1

Hi guys,

I’m not looking for a job, but I have friends who are in the hunt. They constantly get contacted by recruiters/staffing agencies looking to fill positions. They’ve interviewed but no luck. Has anyone here gotten their job through a staffing agency/recruiter/headhunter? I wonder if the fee the agency charges is such a disincentive that it prevents people from getting hired. Of course, these agencies need to make money too, so they MUST be getting some people a job.

44 Spice ups
2

In my experience, no. I have yet to have anything pan out from a recruiter, except for free lunch.

4 Spice ups
3

I have not but about a year and a half ago I had several friends get jobs through recruiters, I believe one was through Robert Half.

3 Spice ups
4

Yes, but not those low end ones that blast out the resume requests. In the six figure world, everyone I know is hired via headhunters.

9 Spice ups
5

Shoot me an email and I can disclose some of my headhunter info. I’ve found all my work via headhunters. One thing that is important is that headhunters hunt for enterprise customers, not SMBs. So you get a different range of jobs.

8 Spice ups
6

I did. My Tech school has a partnership with one to get jobs for it’s graduates. My job had to many crazies applying so they went with a hiring agency. They exchanged info, got me an interview and when they hired me the agency got a portion of my first years salary. I don’t think it effected my pay. It has worked great for me so far.

1 Spice up
7

I’ve received several positions via recruiters. Each company that has hired me via recruiters has complained to me directly of the cost they incurred hiring me this way. But that is alway their problem, since they needed someone to line-up and vet candidates.

They may hate the extra charge, but when they get me, the charge is worth it ;}

2 through robert half and others from others.

3 Spice ups
8

Yes, I’ve had good luck with recruiters. Keep in mind that not all recruiters are good ones, nor do all IT recruiters know IT.

2 Spice ups
9

It’s odd that they complain about the costs since they decided on those costs up front, before knowing about you. And complaining to you about a cost that they incurred and forced into the equation makes no sense. That’s like complaining about the cost of your car payments to your mechanic. He didn’t make you buy a new car, he was happy to fix the old one.

7 Spice ups
10

It always affects your pay, it has to. It is part of the “cost” of you and makes you worth less to the hiring company. It is their fault, not yours, that this happens, but it is what it is. Just like any tax on your comes out of your pay at the end of the day.

4 Spice ups
11

I was hired through recruiters for my previous two jobs, but not the current one. One recruiter even went as far as helping me prepare for the interviews. This recruiter’s fee was actually 2x my yearly salary, paid only after I was employed by the company for a year. That first year I got a fair amount of “how you doin’?” calls from the recruiter, but I never heard from him after that!

2 Spice ups
12

This is my take.

There are some rediculous ones looking for stuff like this…
VCP/CCNA Windows 2000-2012R2, HDS Architect, HNAS instructor, Citrix, VMware View and $45K.

The trick is to be very up front with your salary requirements, and it cuts through the mud of them trying to sell you on a job that pays significantly less than you will accept. When I first got started in IT, I just blindly responded to recruiters with
100K+?

I would take the time to talk to anyone who said they had opportunities that hit that threshold. Some admited they only had a handful of higher end opportunities, but at least establishing that they should only contact me with stuff that wasn’t a waste of both our time made things work out a lot better.

3 Spice ups
13

I got the pay that I ask for is the reason I say that. I came in on the application at 75% of what they had the job posted at due to the fact I had no real world experience. I think I see your point though, similar to how benefits take away from your pay, it is just part of the job.

2 Spice ups
14

Yeah, gotta be upfront about money. If they don’t want to talk money up front, they aren’t prepared for real IT hiring.

I had internal recruiting at Amazon call and call and call me. Finally I talked to them and was like “here is my salary” and they were like “oh, we can’t pay that.” No, really? That’s why I wasn’t returning your calls. I like Amazon but they don’t hire people at my experience level, not more than one or two of them and they would not need my resume if they were calling me about those positions. Amazon is good, but they aren’t high end hiring. But they need so many people that they will hound you just like any bulk recruiter.

4 Spice ups
15

Exactly, at the end of the day, it all adds up into being your “cost”.

16

I was offered a job with a large company at the same time I was offered the job where I work now, and the offer came through a recruiter. The 2 positions were different, but the pay was within $1/hr, so I took this one instead.

Does it happen?

Yup.

1 Spice up
17

Yes I have been hired in the past via headhunters, and I have had friends and collogues in the business also use these services. that said I have to with Scott Alan Miller’s comment about this being for specific kinds of jobs… if your looking for an entry level job this only thing your going to find via a job placement is temp or contract work, in my experience, but at the other end of the spectrum (CTO, Director, etc…) this is where a lot of organizations turn.

18

As with anything else, there are good recruiters and bad recruiters. Robert Half imo SUCKS!! Never got more than a headache from those fools.

As far as recruiting working, sure it works, I’ve been hired for several positions by using local recruiters. Beware tho, in my last position the recruiter lied to me about what the company was willing to pay when I went full time.

Remember Recruiting is all about the numbers, the more numbers they get to throw at an available position, the better chance of getting the fee or commission. In the end they are just salesman trying to make a sale.

8 Spice ups
19

Truly Depends if you get in the right place including both the recruiter and their client. For the most part, they will BS you till their tongues fall off. Recruiters are excellent for getting you in a job quick, which translates to experience. But you got to stress to them during the hiring process, that getting Hired on is a top priority. Then if they don’t deliver on their promise, you ask for a raise or find another recruiter who would gladly compete with whichever company you are currently with.

You just gotta know, those recruiters are salesmen. Definitely take anything they say with a grain of salt, plenty of those grains of salt. Very nice people, tell you stop making them money!

Aside from the horror stories. I myself gained a position many years ago through a recruiter. Then just last Month a friend made it on full time as well at a pharm company after 6 months. Go for financially successful business high Stock, not struggling business if your wanting to get on full time.

20

I’ve worked with tons over the years and distilled those that get call backs to just a few. One waited SEVEN years to work with me - but when they were turned loose spent months trying to find the right fit, the right place and the terms that I wanted. The invested a fortune in making the deal happen (but made out like bandits too.)

1 Spice up