I received an email from a recruiter on LinkedIn today. Normally I just ignore recruiters — mostly because they like to send out these form emails with [name] and [position] filled in. In this case, the recruiter sent me a personalized note, and took a lot of time in getting to know my public profile before sending me the email. In short, they did their homework.
I felt like it would be inappropriate to not respond since they took a lot of effort to tailor their message to me.
My response* is below:
[Recruiter’s First Name],
Thanks for the email. I’m not interested at this point in time. Specifically, any new environment I work in would have to (at least) match what I have currently, which is, in no particular order:
– Freedom to “Move fast and Break things”
– Passionate team that ‘gets’ it
– Good company culture
– All expenses paid for 1 conference per year, no dollar limit
– All books, screencasts and software (business related) paid for by the company
– Whatever set-up I want to use, paid for by the company
– Great vacation policy (currently “unlimited” [meaning ‘not tracked’])
– Pay commiserate with what I’d make locally in the Northern Virginia area (including fringe benefits not already listed that I’m sure the company wouldn’t cover – the negotiating range would start at [local salary range])I don’t say any of this to brag, or to pressure you into some sort of negotiating, but to say that I’ve got it really good where I’m at. It would take a lot for me to even consider looking somewhere else.
Thank you for your time, and if I can be of further assistance, don’t hesitate to let me know.
George Stocker
My response (sadly) omitted even more advantages to where I’m at now:
– A company mission that reflects the desire to make the world a better place
– An executive leadership team that believes in empowering everyone to do the best they can in fulfilling that mission — even if that means taking risks
That’s my short list of why I work where I do. Why do you stay at your current job? What would it take for you to leave your current job?
*please note: I’m not looking at leaving my company for any reason. *If* I were looking to leave, that list is what it’d take to even narrow down potential places to work.