By Mark Henderson, @aphelionz

Change your communication with recruiters from pull to push in 30 minutes

If you are a professional with a desirable skillset, you probably get so many emails, InMail, and phone calls from recruiters that it becomes a nuisance.

The "pull" model, where recruiters contact you, serves neither you nor the recruiters well: they contact you when you're not looking, and they don't hear from you when you are. Consider then the "push" model, an easy way to  push updates to recruiters when your availability, skillset, and interests change.

Here's How:1. Create a new Mailchimp list called "Recruiters."

These instructions assume you use Mailchimp. if you have another email list vendor that you like, use that.

1. In the Signup form section of the list editor, create a new "General Form."

Keep it very simple, and leave your branding off. Here's mine.

1. Use Mailchimp's "Automation" feature to send the email when recruiters sign up.

Keep it short and just answer two questions:

1. Are you currently available? If not, When will you be available next?
2. What kind of work are you looking for?

You can see mine here.

1. When recruiter emails hit your inbox, respond back to each recruiter message, politely asking them to sign up for your mailing list.

I recommend doing this manually rather than automatically, because from time to time you’ll receive a pitch that you do want to act on right away. This is what I use for the text of the response:

[Name],

Thank you for your interest. The best way to stay engaged with me is to
register here: [link]. You will receive an immediate response detailing
my current situation, and then updates to my availability, skillset,
experience, and expertise as they are relevant.

Thank you, and my apologies if this reaches you more than once.

1. Push relevant updates to your list about your availability, skillset, and expertise.

Now, next time you’re looking for work, you can send out an alert and get “your” network of recruiters working for you!

My Results So Far * More signups came from email rather than LinkedIn, * The more spammy a recruiter tended to be, the less inclined they would be to sign up for the mailing list. * The recruiters that did listen and sign up were much more inclined to follow up with relevant jobs based on what I was looking for. * Within two days of adopting this method I had a really interesting opportunity for some Scala work.

It still remains to be seen, but I would say that taking the reins of communication in this manner pays off. Give it a shot, and let me know what you think! I will publish an update in about a month with some real world stats.

How do you deal with recruiters? Do you see any places where my workflow or approach could improve? I welcome your feedback. POLL Recruiters are... ... an essential part of the tech economy. ... not something I encounter very often. ... good when you're starting out, but after a while they become extraneous ... middle men who only care about getting their cut.

Thank you!

These results will be compiled  and displayed as part of my one month update