Programmers as a group may be hard to please. The programmer in question, though, is not so hard: Send them an email to schedule the meeting with the hiring manager. That's not hard.
And if you're a recruiter and you can't listen to a request like that, how are you going to listen to the rest of what the candidate says?
> The programmer in question, though, is not so hard: Send them an email to schedule the meeting with the hiring manager. That's not hard.
It is not trivial either. Neither side wants to show their full availability immediately and you eventually have to block multiple timeslots till a response comes in. On a call you can give out preferred times at first and if they aren't a match look for alternatives. And you can confirm on both calendars at once without blocking other slots as well. But yes, shouldn't be hard to manage ...
I'll typically give out 3 slots that work for me and "if none of those work, propose a few days next week where you have availability and I'll offer additional slot in those days".
I've only had that go more than a couple rounds when trying to setup meetings with someone incredibly busy (and those people often have assistants that I can work directly with to find a slot). I'm not opposed to getting on a phone call to setup a meeting, but only after the vastly more efficient method has failed twice.
Sure, if I wanted to offer “take any free time” to the counterparty. It’s more common that I want to offer a slot that’s adjacent to other interruptions in my day. If I have a 4 hour block of focused work time, I’m not offering as an opening bid 30 minutes in the middle of it to my CEO let alone a recruiter.
Now gomand schedule five interviews that way. Makes 15 slots blocked, till responses are in. And then the day not packed in a way that remaining time can be used in meaingful ways.
And if you're a recruiter and you can't listen to a request like that, how are you going to listen to the rest of what the candidate says?