Whether it's a LinkedIn message or they somehow they got my email, with one exception, I never respond to recruiters. Their emails could be polite, personal, and non-aggressive. Or they could still have template placeholders (ie. "{{their name here}}") and tell me in my first year as a developer that I'm a great fit for a senior engineering role. I just don't respond, because otherwise it'd be hours/week of sending email.<p>Even if I had a template to respond with, it still would take up time. It's strange to get so many emails from people and never to respond, but to be fair, it's the equivalent of cold calling. Do you guys just ignore it too?
I almost always reply with request for salary range (if recruiter has opened position).<p>If recruiter replies with usual salesmanship dance, such as "depends on experience" or "competitive" or alike, I usually ignore him for good.<p>Otherwise, if the pay range is reasonable I don't mind to communicate further, depending on my current situation.
I only reply when im pooking or its ones i like to keep in touch with. 9 times out of 10 youre just their product, ignore away, you wont burn any bridges. Yet you may not get the best job offers until you start acting which may not he what you want.
I'm curious about what other people have to say. I feel very bad for ignoring recruiter emails. But I really don't have the mental energy to do the dance.
I try to respond to recruiters, but have come to the conclusion that they cannot help me. The fact that I am talking to a recruiter means that the job is under someone I don't know personally. I literally can not do anything more career wise to improve the job I could get without personal connections.
If they shotgun emails, I will add them to this repo so that anyone who leverages never has to be hit by them: <a href="https://github.com/rockymadden/scattershot" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/rockymadden/scattershot</a><p>If they are at all thoughtful, they get a thoughtful reply back.
That's what gmail search is for. I see if the headhunter has E-Mailed me before. If never, I give him the benefit of the doubt, and reply. If several times or he's a spammer, I ignore him. I have a list of headhunters I refuse to contact.
I actively try to wind them up.<p>Not all of them, but the ones where they clearly haven't even read my CV. For example the ones that say "if you know anyone else suitable for this role". I ask them how much they will pay me for doing their job.
I added a note to my profile stating I wasn't interested in the area in which I get 90% of the recruitment emails (Linux kernel).<p>That's what happens when you get assigned to a field by your job and people assume you actually like it... sigh...
I'm on the other side of the fence compared to most of you. Still trying to land my first job so unfortunately most recruiters don't respond to my emails.
If they're actually local and speak English well enough to be understood over a crummy cell phone connection, I'll keep in touch.<p>If not, I whack the Spam button.