The fundamental problem is that scammy tactics is the value most recruiters add. You as a company can't cold call developers at your competitor and convince them to work for you, you can however pay a recruiter who does it at an arms length.
At any point of time the vast majority of good developers are off the market, they need to be cold-sold on a job before they even consider looking.
Unless you've got an alternative that has a proven track record of reaching developers who aren't actively job hunting, you're not going to replace recruiters.
I ran a job board that did go after this group by heavily targeting through passive ads (i.e. display ads, facebook, dating sites), and even though it was successful in reaching that group once I'd convinced a developer that job hunting was a good idea they'd often go and use other job boards, recruiters, etc. in addition to my own one.
So not only do you have to capture non-active job seekers, once you've got them you've got to close them almost immediately otherwise they'll convert to becoming an "active job seeker" and using other options for job hunting destroying your advantage.
Hence "capture-and-close" are the dynamics of the market, and recruiters are perfectly suited to those dynamics. I've yet to see a truly viable alternative.
Almost all recruitment startups focus on active job seekers, but that's not where most of the value in the market is.
>You as a company can't cold call developers at your competitor and convince them to work for you, you can however pay a recruiter who does it at an arms length.
Aside from just getting a bad reputation, is there some legal reason why you couldn't do precisely that? If this question seems a little naive, it's because I absolutely am (naive, and asking is how I learn).
There is nothing illegal about poaching talent from your competitors, either directly or through a recruiter. I've had clients (recruiter here) tell me what companies have the talent they are seeking. I wouldn't say it is even unethical to try and get talent from other companies directly - it's just business, the same way you want to attract your competitor's customers.
A few companies do it. A lot of companies have internal recruiting. I don't think it's necessarily bad form if the offer is tasteful and customized (eg I find it fun to talk to a CTO who has actually read my LinkedIn page and wants my specific skillset). But if you're just spamming people (like a lot of recruiters do), you can damage your reputation pretty quickly.
There's a variety of reasons, for example recruiters can engage in activity of legal dubiousness such as buying employee lists off disgruntled employees or using phishing techniques to get the same.
It's also much cheaper for the recruiter because they're representing a range of different businesses. If the person they're calling isn't interested in a particular role they're pitching, they can pitch another role hence the ROI of each call is much higher for the recruiter than for an individual business.
Forgive me if I'm being naive, but what is legally dubious about purchasing employee lists off of former (or current) employees? I'm in an industry where the "employee list" is published regularly (game development, employees listed via product credits) hence my curiosity.
At any point of time the vast majority of good developers are off the market, they need to be cold-sold on a job before they even consider looking.
Unless you've got an alternative that has a proven track record of reaching developers who aren't actively job hunting, you're not going to replace recruiters.
I ran a job board that did go after this group by heavily targeting through passive ads (i.e. display ads, facebook, dating sites), and even though it was successful in reaching that group once I'd convinced a developer that job hunting was a good idea they'd often go and use other job boards, recruiters, etc. in addition to my own one.
So not only do you have to capture non-active job seekers, once you've got them you've got to close them almost immediately otherwise they'll convert to becoming an "active job seeker" and using other options for job hunting destroying your advantage.
Hence "capture-and-close" are the dynamics of the market, and recruiters are perfectly suited to those dynamics. I've yet to see a truly viable alternative.
Almost all recruitment startups focus on active job seekers, but that's not where most of the value in the market is.