...Why are company recruiters such a difficult bunch to work with?...
Typically, they're not (more to follow)...
...I seem to have the worst experiences with company recruiters, not the third parties...
That is the exception to the rule (more to follow)...
...They are unlikely to respond unless you have a referral from an employee. Even if they do grace you with their response, they are unprofessional. Proposing a time to talk and not bothering to follow up, rude or unacceptably direct language, etc. And I am talking about brand name firms like Genentech, Thomson Reuters, Blackboard etc. When someone(like Silversurfer) says company recruiters are held to a higher standard, I always wonder what they are smoking....
Sounds to me like you are dealing with an "HR Generalist", rather than a true Recruiter. HR Generalists are fine in regards to performing HR functions, but Recruiting is much more complex and requires significantly more experience, skill, knowledge, common-sense, and perception than performing HR functions. Recruiters deal directly with people, and have to have the ability to listen, interpret, and make decisions independently, and HR does not. HR is guided by policies, and they follow them to the letter. Recruiting requires independent thought and decision-making skills, and your typical Generalist does not have those skills or experience.
If you spoke to someone with the title "Recruiter", and did not treat you professionally, then they were either a Generalist throwing the title at you, or one of those 90-day wonders you have read so much about on this board. I seriously doubt you were dealing with a legitimate Recruiter...
...Aren't the recruiters working for companies are supposed to be better than third party or contingency recruiters? Why is it that you can expect more respectful and professional interactions with hiring managers, but not with recruiters?...
You must be an exception. Most people on this board (and most people that I have spoken to) have indicated the in most cases, the "Hiring Manager" has not treated them very well, either. Most were curt, direct, weren't really paying attention, and did not show indications of actually reading the candidate's resume. And, yes, I AM speaking of the "Hiring Managers". And, in the vast majority of cases, yes, the internal Recruiter (the real ones) ARE significantly better than the Agency ones. But, as with anything else, there are always exceptions...
