Why do good recruiters ask personal questions? To not waste your time out of respect for you. Learn more now.
It amazes me how many people don’t know what recruiters do. I’ve been in the recruiting industry for the last 22 years. I’m not saying I’m THE expert, but I do know what we do, and how to do it well.
We are not a resume faxing/email sending/ job posting company. We recruit, i.e. attract, vet, and land top talent that is not actively looking to make a change. Clients choose us usually after they have drained all of their own resources to fill a position. Or we need to fill a critical role sooner rather than later. Or they need someone to trust with a confidential replacement.
Our clients have certain expectations. 
Number one is we don’t waste their time with candidates that do not meet certain job requirements including qualifications, compensation, and location.
We can only do this by asking candidates questions regarding where they live, compensation, potential relocation or commute issues, effects of a job change on family, the ability to travel, etc. This information is needed to determine whether it is a good match. We do not waste the client’s nor candidates’ time.
Once your time is wasted, you can never get it back. We make good decisions because we have all the information that we need both on the client side and the candidate side. Although a lot of other recruiters might not like to ask certain questions, and candidates might not want to answer them, we do it for a reason. Bad decisions are made not on account of too much information, but not enough information.
We believe trust and respect are crucial to good relationships. We know that anyone would have doubts about giving personal information to just any individual, but we can help you only with this information.
