[CoastalCoder]

> "Saw your profile on HN and we think your skills look like a good fit for our team"

I have a theory:

Matching candidates to jobs requires time and effort on both sides: both need carefully consider if it's a relationship worth pursuing.

Messages like the one above are intended to trick people into thinking that the employer has already done some filtering, and by implication, the candidate is more likely to land a job if they too will consider the pairing.

So basically it's similar to shopping for a car, and trying to convince the salespeople from 10 different dealerships that you're ready to buy from them, if only they'll put in some extra effort and concessions.

If my theory is correct, than I see this as disingenuous and sleazy on the side of the employer / recruiter. IMHO it reflects badly on whoever uses the tactic [0].

[0] I realize that when someone has a family to feed, they may resort to behaviors they'd normally be above. So I don't mean this as an ultimate judgment on people who feel they have no other choice than to do this.

[dirtybirdnj]

You hit the nail on the head. If you are in a job hunting drought outreach like this is like a mirage. It looks so good. It can be really emotionally draining as you realize that it's not targeted outreach but automated scraping.

It's important to not take it personally, but when I was doing really, really badly things like this were very upsetting to me. I'm doing a lot better, I can see why some people get riled up about it. I'm thankful I'm in a place where I don't WANT to rage about it anymore... but clearly there's still something because I'm on here writing huge paragraphs.

YMMV. Job hunting sucks, I don't think there's an easy answer or solution on either side of this fence.