…no one cares.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
As a recruiter for software engineers, I have never done this- maybe I should.
http://www.greenesearch.com
Shameless plug- I’m always looking for great software engineers.
thanks for your post. i feel it’s long overdue. Is it just me that feels like recruiters feel that somehow us helping them do their job and make it easier for them is somehow an honor? I get calls frequently enough and that’s the sense i get. Help me find so-and-so blah, blah, blah. I don’t have time nor the inclination to help a recruiter disrupt a company’s business so they can get a referral fee. Further, it’s one thing if I even knew the recruiter, quite another when 99% of the time, i don’t know them from Adam. Why is it they seem to feel like it’s part of our job to help them make their job more successful? Whatever. I just cut these calls really short and say kindly no i can’t help you do your job.
I can always find someone smarter then you. I have done it for 11 years
call skoop you retard
MP3 or it didn’t happen.
I miss the blank stare videos.
With puppets.
@40 Of course Starbucks is closing stores now. What do you expect after they can there brand without explaination. This has to go down as one of the most self-destructive brands in history.
This is so sad!!
Another home goal for recruiters that simply serves to reinforce the common perception of them. Oh dear..
LOL
Michael…been a life long fan and have never posted..until now. I couldn’t resist the situation about recruiters. Personally, they are worse than VC’s, and that’s bad…very bad.
These bottom-feeders don’t understand that people are human and not a piece of meat to be led to the slaughter. I think that someone should come up with a Web 2.0 application in directly competing with recruiters so their entire lively-hood is threatened to no end. Not only are most highly unethical, but, they have also proven intelligence is not a requirement.
Michael, as we use to say on the playground long, long ago: TAKE THEM TO THE HOOP!
I’ve been a recruiter for over ten years now and, unfortuantely, Maverick has an excellent point. A lot of us deserve to be “taken to the HOOP” as you say. I hope we don’t get “algorithmed out” of existence but we may indeed meet that fate at some piont. Don’t give up on all of us! there are a few great ones out there. can’t afford to have readers of TC hating all of us which is why I’m also chiming in for the first time here.
Ron May would have posted the transcript of the voicemail immediately and without hesitation.
All recruiters are mentally impaired. They only exist because the internal HR people that hire them are even worse….
Never understood the concept of recruiters. Basically you pay them a SHITTON of money to find someone THEY think would be good for the job YOU wand filled?
Hey, sounds nuts to me!
You actually have to be hiring someone, looking for someone OR have some one looking for you to understand
As someone who has spent 12 years in corporate HR and recruitment and seen all the unethical practices and total lack of professionalism within this industry, this blog has provided me with much amusement. I particularly like the references to pimps and recruiters being worse than VC’s. Unfortunately, for all the ethical and fantastic recruiters out there, they are indeed the minority.
Maverick commented that someone should come up with a Web 2.0 application to bring about a more ethical hiring process. Well we’re working on it in Australia; we recently launched http://www.sixfigures.com.au, where the jobs are real and most are direct from employers; how novel!
moives free streaming and download at http://www.tvokay.com check it out ..enjoy