First everyone is an individual, so not all recruiters think the same way. Still there are some general principles to keep in mind.
The most important is that you will run across recruiters who are not professional or respectful. They will treat you disrespectfully from the start. Trust how someone makes you feel. If you feel disrespected, its because this low quality recruiter is doing that on purpose.
What matters in life is how you are treated. So with disrespectful recruiters, it is best to remove yourself from their process as soon as you feel disrespected. I’ll give you an example.
Yesterday I had a recruiter call me and email me about a position at a salary I didn’t want. I don’t argue with recruiters about salary. Either they can meet it or they can’t. He offered something close to what I wanted and I told him that I was making $10 an hour more now and that I am probably too expensive for his client and thank you. I hung up.
About twenty minutes later I get an email with the rate I originally said and a right to represent. Just an aside, if they are doing RTR they generally try to under price you.
Now another recruiter emailed me yesterday and asked if I would be interested in a position. I didn’t have the skills for it and said not interested. He immediately emailed back please send resume. I responded I don’t have the skills. Then he called me and I told him I don’t have the skills for this. He failed to understand my profile, failed to honor my boundary of saying no. Once I say no, there is no going back. People who can’t respect boundaries don’t get my cooperation or business.
Then I had another recruiter contact me today and ask about my skills. I had talked with one of his coworkers he noted a month or two ago and didn’t hear back from her. Typical. He wanted to know more about my skills and when I told him it would be perfect for a job that is on site. I can only do WFH jobs and it was noted to the other recruiter, and he was trying to see if I was desperate and willing to talk about the job. Recruiters will always test how desperate you are, and when you have choices, you can say anything you wish to them.
The harder jobs get to fill, the more companies drop the need to be on site. It isn’t required for what I do for a company and hasn’t been for 5 years or longer. Your superpower in life is saying no to people who don’t have your best interests at heart.