Hello! Can I ask for feedback on this problem that I am seeming to not understand fully. I have had many recruiters reached out to me about seeing my resume posted online and they are very impressed with my skills. When I go on Indeed, LinkedIn & Glassdoor and see jobs posted by them and inquire the recruiters (1) don't respond to emails I have emailed regarding the post (2) won't return my calls when I leave a message. If they reach out to me and leave a voicemessage I respond back quickly however I'm frustrated with them not show the same in return.

17 Comments

1. AnonymousApril 12,2026 at 2:20PM UTC

   Take more initiative in your job search and don’t rely on any recruiter.

2. Barbara M.April 13,2026 at 12:27PM UTC

   I completely understand your frustration -- and you’re definitely not alone in this. When recruiters reach out first, it’s usually tied to a specific role they’re actively trying to fill right then. If there’s any delay in connecting, or if priorities shift on their end, that momentum can disappear quickly. On the other hand, when you reach out about a posting, you’re one of many applicants, and unfortunately recruiters don’t always have the capacity to respond to every inquiry. It’s not a reflection of your skills or how impressive your background. To me, it’s more about timing and how fast-paced the process is behind the scenes, where I think I responded fast, but there were 50 ahead of me.

3. Afo Ogbeyalu KaluApril 21,2026 at 1:33PM UTC

   ?

4. Paulla Fetzek, MSEdApril 13,2026 at 1:19PM UTC

   Hello!

   Unfortunately, sometimes those "recruiters" are bot-driven. They're designed to search for buzz words and send messages accordingly. Which may explain why you see these recruiters contacting you - but not responding when you contact them.

   As for them reaching out by phone - it may be they have an influx of people they're calling. If you've returned the call and left a VM, they may be gathering these and planning to reach out once they have several gathered. It may be they're "fishing" to see who will or won't respond.

   Either way, it's highly frustrating and I'm sorry for those who have to face this.

5. AnonymousApril 13,2026 at 4:38PM UTC

   I am happy to review your resume and provide my comments. Sometimes a 3rd party can provide an impartial comment that can perhaps be helpful

6. Elaine FontanezApril 14,2026 at 12:35PM UTC

   I don’t know what the deal is with these recruiter emails. I have received my fair share of them too. Their emails sound so personalized like they truly want to connect with you about a job. And just like you, I quickly respond. Then crickets ?. It is totally frustrating!!

7. AnonymousApril 14,2026 at 3:30PM UTC

   LONG REPLY: Sure thing. I run talent/recruiting teams and have for many years. There are many types of recruiters.

   I think you are speaking about in house recruiters that work for the company that has the opening, not a headhunter or outside agency type.
   The largest companies say Google type or size split the Recruiting role into parts. You might be reached out to by a Sourcer whose sole role is to reach out and build a pipeline of qualified prospects for a job. They are fairly junior and they are measured by how many reach outs they do. Their job is research, reach outs and then usually either sending your info to the back end Recruiter or to the Hiring team in bulk. You might be one of many and depending upon the status of the role they are tasked with finding people for it might be to stockpile prospects but not much else. Often they are given what is called evergreen positions to find people for and to build a talent pool. This might be one reason why you are not hearing back. Or there might be a disconnect of too much noise in their findings (too many to follow up on) by the back end Recruiter or sometimes the Hiring Manager or team. Those large Fortune 100 companies all work the same way. If the company is smaller or say a start up they might simply be so disorganized with their process that they cannot keep up or they have such a small Recruiting team that is junior level or not able to follow up in a timely fashion, or the hiring manager or team does not align with the Recruiters finding of you.
   I recommend if you truly align with the role you have been reached out to about, when responding give them specific time slots that you can be called back and spoken to. Give it a week. You can also send email that will show if your mail has been seen or read. If you have not heard back from them in the timeline you have given them, send a copy of the original reachout even in a screenshot to the Head of the Recruiting team or even if the company is small the CEO. Reinforce your interest in speaking to them and a follow up to their reach out. Let them know once again some time slots for when you can speak directly, be sure to keep those times available. I often recommend for folks to have a google voice just for their job search so that you can screen or be prepared when the call comes in. If you hear nothing then it's generally a sign that something is askew or there is some internal misalignment with the role being really urgent or simply a fishing expedition for future hiring.
   There is one more scenario, if the company is firming up someone's VISA of H1-B they are required to find US citizens that do not require sponsorship for VISA's and for those they will reach out and talk to people just to firm up or show that they have done their due diligence to hire local talent and not ones that need to be sponsored.
   So there is the insider info, use this to your advantage and keep plugging along, if you are in an active search show it and know that you are one of many and often not the center of any teams attention as many companies in this economy have decimated their talent teams. It does not excuse the bad behavior of not getting a reply back (on my team that is inexcusable) but hopefully you can let it go and move forward with positivity.
   Oh and one more thing, most of those emails seem personalized but using an ATS (applicant tracking system) they are automated and often use AI to seem very personal and specific to you. They are not, and often baked into the ATS when a company buys them. Many companies don't even bother to change the wording that the ATS has built into it and when they send out an email from the system, it adds your name and job title and other items automatically, sometimes even generated by just the posting and culled from LI as well. No human might have even sent that.
   If you even experience bad handling during an interview process or are treated rudely be sure to escalate this to give them feedback. Interviews are a 2-way street and your opinion matters too.

8. AnonymousApril 16,2026 at 4:47PM UTC

   Thank you for your response but it's not just to the in house recruiters for some leading Fortune 100 companies at all, it's circle to some of the leading staffing firms. No matter how many times you call and leave messages, emails or even texts they don't respond. I pretty much just give up on them because it's just a big issues to keep chasing behind these people. What they need to do is stop reaching out to people like me any other with these tactics.

9. AnonymousApril 21,2026 at 4:15PM UTC

   Why not have a canned response saying please do not solicit or contact. Then you will have no issues. If you get contacted send them back the same thing.

10. Gee EmmApril 17,2026 at 10:11PM UTC

    Thank you for taking the time to explain this. It is depressing.

11. AnonymousApril 21,2026 at 2:02PM UTC

    This is great info! Thank you.

12. AnonymousApril 21,2026 at 4:14PM UTC

    OP above: happy to help &;-))))

13. KarinApril 20,2026 at 1:04PM UTC

    When LinkedIn just started it was good to find jobs. My experience over the last (for sure 10) years is that LI is exactly is as FaceBook. Recruiters don't answer, don't call you at the promised time. Tell you in thr first instance about a great vacancy to come back with a non fitting one. Or don't even read your info

14. AnonymousApril 21,2026 at 12:35PM UTC

    A common misconception among job seekers is that recruiters act as personal career agents or advocates. In reality, recruiters are either employees of the hiring organization or third-party contractors paid by the company to find, vet, and secure talent that meets specific business needs and budget constraints.

15. Lisa McCartneyApril 21,2026 at 1:51PM UTC

    If you get an email from a recruiter, I have found it best to go directly to their website (not through the email). Lately the emails have real people's name and title but seemed fishy.

    For instance I only use Gmail for job searches but this email came to my AOL. (Yes I am old) It seemed just off enough, ya know?

    Anyways, hope this helps.

16. Emily HeApril 22,2026 at 2:09AM UTC

    I fully understand how frustrated and confused you must feel. From a professional recruiter’s standpoint, this unfair dynamic — where hiring managers and headhunters proactively reach out to praise your resume, yet stay unresponsive when you follow up on their posted vacancies — is extremely common in the global job market.

    Here are the key reasons:

    1、Most roles they contact you about are not urgent open positions. Recruiters and HR teams simply cast a wide net to build and replenish their long-term talent pools.

    2、Your professional background does not match the precise candidate profile they are hiring for right now. They only want to keep your contact information and maintain long-term industry connections with you.

    3、Job postings on recruitment platforms do not equal actual active hiring headcounts. A great number of listings are long-term reserved slots used to store backup candidates.

    4、The role has already selected a successful hire. The job advertisement remains online temporarily, as the new employee has not finished their probation period yet.

    My professional job-hunting advice for you:Whenever HR or recruiters message you unsolicited in the future, be sure to clarify these 3 key details first:

    1、Whether they have fully reviewed your resume, and the core requirements of the open role, so you can judge your matching degree independently.

    2、How long the position has been vacant, and the required onboarding deadline, to verify the authenticity of the hiring opening.

    3、Why the previous employee left this role, the salary budget range for the position, and its direct reporting line, to achieve transparent and well-matched job alignment.

17. Vondetta CarterApril 27,2026 at 10:38PM UTC

    I too have been having that situation happen to me for over a year now.