During slow times, some recruiters may feel tempted to do “cattle calls” in an attempt to attract some high quality job candidates despite the fact that they don’t have any job opportunities available.  But the fact is that cattle calls are never as productive as selective recruiting and they can damage a recruiter’s reputation with top performers.  Below are a few other reasons why recruiters should avoid doing cattle calls:

1. Cattle calls attract low-quality job candidates.  Even though some recruiters are convinced that their cattle call postings are attractive, most top performers see right through them and refuse to respond.
2. Cattle calls waste the recruiter’s time.  Recruiters who send out cattle calls end up sifting through a ton of useless resumes when they could spend their time cultivating relationships with employers and hiring managers.
3. Cattle calls damage the recruiter’s brand.  Even if a high quality job candidate responds to a cattle call, if the recruiter fails to produce the job opportunity and/or fails to follow up, that candidate may avoid responding to future job postings by the same recruiter.
4. Cattle calls damage job candidates and the recruiting profession.  It is especially important during this recession that recruiters only seek out job candidates when they have a real opportunity that matches the job seeker’s skills and experience.  Otherwise, the job candidate’s precious time is wasted and their view of recruiters becomes tainted.