It must be a tough life for recruiters working in the tech industry. Always trying to ingratiate themselves, they often send little gifts. I suppose these missives are intended to keep themselves on my mind, should I wake up wondering, "where can I find a .Net developer today?"

The latest gift arriving in my in-box, from a headhunter whom I will not name, struck me as terribly odd.

He sent me a watermelon-sized plastic barrel filled with pretzels.

I suppose the sentiment was nice, but the pretzel barrel left me wondering what this particular recruiter thought of me. A barrel of pretzels says something about its owner. It says you like cheap, salty food. It says you prefer quantity of food above all else. And it says that you are willing to eat directly out of a barrel.

A barrel of pretzels is not a flattering gift to give.

Send a little box of chocolates. Send a snappy pen. Think of something useful that suggests you respect the recipients and want them to have something nice. But don't send junk. Rather than keeping you in mind for future placements, I'll be wondering what kind of tasteless slob you are, office strewn with barrels of pretzels.