Strongly with you on this one. I have had recruiters from the UK reach out to me(I'm based on the west coast in US) from agencies and made the mistake of replying to one. Complete waste of time and total incompetence on their side. I have a rule like this(recruiters have to be from the company they are soliciting for):
- If I am interested in the company I will reply right away.
- Somewhat/not really interested ignore first email they send out and if they followup a reply I then email them stating I am not looking for work now but could change my mind in the future.
- Not interested in company at all just ignore the unsolicited response.
I have also completely given up on startups as the comp they have been getting back to me with is 50-70% lower than my TC and its a waste of my time. Your time is the most important resource you have, don't waste it on unsolicited responses from recruiters in positions that are not right or companies you have no desire to work for.
- If I am interested in the company I will reply right away.
- Somewhat/not really interested ignore first email they send out and if they followup a reply I then email them stating I am not looking for work now but could change my mind in the future.
- Not interested in company at all just ignore the unsolicited response.
I have also completely given up on startups as the comp they have been getting back to me with is 50-70% lower than my TC and its a waste of my time. Your time is the most important resource you have, don't waste it on unsolicited responses from recruiters in positions that are not right or companies you have no desire to work for.