Dear Recruiter

Dear Recruiter,

I know you have a stressful job and it feels like a sales gig where the more number of people you cold call, the better your chances of success and social engineering are. But here are a few tips before you call my phone or that of my reader friends:

• Search My Name on LinkedIn and Google: Yes, that may seem obvious but many people have called me without the slightest inkling of what I really have been upto. I no longer run XML Web Services Integration teams or design XSLT engines. I no longer manage teams of developers. I no longer work for the big database company.
  
• See the Date on that Resume: If you got hold of my resume from 5 years ago, chances are - its dated. That's why God (or was it Al Gore) invented the internets. Use it. I switched jobs after spending 9+ years at my previous company - and so what makes you think I will be interested 10 months into my new & much more exciting role?
  
• Don't ask me for Help if you work for my Competitor: I love to help recruiters - and they have helped me in the past but I just don't feel comfortable referring the brightest people to my competition. So all SaaS Platform and CRM companies are out. If you want a referral for a storage or virtualization company, I will help you.
• Ask me what I want: It may not seem obvious but it may be a good idea to ask me if you can help me. I am more likely to help you if I feel that you are at least trying to reciprocate. (Hints: My brother is looking for a job as a BI Consultant in US to migrate from Australia using the special visa for Aussies. I have a few other friends looking for marketing and PM jobs.)

If you do some of these things, you are much more likely to get my attention and help. Otherwise, I have 17 meetings to run to...