I returned from holiday today to 42 voicemails.  26 of them were sales calls from agencies.  The quality varied from “Brisk and Professional”, to “Are You Kidding Me?”  Rather than call them all back, I thought I’d write them an open letter.

Dear Recruitment Agencies

Thanks for all the calls.  Yes, I had a lovely holiday. 

Listen… we have to talk.  I’ve been thinking.  I don’t think things are working out between us.  We’ve been growing apart for a few years now.  I’ve been busy with work, and we’ve been seeing less and less of each other.  We both know it.  I’ve been wondering whether it’s time to call it a day.

I’m just not looking to be in a relationship right now.  You need more than I’m able to give.  My recruitment budget is so precious, and there is only so much to go around.  When I stop to think about it, I’d rather spend it on Networking, Social Media, Referrals and Google – they’re fun to be around, and they make my life so much easier.  They give me freedom and independence.  I’ve found I can get what I need without your help.

It’s not you, it’s me.  OK, that’s a lie.  It’s a little bit you… The world has changed, and yet it feels like you are still living in the past. 

When you call me out of the blue, it feels like you just want something from me.  I don’t get the impression that you’re really interested in being my partner.  You seem to be more interested in carving another notch in your monthly targets.  You try and tell me you have exactly what I need, but you don’t understand what my situation is and what I’m really looking for. 

I think the only possible future for us would depend on you abandoning your relentless quest to sell yourself, and instead focus on giving a great service.  There are times when you can be so knowledgeable and helpful, but it’s easy to forget about that when I’m faced with relentless blagging.  I know I've been susceptible to that in the past.  It was so easy to be seduced.  But now I’m older and wiser, and I’m tired of being let down and left unsatisfied.

I hope we can stay friends.  Let’s still hang out from time to time.  I don’t doubt that there will be time in the future when I’ll need your advice and help.  And perhaps there will come a time when I can be useful for you too.

Good luck.

Love Katie xxx

EDIT:  Whoa.  That is a lot of views... Anyway, following some requests, I've done a follow up to this post.  You can read it here.