[juancn]

Past a certain level of seniority (Principal Engineer and above), you get recruited by headhunter types.

They take a lot more time and effort to figure out who you are before even reaching out.

My guess is that these are the hardest ones to fill, which involve some sort of leadership in the role.

[faangiq]

How do you differentiate these recruiters from the run of the mill spambot recruiters? Or is this a delusional comment by someone who didn’t realize they were being sold?

[juancn]

They typically researched you somehow, they know the company you're at, and likely previous ones. They tend to approach you as a conversation about what you want to do, and what the company needs and try to find common ground that's good for both of you.

It's not just a bullet list of requirements and benefits.