Headhunter etiquette in commodities

Currently am a junior at a mid sized ags shop, few YOE. Recently, I’ve been messaged/emailed by headhunters offering to chat regarding “their client” who is a hedge fund looking for new hires and looking to chat about the opportunity.

I’m very comfortable where I’m at - team is cool, pay is nice, still learning a lot, and wouldn’t enjoy working at a place with little to no cash presence/asset footprint, even if I can supposedly retire by 35 if I don’t explode.

Crawling WSO and most of the HH talk I see is with regards to PE guys going after 1st year IBD analysts who are interested in making the switch, but from my end, what’s the usual reply for someone not interested? Do I just say no, or explain why, or just not answer?

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I usually tell them I’m willing to chat but tell them ahead of time that I think the likelihood of me being seriously interested is slim to none. But I find it good to have an intro call now, that way if they’re looking 2 years from now and it’s a shop I might be more interested in they might be more apt to suggest it to me. Honesty both ways and I’ve gotten some decent advice from HHs. Would love feedback if someone thinks I’m going about this wrong

 

This is absolutely the correct response. You never know what is going to happen to you, your shop, the people you work with, etc so taking introductiory calls and having contacts is something everyone should do. 

You will have recruiters that are respectful and understand, stay in contact with them. They are generally the ones that stick around and have good contacts to help you later when/if you need it. You will have recruiters that are pushy and don't listen, tell them to fuck off.

 

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