How to be a good human when you are getting bombarded by recruiters.

If you're a designer in tech and have been getting recruited a lot, that's great! It's a hot job market. Do you want to save yourself and the recruiter time? Then keep reading...

Recruiters are people too. And they have the best of intentions. So it's important to reply like a good human, and don't ignore them. That's not a great look, because you never know when you might need a good recruiter to help you find your next forever job. Or at least the next gig you plan on spending 2-4 years at.

Here are 7 direct questions (part logistics/part money) that will help you get straight to the point, and be a good human.

Question 1

"What's the name of the person I will be reporting into?"

Then do your homework on LinkedIn. Your manager can help you shape your career path and navigate a complex creative organization.

Question 2

"What is the current makeup of the team? Can you please share the names?"

Understanding the size and structure of your day to day working team is critical. Again, do your homework on LinkedIn. Check out their portfolios to get a sense of the level of talent and if you'll be joining a team of diverse creatives (which is great), or if there will be a monoculture of thought (not too great).

Question 3

"How do the internal teams collaborate together?"

If it's an in-house role, ask how Brand, Product, Marketing work together. This will be a clue about how siloed it is over there at FAANG or at that crypto-punk stealth startup that's promising to change the world one product update at a time.

Question 4

"How many people will I be managing in this role?"

If it's a leadership position, knowing how many people you'll be directly managing will tell you if you're expected to be 'scrappy' and 'wear a lot of hats' (aka the player/coach model) or if this is a traditional design manager/leader role.

Question 5

"My base salary requirement is $XXX, XXX. Will you be able to meet this?"

Always bump your required base salary by at least 10% from your current base salary. Unless you're in a toxic work environment, never take a pay cut – the exception to the rule here is if you're going from agency to in-house for first time.

Question 6

"Do you offer a signing bonus?"

Some of the bigger tech companies do this as a standard practice to help sweeten the deal. If you don't ask, you could be leaving money on the table. Worst they can say is no.

Question 7

"What is the total compensation package?"

If you're being recruited to a publicly traded company, your total salary is more than just the base salary. Stocks or RSUs can be life changing money. It's very important to consider the total annual compensation when weighing your decision to change jobs.

Summary

That's it! Remember...recruiters are busy humans, who have a hard job. Help save them time (and yourself as well) by surfacing these questions BEFORE you agree to an interview. You'll also weed out the jobs that aren't worth your consideration.