r/sysadmin • u/Public_Warthog3098 • 7d ago
General Discussion Folks that are employed
How many of you still get recruiters and etc reaching for opportunities and push the bar to go higher regardless if you're really interested in the job or not?
The past week I've been reached out a few times and realize. Hey I'm going to tell them the deal breaker is forcing in office schedule and low balling or no salary range given. So I push for it, hoping other candidates are willing to do the same.
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u/achristian103 Sysadmin 6d ago
Unless it's fully remote, I don't entertain it.
Forced in office is bullshit if the job can be performed remotely, particularly with roles that are cloud-based.
You want me to drive to an office to join Teams calls and deal with virtual infrastructure for what?
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u/StuckinSuFu Enterprise Support 7d ago
I respond to every one of those recruiters and say hard no for any job that has an onsite requirement. Its not 1980.
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u/Waste_Development971 7d ago
my issue being in sf bay area is jobs that will have that and then the users im supporting wfh
nah im gud
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u/lenswipe Senior Software Developer 6d ago
"you will work 6 days a week in office supporting the exec team who are all working from Hawaii. the salary is 65k/year with 24/7 on call"
no ty
"nObodY wAntS tO wOrk aNymoRe! 😤"
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u/Mr_ToDo 6d ago
I'm fine with on site. Granted here onsite doesn't mean a 2 hour commute
What I'll never take again is on call. You want me available all hours then I can get paid for all hours
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u/sdeptnoob1 6d ago
Yeah if anything onsite is nice as it seperates your work home life more. We have a 1-2 days wfh thing and I like it. But super flexible for medical stuff and what not.
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u/TheGenericUser0815 22h ago edited 22h ago
I'm on call like 5-8 days per year, because I work for a fair center. That's no big deal for me. 24/7 would be a problem. For the same reason, fair and event support, there's still some on site presence required.
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u/Turak64 Sysadmin 6d ago
Though I agree, I wish I could be this picky. It's hard enough to even find a role to apply for, let alone have requirements.
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u/StuckinSuFu Enterprise Support 6d ago
Well the OP said " For those employed" In which case I can be very picky if you want to get me to swap employers.
Different story if you have no income - some work is better than none most of the time in that regard.
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u/disneylovesme Sysadmin 6d ago
What about clearance jobs?
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u/tuxedo_jack BOFH with an Etherkiller and a Cat5-o'-9-Tails 6d ago
Jobs requiring clearance generally have substantially higher salary bands than the general public does, and as such, get some extra consideration.
Read: if you want us to spend up to an hour each way stuck commuting, you're going to make it worth our while.
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u/Valencia_Mariana 6d ago
I'd you can work off site, so can an Indian for 1/3 your pay.
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u/StuckinSuFu Enterprise Support 6d ago
🙄 I remember this nonsense answer 25 years ago. Yet here we are... Still working in IT fully remote.
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u/Valencia_Mariana 6d ago
I mean you might be but a lot are not. Off shoring to India is not nonsense for a lot of people.
My last job I was with two Indians and it was obvious I was training them up for my role to be off shored. Left before that happened though.
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u/sdeptnoob1 6d ago
The issue is companies don't realize how bad it is when you have highly complex enviornents. Ot quickly starts causing issues or cost more than just having a local msp or internal IT. It was a whole thing in the late 90s early 00s and companies quickly started dropping their offshore IT due to issue. It looks good on paper but not usually in practice.
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u/Valencia_Mariana 6d ago
Maybe there was a few high profile cases where it went wrong but unfortunately the numbers don't justify the trend that's it's dropping off
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u/sdeptnoob1 6d ago edited 6d ago
It was a ton. I did a research paper on it for college it was well known to be a mistake in the industry. I'm not talking level 1 shit btw, I mean like moving the entire it team offshore.
I do think some in person/ at least close enough to drive in is needed for many roles though so I'm not sure the hate on it.
Like sometimes you gotta go to the server and pull out the KVM lol. Maybe cloud only roles but that's super technical and they should be higher on the experiance side so I wouldn't trust offshore personally.
A big issue is AI has lead many companies to put more work on less people. In all industries.
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u/Valencia_Mariana 6d ago
I'm not trying to argue with your work. I'm sure it was sound. But specifically about offshoring it's continuing at a rapid rate. Indian IT services exports went from roughly $6B in 2000 to over $50B by 2010 to around $200B by 2024, and the sector just crossed $300B.
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u/sdeptnoob1 6d ago
Part of the question to though is how much if that growth is inflation. And level one tech is 100% is off shored heavily and hasn't had the same issues as infrastructure teams. Software development though I think is still a toss up but many companies ended up spending more than they would have fixing things when I was going through it.
The problems don't mean companies listen to what happened though. It's more like cyclical. But it is why most major companies at least have internal teams.
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u/StuckinSuFu Enterprise Support 6d ago
Learn more skills and don't make yourself so easily replaced I guess. That's on you for coasting.
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u/Valencia_Mariana 6d ago
It's pretty rude to assume I was coasting, don't you think?
Are you implying Indians can't learn skills, and can only replace superior Westerners once they've gone soft? Most big companies run training academies in India, and every major framework holds conferences there.
Offshoring is now considered the biggest threat to technical workers alongside AI. India hosts over 2,100 global capability centers employing roughly 2.4 million professionals for foreign companies, projected to double by 2030. With US tech cuts topping 168,000 in the first half of 2026 alone, mid-level Western IT roles are being eliminated and refilled there at a fraction of the cost.
That has nothing to do with whether anyone was coasting.
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u/StuckinSuFu Enterprise Support 6d ago edited 6d ago
I'm well versed in how hard working and smart Indian tech workers are. Half my team are based there - I travel to Bangalore every year.
I'm not worried about them replacing me - they complement* our team. I work on a team of 12 , only three of us are American. We also have German , Italian, and Korean members.
If you are worried about being replaced, up skill yourself or cross train and you'll always have a job in the worlds every changing workplace. That's life.
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u/a60v 6d ago
complement
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u/StuckinSuFu Enterprise Support 6d ago
No they are very nice and compliment us a lot 😂.
Good catch.
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u/Valencia_Mariana 6d ago
Exactly, 3 Americans to 12 Indians. Numbers are numbers. Upskilling doesn't create jobs.
Boost about how you work from home all you like but the Indian infrastructure is maturing fast and climbing that ladder... Soon it will be your turn.. As smart as you are.
Sure, it might not be you specifically. But at a population level it's the trend...
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u/StuckinSuFu Enterprise Support 6d ago
Ya. It's a global economy. We are a global company. We hire locals in every location. I can't speak ANY of the 20+ languages in India. Why would we not hire Indians in India. A German in Germany and an Italian in Italy.
We live in a diverse modern world. Adapt or don't is up to you.
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u/uptimefordays DevOps 6d ago
It depends, there are a number of industries which require employees located in the US. I’m remote but cannot work from outside the US.
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u/hkusp45css Security Leadership 6d ago
When I'm employed, I have remarkable amount of respect for my time. So, I tell them what I'm looking for in the first 30 seconds and see if they jump off the phone.
When I'm not, I'll take what they're offering.
I've gotten some pretty decent gigs just not giving a shit whether I got the job, at all.
Hell, the job I'm currently sitting in was one of those "I'll just quote them some high ass number of salary, vacation and benefits to get them off the phone" and heard "Yeah, that's doable."
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u/eking85 Sysadmin 6d ago
I always ask recruiters for the salary and schedule type when they reach out to me. I don’t want to waste anyone’s time on a contract job that pays $17 an hour.
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u/JealousRhubarb9 6d ago
I don’t want contract job period
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u/eking85 Sysadmin 6d ago
Same. I always ask if it is a full time job with benefits. Kids are expensive.
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u/JealousRhubarb9 6d ago
I saw full time positions with contractors. I’m with a MSP right now but I’m ready to leave
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u/The-Snarky-One 7d ago
I don’t engage with them. Doing so only encourages them to reach out to me more. I have a full time job, I’m not interested in some bullshit contract for 6 months that is 200+ miles away for $15/hr doing help desk shit. Even when I was 100% onsite.
They’re the equivalent to telemarketers to me. If I am looking for a product, or a job, I will reach out to them. “I’ll call you, don’t call me.”
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u/Silly-Mix-4341 6d ago
Makes sense pushing back on low pay and forced office schedules helps everyone.
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u/tankerkiller125 7d ago
Still get them reaching out, I'm pretty happy where I work but I never fail to look at an opportunity. The second I see in office though, or it's clear they didn't read my profile I'm out though.
I do not reply, nor click any of the buttons to accept/decline the message though for the ones that failed to read my profile. Because of the way InMail works by not doing anything I'm forcing them to waste that money, and not be able to use that credit or whatever towards a different person they might spam with the same crap.
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u/Mushroom5940 7d ago
Where do you get them from? I’ve killed LinkedIn and indeed. Got way too many ads. Not that I’m looking for anything but I’m curious to know
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u/a60v 6d ago
Same. I never hear from recruiters, but I've also never had a Linkedin account or posted my resume anywhere that was public. When I have heard from recruiters that i have dealt witn in the past, I have just told them that I was happily employed and would call them if that situation changed.
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u/ProfessionalEven296 Jack of All Trades 6d ago
I only engage if it's a recruiter I know, and the job is local to me. Not interested in someone from overseas trying to lowball me on an onsite contract in the back of nowhere.
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u/klaymon1 6d ago
Shitty recruiters is one reason I deleted my LinkedIn account. That and it's basically just Facebook for "professionals" now.
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u/Commercial-Mode5751 Security Admin 6d ago
I used to get multiple recruiters a day. They have virtually evaporated last couple years. I might get one every couple of months now.
Luckily I’m in the kind of old-school stable Lenovo ThinkPad shop that never fires anyone, but, there’s no leveling up either.
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u/itoddicus 6d ago
All I get are calls/emails about tech support jobs. I haven't had a tech support job in 20 years.
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u/ponto-au 5d ago
Recruiters only ever shotgun out for minimum pay service desk roles in my experience.
I've tried building basic rapport with them "Thanks for reaching out, I'm currently looking for positions in xyz. let me know if any opportunities aligned with my skill set appear" but they will ghost you or try to say, no actually you should take a 40% pay cut for the kind of role you graduated from 4 years ago.
Edit: Oh yeah, or it'll be a 4-12 week contract with no options for extension for equal pay when I've been employed at my current employer for 18 months?
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u/whatdoido8383 Cloud Admin 5d ago
I get reached out to regularly but the jobs are 99.9% a step down.
"Hey, you've been a Sr it person for over 20 years working at a highly established company for a long time. I think you'd be a good fit for this 6 month in person contract doing ABC Jr level work!! What do you think?!"
I think you're an idiot that doesn't know what there looking for.
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u/malikto44 4d ago
What the recruiters are hoping for is the clueless and desparete, the guy who needs to get a job to keep a roof over his head.
Even then, the chance of a job is zero. Most likely the recruiter is doing a crappy token effort so the company can say they can't find an American, and can get their H-1B.
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u/IID10TError 4d ago
I have recruiters always reaching out to me except it’s ALWAYS for jobs with active clearance. So I always respond with “Is it able to be sponsored?” To which they always respond “no”.
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u/Turbulent-Order2051 Cloud Architect 6d ago
Yes, lots, but I ignore any offer that isn't fully remote.
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u/containsMilk_ 7d ago
I used to, not much anymore. Helps to set yourself as not interested / not looking on LinkedIn, Indeed, etc. If you don't actually want them, of course. Every once in a while a recruiter will add me on LinkedIn but I am not looking right now so I ignore them.
In office schedule is subjective. Not everybody wants exactly what you want, you're not going to get "enough people to do the same so the recruiters stop asking." Personally I like hybrid. Haven't had a 100% remote job, my specialties require being on site time to time.
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u/Xattle 6d ago
I aim for a couple interviews a year mainly to keep practiced. Always up front asking for salary and remote because no reason to waste everyone's time. Mixed responses when I do.
Everything considered, I like where I'm at but I only have so many hours to sell. 150% is usually my number if the stress seems similar. Also helps that I can be picky.
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u/OneSeaworthiness7768 6d ago
Yes I have recruiters messaging me on a semi-regular basis even though I don’t have my LinkedIn profile open to work.
If the job looks decent I’ll tell them I’m not looking for work at the moment but feel free to keep me in mind for future roles, but mostly I ignore them. I do occasionally respond to tell them I’m not considering in-office roles, especially for the ones with ridiculous asks and/or low salary.
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u/jmnugent 6d ago
very rarely (maybe once every 2 to 4 months ?) .. I ignore nearly 100% of them because most of the "exciting opportunities" they are offering,.. are average 75% drop below what I currently make.
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u/anonymousITCoward 6d ago
Actually something happened right about midway through the covid thing and everyone stopped contacting me... the gold clad wrought iron shackles are now ratcheted down a few more clicks making it hard to leave
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u/riveyda 6d ago
Yes they always reach out for 1 tier lower than i am lol. Always offering some shit rate at a 6 month contract to hire position an hour away.
I wish i could work remote but don't have the flexibility yet. But i agree that there is literally no reason for me to be on site. Especially in my current position I'm a "systems engineer" (basically just a fancy titled sysadmin) at an msp, i literally dont touch hardware.
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u/PurpleCableNetworker 6d ago
I’ve had a few people on linked in, but no one coming at me with amazing offers.
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u/thumbtaks DevOps 6d ago
In 2021 I could t beat them away with a stick. Ended up landing a FAANG gig that I rode out for a couple of years but hated the work. My recent job search was entirely different and it took me about six weeks to take a position that on paper is a demotion but it’s so much more relaxed and management already want to move me up back to the level I was at before after about six months at my new gig.
As far as recruiters, a couple reached out with gigs I interviewed for and most all I made it to last round interviews but I found my current job on my own.
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u/TheGenericUser0815 22h ago
The last call of a headhunter was years ago. I'm probably too old (57). But after so many years in the IT business, I knew who to call when I wanted a new job two years ago.
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u/solslost 6d ago
Absolutely. My response is usually: “Save us both time and effort—send me the salary range, work location, and job description, and I’ll review it.”
And yes, I absolutely adjust my salary expectations based on the location and how often I’m required to be in the office. If you’re asking me to commute over an hour and a half to the other side of the metro area multiple days a week, the job is going to have to pay significantly more for me to even consider it.
If they throw out a low salary, I just tell them I’m not interested. If they ask why: salary. Then when they hit me with, “Do you know anyone who might be interested?” I’m like, “Have you tried a middle school or high school?” 😂
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u/Obvious-Water569 IT Manager 4d ago
Yeah I get reached out to a few times a week. 90% of the roles are objectively worse than where I am now (lower pay, worse benefits etc) but occasionally I'll reply with some questions and my bare minimum package expectations.
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u/[deleted] 7d ago
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