IT Recruiters: 3 Alternatives and Why EVERYONE Hates Them

Last Updated on 2025-02-20

Are headhunters out to get you? Well, you must have one of the best programmer profiles that IT recruiters love to get their hands on. But what do they want? Let’s find out.

Technical talent remains to be in demand. Statista revealed that the developer population is expected to reach 28.7 million by 2024. The increase is influenced by the amount of enterprise data and the automation of business processes across industries.

It is no wonder that IT recruiters are always on the hunt for qualified IT candidates. But most of these headhunters have no idea about specializations or expertise in the field.

When IT recruiters call about a job position, candidates find it hard to trust them. Most of the time the job they’re offering is far from their core strengths and career interests.

Why Does Everyone Hate IT Recruiters?

IT recruiters are specialists in finding candidates for companies that need tech support. They work to find qualified candidates for a specific job for a 20-25% fee!

In addition, these professionals aim to meet the needs of the employer and employee. They start the hiring process, though they aren’t necessarily part of an organization.

Recruiters and agencies are not the ones making hiring decisions. Candidates will go through a hiring process by the company where they will be endorsed.

Furthermore, these candidates must wait for the results like any applicant. IT recruiters only help companies fill job vacancies whenever required.

But recruiting is getting a bad rep. More candidates and clients are complaining about IT recruiters not doing their jobs right. Let’s examine the main reasons that people hate IT recruiters.

Why Job Candidates Hate IT Recruiters

Candidates work with recruiters to help them find jobs. They just need help getting access to work that only IT recruiters know about. But what are the major downsides of working with headhunters?

1. They won’t leave developers alone

IT recruiters contact developers weekly and sometimes daily. The number of messages they send is insane. Many developers don’t use LinkedIn for this reason alone. Nothing is worse than getting emailed, called, and texted nonstop by IT recruiters. 

Dear IT recruiters, please leave us alone!

2. Candidates ARE commissions

Since IT recruiters work to fill a job vacancy, they also get paid to do so. They often mistreat candidates by giving inaccurate job information, exaggerating a job role, and calling at the last minute. 

Developers in the United States can easily make over $100,000 a year. The 20-25% fee based on IT recruiters’ annual salary is a LOT of money. IT recruiters will do anything literally to find a candidate and get them hired to chase those hefty fees.

Headhunters usually lack empathy when it comes to recruiting. Their only takeaway is to get the check after endorsing an IT candidate for a role that doesn’t fit their skill set. IT recruiters have a massive gap to fill without a system that matches the job role and qualifications. 

One solution for recruiters is reviewing the job description and matching it with a candidate’s profile. This will make the process more efficient for all parties concerned.

Also, interviews should be limited to one hour. No candidate should free up a day just to wait for a 15-minute interview.

2. Recruiters are NOT doing the work

Earlier, we mentioned that IT recruiters fail to cross-match candidates for jobs that fit their skills. This is very important in the IT industry as candidates are never truly alike. So, how should recruiters start? By reading the resume.

Finding the right talent takes hard work. That’s why HR has a hiring process to profile each candidate and fulfill the organization’s staffing requirements. It is the IT recruiters’ job to find the right candidate.

Professional recruiters do not read off a standard questionnaire first. Instead, they should do their due diligence to read profiles and cover letters before hopping on a call. This makes the recruitment process more manageable and creates an enjoyable candidate experience.

4. They don’t communicate enough

Have you ever talked to a recruiter but never heard of them the next day? Ghosting is one of the biggest reasons why candidates hate recruiters.

Imagine you got through the initial interview. Now you’re aching to know what the next step will be. A professional IT recruiter should give an update to an aspiring candidate. Also, they should be there to help you succeed and guide you along the way. But that is not always the case. 

If an IT recruiter has the initiative and care for the candidate, it portrays professionalism in the recruitment line of work. Hopefully, they will take some time to engage a high-value candidate like you, which will increase their credibility in a very competitive market.

Why Dev Managers Hate IT Recruiters

The job of a Dev Manager is never easy. They are always busy planning work, putting our production fires, and dealing with past-due projects.

The last thing they have time for is recruiting and interviewing dozens of developers. They hire a headhunter to help look for qualified candidates to fulfill staffing needs.

A big part of the problem is the shortage of developers. It is nearly impossible to find developers because there is almost nobody to hire. Unfortunately, this can make IT recruiters a necessary evil.

Clients, too, have had a lot of bad experiences with IT recruiters. Though they hire them, they do not totally enjoy the experience at all. Here are the top reasons why clients hate recruiters.

1. Someone else’s IT Recruiters are Stealing Your Employees

You can guarantee that every developer on your team is getting contacted by recruiters every week—recruiters badgering your employees with a slight raise on their current paycheck and a more exciting client to work for. 

It is common to have employees hired away by large corporations on the US West and East coast. Due to the movement to remote development as a norm, these companies aggressively recruit developers in second and tier cities.

The good news is this requires employers to pay more attention to keeping their employees happy. Because you know they are constantly being recruited, you must focus on their happiness working for you and your company. 

The bad news is this is also increasing developer salaries. These large companies from places like Silicon Valley and New York will pay more than you. This is pushing up developer salaries nationwide in a market where there is a massive shortage of developers.

2. Putting Money First

The commission is the driving force for these headhunters to endorse candidates to apply. Most of the time, recruiters won’t care about the quality of the candidates.

Some see it as a numbers game. They just find anyone with a pulse and hope you hire them. Although, excellent IT recruiters will spend the time to ensure the candidates are a perfect fit.

Clients, however, grow frustrated by the fact that when they start the hiring process, the candidate doesn’t have the right skill set for the job. They waste money and time to accommodate the unqualified applicant.

3. Getting a NO response

Just like what they do with candidates, IT recruiters fail to accommodate clients when needed.

It is crucial to respond reasonably to ensure that clients will have a qualified candidate hired before a project starts. That way, clients can keep up with and meet their targets efficiently.

4. Endorsing Candidates Who Declined the Job Opportunity

Sometimes, recruiters endorse candidates who have already declined the initial interview, which puts clients in an awkward situation when they call for a formal interview. 

IT recruiters need to know how to qualify candidates and get their permission for endorsement. That way, they maintain their credibility and keep their working partnership with their clients.

3 Alternatives to IT Recruiters

Sometimes, IT recruiters are a necessary evil when hiring local employees. However, there are IT recruiter alternatives that you should consider. 

1. Hire an Internal or Dedicated IT Recruiter

Larger companies have full-time internal recruiters on staff. If you hire more than one developer a quarter, hiring an internal recruiter is probably cheaper than a corporate recruiting firm.

For a few thousand dollars a month, you can potentially hire a firm that will spend a portion of their time doing IT recruiting just for you.

2. Hire Consultants or Software Development Company

Another alternative is to hire consultants or use a company that does custom software development. This option can be even more expensive than using It recruiters. 

However, it might make sense if you have a short-term project or don’t have the in-house expertise to lead it. For example, if you need someone who is an expert at WordPress, it might be best to hire an expert consultant.

Custom software development companies can also be a great choice if you have a large project and your in-house team can not accomplish it. As part of developing software, having engineers write the code is only part of the solution. 

In software teams, you will need dev managers, project managers, product owners, and other people to contribute. Often, companies lack the bandwidth to do critical projects. It could be that hiring an outside firm might be the only way to get it done.

By using consultants or a custom software development company, you can probably plan that the project will cost two to three times the cost of doing it internally.

3. Hire Dedicated Outsourced Developers

Another great option is to augment your existing team with dedicated outsource developers. Our company, Full Scale, can help you do exactly that.

We employ over 200 software developers, QA analysts, project managers, and other IT professionals. Working with an offshore development partner like Full Scale can instantly scale up your team and lower costs.

The 20-25% fees for paying an IT recruiter can easily be $20,000-$30,000 just for hiring the person, not including the candidate’s salary! For that same commission fee, you can hire an offshore developer for about six months!

Most companies rely on partners like Full Scale to scale up their development teams. Due to the talent shortage of developers and effectively negative unemployment, companies must turn to find talented offshore developers. 

Go with the Most Trusted!

Recruiters need to maintain a high level of professionalism and integrity when they work with clients and candidates. This should already be a standard in their line of work. Sadly, it is not put into practice. 

Being part of a competitive industry will pose a lot of challenges. But, you can always choose to avoid inconveniences brought by these headhunters.

One has to choose carefully and try to check the recruiters’ track record. Being transparent as a recruiter, client, or candidate, you can avoid many pitfalls when it comes to recruitment.

There is a lot of opportunity for improvement in the recruitment business. These pesky headhunters need to learn to become service-oriented and become recruitment professionals.

So, clients and candidates just need to find a reliable IT recruiter who is committed to success.

That’s why here at Full Scale, we bring quality to the table. Not only by the partnerships we form with our candidates and clients but also with the work we do each day. We help create the great candidate and client experience you deserve.

We help founders launch businesses, build software products and services, or even business processes. Our main goal is to be successful in the things we do and get better at it. Partnerships are valuable, and we seek to help both clients and candidates alike.

Contact us to learn more about opportunities you have with Full Scale today!