I don't know how it has changed since I left but when I was at Google and interviewing folks the idea was to find smart people who could get things done and then figure out what to do with them if they decided to join. As a result it was literally impossible to have your "future manager" interview you, because that person was only identified after you accepted[1].
But "recruiting" in the sense the author discusses is really more like a lottery for people calling themselves recruiters than it is actually finding of talent.
There are a number of these people that email hundreds or perhaps thousands of people, while simultaneously creating a "resume" out of information they found out about them online and submitting that to companies. Then when the company says "we'd like to see Bob" then they go back and figure out who Bob was and they contact Bob and try really really hard to get Bob to take an interview with the company, and if this match works they pocket anywhere from 15 to 25% of Bob's annual salary as a finder's fee.
So low overhead work that can be pretty easily automated with the occasional out sized payout? That is the recipe for a fishing business and that is what we get.
I got an email from a friend who had my "resume" cross their inbox. They emailed me to tell me my resume skills had really plummeted, what with a bit of my LinkedIn page, some Github repos, and snippets of broken english mashed together. I tied the source back to one of the "recruiters" who had sent an email saying they had companies asking for me to apply (no I didn't respond). We speculated whether the resume mashup had been done in house or if there was some Turker somewhere who was doing 'resume assembly from accessible data'.
Bottom line is that there is money to be made so people will come out and try to get that money.
[1] There were some exceptions of course and certain skills or disciplines but it was the general rule.
But "recruiting" in the sense the author discusses is really more like a lottery for people calling themselves recruiters than it is actually finding of talent.
There are a number of these people that email hundreds or perhaps thousands of people, while simultaneously creating a "resume" out of information they found out about them online and submitting that to companies. Then when the company says "we'd like to see Bob" then they go back and figure out who Bob was and they contact Bob and try really really hard to get Bob to take an interview with the company, and if this match works they pocket anywhere from 15 to 25% of Bob's annual salary as a finder's fee.
So low overhead work that can be pretty easily automated with the occasional out sized payout? That is the recipe for a fishing business and that is what we get.
I got an email from a friend who had my "resume" cross their inbox. They emailed me to tell me my resume skills had really plummeted, what with a bit of my LinkedIn page, some Github repos, and snippets of broken english mashed together. I tied the source back to one of the "recruiters" who had sent an email saying they had companies asking for me to apply (no I didn't respond). We speculated whether the resume mashup had been done in house or if there was some Turker somewhere who was doing 'resume assembly from accessible data'.
Bottom line is that there is money to be made so people will come out and try to get that money.
[1] There were some exceptions of course and certain skills or disciplines but it was the general rule.