Dear Recruiters: Please Don’t Call Us Asking For Advice On Where To Place Outgoing Executives - It’s Too Tempting
by Michael Arrington on July 1, 2008

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.

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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.

 
silicon valley dropout - July 1st, 2008 at 1:05 pm PDT

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…..

 
 

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.

 
 

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 ;-)

 
 

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.

 
 

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.

 
 

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.

 
MY GOS STARBUCKS IS CLOSING - July 1st, 2008 at 2:03 pm PDT

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

 
 

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.”

 

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