Answering the same recruiter questions for the tenth time
Every recruiter call followed the same script. Instead of repeating myself, I decided to change direction — and build something that answers for me.
A few weeks into the job search, a pattern emerged. Recruiters were calling regularly — which is a good problem to have — but the calls were nearly identical. The same questions about availability, location, notice period, salary expectations. The same walk through my CV. And, more frustratingly, the same requests for skills I've never used hands-on, no matter how the rest of my profile fits.
Repeating yourself ten times is annoying. But it's also information: if everyone asks the same questions, those questions can be answered once, properly, in a place I control.
Two decisions came out of this
First, I adjusted my direction. I sat down and honestly asked myself what I actually want to learn and work on next — not just what the market keeps asking for. The answer was to move closer to the full stack: keeping my data engineering core, but connecting it to front-end and web applications, so the things I build are visible and usable rather than buried in infrastructure.
Second, I decided to build a website. Not another LinkedIn profile — a portfolio that's fully mine. A place where I can publish anything in whatever depth I want, without squeezing it into someone else's standard format. A virtual profile I can share with one link when somebody is genuinely interested in the details.
And for the repeating questions specifically: a chatbot. It reads from a structured version of my profile and answers the questions recruiters always open with — availability, rates, tech stack, preferences — instantly, at any hour, without either of us scheduling a call. If it doesn't know something, it says so and points to my email.
Why this felt right
Building the site is not a detour from the job search — it is the new direction, in miniature. It's a real project with a real stack, it demonstrates the data-plus-web-plus-AI combination I want to work in, and every hour spent on it produces something I own, instead of another interview answer that evaporates when the call ends.
Whether the chatbot idea survives contact with actual recruiters is another question. I'll report back.