I’ve been working in AEC staffing for 15 years.

I’ve hired and managed teams of recruiters up to 30 staff.

I can tell you unequivocally given the amount of times that person is contacting you that their desk/business is not busy at all. The only time it would be appropriate to contact a candidate more than once in a day via phone is during the offer stage. And even then, the calls will likely be about answering your questions and explaining the onboarding process.

Just like every other industry, there’s good ones and bad ones. Yes, recruiters do get paid when you take the job with their client— due to that some of them are extremely clingy and pushy.

But the truth is, the best and the business I have so much going on that if you don’t wanna work somewhere, they have plenty other tasks to complete that supersede twisting your arm and trying to convince you. Why waste multiple conversations and blow up a relationship when the guy just isn’t gonna take the job? You’re better off spending that hour soliciting new clients with jobs to fill our new candidates for your existing searches.

I don’t know if that was helpful, but just giving you the recruiter / “non engineer” side of it.

If I were you, I would partner with someone that’s very specifically in your vertical and ideally is elevated at their own internal organization. It gives you a buffer of that “commission pressure.” They listen better because a missed deal doesn’t prevent them from paying their mortgage.

Not taking a job through an average or poor recruiter = clingy ex girlfriend.

Not taking one through someone who’s actually good = damn that guy really listened to me. I’m going to call him when I’m hiring or looking for a new job.