I.T. Recruiters

[AZDude]

Helpful or scum? I generally side with the scum side, but in theory some recruiter out there is helpful. I have had recruiters blatantly lie to me and offer jobs that are not in my field, not remotely suited for my skills, and often not even in the same state. Yet I still get 1-2 calls and a million emails/linked in messages every week from someone trying to make me more money. Frustrating. Just talked to some guy from Orlando trying to get me to relocate. Orlando? Yeah, no thanks...

Any other IT people out there have positive stories regarding headhunters/recruiters?

[iamlittlehedgehog]

I'm not IT but I do work for a recruitment firm as my main gig. Generally (not always mind you) smaller firms tend to be more helpful. Large, national recruitment agencies have fulfillment quotas, hence all those emails.

DH did get his current position through recruiter, he pretty much works exclusively on the IT security side of things so those gigs are few a far between, usually companies will reach out to a recruitment agency to find people for hard-to-fill positions.

[dandarc]

A couple years ago, I was pretty seriously looking for another job, and I contacted the recruiter that got me to move to Florida in the first place.  Told her how much I was making then, and the response was "wow.  I doubt we can get you a better deal than that."  So her, I trust.  And now that we have a larger pile of money and I've cemented myself as an expert with the newer managers here, I'm finding the job much more tolerable.

[shotgunwilly]

I don't like them either.

I'm curious hedgehog, how much of a recruits salary is getting skimmed off for the recruiting agency?  Do they typically charge a company a one time fulfillment fee after they find an employee, or do they get a portion off the top of a salary, or.... how does that typically work?

[Neustache]

We had good and bad experiences.

Good:  Great company knew what DH wanted to do, and got him an interview for that job.  He was on contract for about 9 months and then hired full-time, for more than what we were receiving under the contract work.

Bad:  Recruiter tried to get my husband to interview for any job that was remotely IT related, but not the job my husband wanted.  He already had an IT job, he was trying to specialize, and this guy didn't get it that we didn't want to waste time on interviews for jobs he wasn't going to want to do. 

[deborah]

I once was head-hunted and offered the job, only to have the offer withdrawn a couple of days later.

[stlbrah]

I have had ups and downs.

1. Little weasel recruiter tried to get me to take a help desk job for $14 an hour 1 hour from home. I went the interview anyway and was polite but not enthusiastic enough so they passed on me which was no big deal, I understand a tier1 helpdesk job isn't best for an INTP (and was 20 so I wasn't used to being psuedo-extrovert yet). But then, the recruiter called an instructor at my college and complained. This ruined my chances of ever getting a referral from college for something that was none of his business.

2. This sleezy, designer outfit, slicked back hair pretentious douche told me all kinds of lies to get me to take this job at a local web-hosting company that was absolute garbage. I turned down a great job as a sys admin at a financial firm to take that job. His sales tactics reminded me of Leanardo DeCaprio when he made that penny stock sale on the Wolf of Wallstreet. I was still young at this point and inexperienced with that type of douche. I was one of many who got scammed into this job, but had some great comrades and we all quit at the same time window for better jobs like a big exodus.

3. I had a good experience 7 months later. A recruiter helped me to negotiate from an offer of 32/hr no-benefits 6 month contract job, to 42/hr full-benefits and vacation 12 month contract. I worked that job for a year and then got hired on full time at a megacorp and have no plans of leaving this job. I actually had an offer again from that financial firm for another sys admin position so I had to back out on them and screw them over so they probably hate me, lol.


I would recommend trying to use female recruiters if you can. You can usually play on their emotions a little bit better and negotiate better. The one in number 3 was a female, and I have had other better experiences with female recruiters as well, while 100% of male recruiters have been sleezy car saleman types. Most of the women are 9/10s or better which is also probably part of the reason they can get these offers, but that particular one was not.

[stlbrah]

Another funny thing. I literally can't answer my phone anymore unless I recognize the number. Once your phone number is in their databases, its there forever.

[Bearded Man]

The ones from Robert Half are pretty good. I still talk to some of those guys even though they've moved on to corporate recruiting rather than the agency grind.

Then there are the east Indian ones...They call you eight times in an hour, leaving multiple messages in the middle of the work day, at 3 AM, etc. Few speak English, but they try to convince you their name is "Andy" or "Jason" but they are not even coherent. At least some of the time they are offering a job that has nothing to do with my skill set. Even more of the time they are offering a 2-6 month contract in Bum Screw North Dakota.

In any case, they used to piss me off but now I use them to see how marketable I still am and what the rates have gone to these days. It took a few years to get used to it. Oh, and don't even get me started on the ones that want me to provide references to call before I've even interviewed for the job. I gave my references out one time, and decided to include my office number as a test. Minutes after the first time I spoke to the recruiter she was calling my desk from the same number.

Sorry, but if I gave my references to each of the half a dozen recruiters who call or email me nearly daily for a job I've not even interviewed for or know much about yet, my references wouldn't be my references any more...but some recruiters are either too dumb or too careless to care.

[mozar]

I can relate to this, but I'm not in IT. I'm in accounting. Federal advisory in fact. I am constantly getting emails from recruiters who want me to interview for jobs that are in federal financial statement audit (not my field) or in internal audit (also not my field).

Fortunately I've really good luck with in-house recruiters, people who work directly for the company they are recruiting for. I'm starting to get used to it too, and I have to remind myself that it's my job to figure out which jobs I should interview for. And the turnover of recruiters! I've had one company call me every 6 months for the past two years, a different recruiter each time. I think they act sleazy regardless of gender.

[Bearded Man]

Another funny thing. I literally can't answer my phone anymore unless I recognize the number. Once your phone number is in their databases, its there forever.

I usually direct everyone to email me information about the position including the range for the rate, job description and whether direct hire or contract and if contract how long.

Usually they follow up via email anyways right after they call you.

[use2betrix]

I've had some great offers from head hunters and some terrible ones. I had an offer for 800/day and all expenses paid, and offers for $20/hr and no per diem.

They have been all over the place. There are definitely some solid jobs through them, and some terrible ones. I typically don't waste much time before I ask what the pay rate is, then decide if the conversation is worth continuing. I am never available for work when they call, so if anything it's me reaching out to them, which is rare.

[mozar]

I also don't give out my phone number. It's not on my linked-in or resume.

[Bearded Man]

I also don't give out my phone number. It's not on my linked-in or resume.

I'd be cautious about this. I got an interview for a government job but the email about the interview dates never got to me. The recruiter called me to follow up. Didn't get that job but you don't win them all. Got another government job offer after that though but turned it down.

[mozar]

I've had email go to spam before, but I've never missed anything since I started using email. I'll give out my number if they ask, but I don't ever pick up. If they don't leave a message or an email saying they called me, I ignore it.

[hybrid]

As an IT manager IT recruiters want to get to know me (seeing if my firm needs help). So I have developed a few relationships over the past few months. I have found that having a personal relationship humanizes the experience and it results in a better outcome for both parties. My son, who is almost 20 years old, just got his first entry level IT position from Robert Half. That result came from Robert Half approaching me seeing if I needed help in my shop. I did not, but I was able to offer them newly minted talent and they were able to place him almost immediately.

I am very secure in my position, but it is nice to know that should something awful happen at my firm I have two or three people I could call almost immediately and have a high likelihood of finding work within a month. IT Unemployment is almost nonexistent in Richmond if you have a good skill set.

My recommendation is that you get out of it what you put into it. If you have nothing but phone relationships then you really don't have a relationship at all. Meet some of these people for coffee at Starbucks. It just works better.

[iamlittlehedgehog]

I don't like them either.

I'm curious hedgehog, how much of a recruits salary is getting skimmed off for the recruiting agency?  Do they typically charge a company a one time fulfillment fee after they find an employee, or do they get a portion off the top of a salary, or.... how does that typically work?

The agency that placed my at my current job (they're admin specific, don't know if it's different for tech) took 20% of my first year's salary as a finder's fee. When I was temping they charged $32/hr for me and I made $20/hr.

That's pretty much how it goes! Often the company will negotiate down lower but the recruits will rarely see the benefit of that. I was recruited from my previous position (I was recruited by one agency to work at placement agency) they actually negotiated it down to a 10% payment which is very low. Larger firms can go even lower on high salary placements  (5-8%) small recruitment agencies often cannot go lower than 10% which is why they try to ensure it a solid placement and every one is happy. 

[nobodyspecial]

I'm curious hedgehog, how much of a recruits salary is getting skimmed off for the recruiting agency?  Do they typically charge a company a one time fulfillment fee after they find an employee, or do they get a portion off the top of a salary, or.... how does that typically work?

We pay a % of the salary as a one off fee, with some claw backs if the recruit leaves within a year.
For permanent IT positions it's typically at least 20% of salary rising to 33% for a specialist role.

Its like real estate, the recruiter only has to place perhaps 4-5 people/year, easy in a rising market. It's just a lot of spamming and playing the odds of a one contact in 100 paying off.

[RFAAOATB]

Then there are the east Indian ones...They call you eight times in an hour, leaving multiple messages in the middle of the work day, at 3 AM, etc. Few speak English, but they try to convince you their name is "Andy" or "Jason" but they are not even coherent. At least some of the time they are offering a job that has nothing to do with my skill set. Even more of the time they are offering a 2-6 month contract in Bum Screw North Dakota.

The next time this happens, can we all agree to ask to be transferred to someone who has English as a first language.  I was polite enough to lie about my cell phone having bad service before.  Next time I'll be like... "Dude if you're gonna be calling people you need that natural American voice."

[Paul der Krake]

I only respond to the ones that work for a specific company. Generic talent recruitment companies go straight to the trash.

[gooki]

For recruitment firms I set very high salary expectations as quickly as possible.

For local direct recruitment I'll meet up face to face and have a chat.

[ender]

I only respond to the ones that work for a specific company. Generic talent recruitment companies go straight to the trash.

This is my first filter too.

I can trust the motivations of a recruiter who is an employee of the company the job is posted a lot more than generic recruiters.