If the recruiter is given specific hiring criteria that are hard but not impossible to satisfy, I could imagine looking for people who fit those requirements and persuading them to sign up would be a satisfying job of search, selection and salesmanship.
But that's not what these Google recruiters are doing. They are trying to find any vaguely qualified people they can who are willing to dive head-first into the meat-grinder that is the Google interview process. And their job is mostly futile because that process will ultimately reject 90-95% of the candidates.
It's kind of weird they need recruiters at all. There is no more famous tech company than Google. You'd think they would get enough applicants just through their main website.
Well, the author says all he has to do is type 2 letters to send invites and rejection, maybe with a few words to make it look personal. The process is streamlined, that doesn't make it more interesting.
As an ex-recruiter, here's what my dream job would have been like:
1. No arbitrary process numbers. Job and cost numbers fine, but "10 calls a day" "5 BD calls a day" "20 resume sends a week" is stupid - would rather have a manager helping me make strategic decisions, using my time intelligently.
2. Automated bullshit. No more downloading resumes to upload to our system. We either pay linkedin and use that exclusively, or outsource somebody to fill out our own CRM (actually good CRM that has functional searching, not that Bullhorn bullshit that barely worked).
That's all it would take. If a recruiter annoys you, it's probably because you're Candidate Call #9 of the day and she has to get to 10 or she'll lose her job.
I see this as a problem with HR and recruiting in general, not a Google problem.
The only reason this is news at all is because Google is in the title. Replace that with any other company name and it just describes another position that could either be automated or outsourced.
But that's not what these Google recruiters are doing. They are trying to find any vaguely qualified people they can who are willing to dive head-first into the meat-grinder that is the Google interview process. And their job is mostly futile because that process will ultimately reject 90-95% of the candidates.