Working with a technical recruiter
July 24, 2015 11:54 AM Subscribe
I'm considering working with a recruiting firm to find a new job. Is this a good idea? How do I do this to make it work to my benefit the best?
I'm in a technical field (engineer, not software) and have been relatively dissatisfied with my current job. I've been applying to positions off and on for a few months now, but nothing's really panned out. I applied for a job recently through an online job board which turned out to be posted by a recruiting firm, and had a discussion with one of their recruiters this morning. They're interested in helping me pursue this particular job opening, as well as acting as a general liaison if this particular opening doesn't work out.
I've never worked with a headhunter before, and I'm a little hesitant to proceed. I've heard stories about recruiters trying to force connections or misrepresenting job candidates in order to make their commission, and the process with this particular one so far has been so quick that I haven't really had time to work out my own feelings on the process.
Is it a good idea to work with a recruiter? If so, how do I approach this in the best way possible? I'm not necessarily looking for a huge salary bump, more looking for work that's more fulfilling and interesting. Have you worked with a recruiter before? What do I need to be aware of?
I am currently gainfully employed and not in danger of losing my job, so I have the benefit of time to carefully weigh my options if/when new opportunities come up.
I'm in a technical field (engineer, not software) and have been relatively dissatisfied with my current job. I've been applying to positions off and on for a few months now, but nothing's really panned out. I applied for a job recently through an online job board which turned out to be posted by a recruiting firm, and had a discussion with one of their recruiters this morning. They're interested in helping me pursue this particular job opening, as well as acting as a general liaison if this particular opening doesn't work out.
I've never worked with a headhunter before, and I'm a little hesitant to proceed. I've heard stories about recruiters trying to force connections or misrepresenting job candidates in order to make their commission, and the process with this particular one so far has been so quick that I haven't really had time to work out my own feelings on the process.
Is it a good idea to work with a recruiter? If so, how do I approach this in the best way possible? I'm not necessarily looking for a huge salary bump, more looking for work that's more fulfilling and interesting. Have you worked with a recruiter before? What do I need to be aware of?
I am currently gainfully employed and not in danger of losing my job, so I have the benefit of time to carefully weigh my options if/when new opportunities come up.
It's a good idea, just remember that your incentives aren't necessarily aligned with theirs. Often times, going through a recruiter is the only way to get a job at certain companies. Give them your resume as a PDF if you're worried about them changing things. Try and find a good recruiter - the vast majority are mediocre.
posted by oceanjesse at 12:02 PM on July 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by oceanjesse at 12:02 PM on July 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
I was let go in a reduction in force sweep from Company X after 18 years. I went to a great recruiter and got a position with Company Y (their biggest competitor) within 3 weeks of my end date with a 40% pay raise and much more interesting work. I am a contractor but could go perm and contracting works for me right now. Most recruiters will place both contractors and direct hire.
They do negotiate your salary so if that is one of the things you are determined to do they may not work for you. However you give them the range you are looking for and the more money they get for you the bigger their cut so it is in their best interest to get you the most.
I used Kforce if you are interested. They are national (I am in Atlanta) and the best recruiter I have worked with. I will never do it any other way.
For me it is so easy- they find jobs, run them by you, if you are interested they set up an interview. All negotiations are on them but again, they tell you up front what the company is willing to pay. If it is not enough or not the work you want to do or not in the right part of town you pass on it, no foul, no harm.
All this looking and negotiating cost me zip! The hiring company pays so if you are asked to pay run don't walk away.
Good luck.
posted by shaarog at 1:12 PM on July 24, 2015
They do negotiate your salary so if that is one of the things you are determined to do they may not work for you. However you give them the range you are looking for and the more money they get for you the bigger their cut so it is in their best interest to get you the most.
I used Kforce if you are interested. They are national (I am in Atlanta) and the best recruiter I have worked with. I will never do it any other way.
For me it is so easy- they find jobs, run them by you, if you are interested they set up an interview. All negotiations are on them but again, they tell you up front what the company is willing to pay. If it is not enough or not the work you want to do or not in the right part of town you pass on it, no foul, no harm.
All this looking and negotiating cost me zip! The hiring company pays so if you are asked to pay run don't walk away.
Good luck.
posted by shaarog at 1:12 PM on July 24, 2015
Twenty-year recruiter, here. (Not your field, though.) Yes, there are plenty of bad ones. It's the plague of any industry where there's a low barrier to entry.
You approach this in much the same way you seek out other professionals for their advice. If there are colleagues you're particularly close to (and who will keep their mouths shut) ask for the names of recruiters they hear from whom they respect.
A recruiter you speak to for the first time will likely want to move quickly to getting you introduced to a new job. Do not be offended. That's how we make money. Simply say that you know you won't always be right for everything the recruiter suggests and that the better you know each other, the easier the relationship will be.
Do your own due diligence:
1. How long has the recruiter been working a) as a recruiter, and b) in your field? It's entirely possible that you could meet a whiz-bang short-timer. As with all professions, though, the more experience the better.
2. Ask for references of a) candidates the recruiter has placed, and b) candidates the recruiter has worked with over time, yet not placed for one reason or another. Pay particular attention to what you hear from group b.
3. Does the recruiter belong to state or national professional organizations? Does the recruiter have a credential, like the CPC (Certified Personnel Consultant)? Not always a correlation with quality, of course, but useful variable to consider.
Insist that your resume not be presented to an employer without discussing the opportunity with you, first. Avoids a lot of heartburn. In exchange, promise to make decisions promptly and not succumb to the paralysis of analysis. Sooner or later, if the answer isn't "yes, I'm interested", it's "no, I'm not".
It can be a real challenge to find and work with a true professional in our field. When you do, you'll know it and genuinely benefit from it. Good luck!
posted by John Borrowman at 1:17 PM on July 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
You approach this in much the same way you seek out other professionals for their advice. If there are colleagues you're particularly close to (and who will keep their mouths shut) ask for the names of recruiters they hear from whom they respect.
A recruiter you speak to for the first time will likely want to move quickly to getting you introduced to a new job. Do not be offended. That's how we make money. Simply say that you know you won't always be right for everything the recruiter suggests and that the better you know each other, the easier the relationship will be.
Do your own due diligence:
1. How long has the recruiter been working a) as a recruiter, and b) in your field? It's entirely possible that you could meet a whiz-bang short-timer. As with all professions, though, the more experience the better.
2. Ask for references of a) candidates the recruiter has placed, and b) candidates the recruiter has worked with over time, yet not placed for one reason or another. Pay particular attention to what you hear from group b.
3. Does the recruiter belong to state or national professional organizations? Does the recruiter have a credential, like the CPC (Certified Personnel Consultant)? Not always a correlation with quality, of course, but useful variable to consider.
Insist that your resume not be presented to an employer without discussing the opportunity with you, first. Avoids a lot of heartburn. In exchange, promise to make decisions promptly and not succumb to the paralysis of analysis. Sooner or later, if the answer isn't "yes, I'm interested", it's "no, I'm not".
It can be a real challenge to find and work with a true professional in our field. When you do, you'll know it and genuinely benefit from it. Good luck!
posted by John Borrowman at 1:17 PM on July 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
They're interested in helping me pursue this particular job opening, as well as acting as a general liaison if this particular opening doesn't work out.
I am an engineer (software). The first part of that proposition is great but the second part means exactly nothing, or worse than nothing if they expect some kind of exclusivity. Since you are interested in the job offer, see where that goes, otherwise don't give them a carte blanche to represent you "generally".
In the very least, you want the recruiters to vet all jobs with you before they submit you, and when you vet a job, you want to ask them if they are formally retained by the company to look for candidates. To explain, here is a potential scenario: recruiter A posts a desirable job in order to fish for resumes, having found the job on the company's website, or heard about it from a candidate, or even posting a fake job. You bite and send them your resume. They submit your resume to some specific position but the company only works with "preferred vendors" and recruiter A is not on this list so your resume doesn't get past HR. Now you get contacted by recruiter B for the same job, and this recruiter is actually retained by the company to fill the position. Great, right? Except your resume is now in the system under Recruiter A, and the company doesn't want any legal trouble so you are out of the running.
Having said that, I've had very good luck with recruiters. The good ones are awesome in that they save you a lot of legwork and have great jobs that you would not otherwise find, and sometimes they even have some inside information that helps you interview better or get a better sense of whether you want the job or not. In my experience, you know a recruiter is good the same way you know anyone is good - they listen to you and communicate clearly with you and there are no little red flags.
I highly recommend that you post your profile on LinkedIn, make sure your keywords (skills) are relevant and findable, wait for the recruiters to contact you (all the good ones are on LinkedIn) and then pick a few that you have rapport with. If you are worried about your company finding out, you can list your latest job as "Large Medical Equipment Manufacturer" rather than the actual company name (just an example, obviously).
posted by rada at 3:08 PM on July 24, 2015
I am an engineer (software). The first part of that proposition is great but the second part means exactly nothing, or worse than nothing if they expect some kind of exclusivity. Since you are interested in the job offer, see where that goes, otherwise don't give them a carte blanche to represent you "generally".
In the very least, you want the recruiters to vet all jobs with you before they submit you, and when you vet a job, you want to ask them if they are formally retained by the company to look for candidates. To explain, here is a potential scenario: recruiter A posts a desirable job in order to fish for resumes, having found the job on the company's website, or heard about it from a candidate, or even posting a fake job. You bite and send them your resume. They submit your resume to some specific position but the company only works with "preferred vendors" and recruiter A is not on this list so your resume doesn't get past HR. Now you get contacted by recruiter B for the same job, and this recruiter is actually retained by the company to fill the position. Great, right? Except your resume is now in the system under Recruiter A, and the company doesn't want any legal trouble so you are out of the running.
Having said that, I've had very good luck with recruiters. The good ones are awesome in that they save you a lot of legwork and have great jobs that you would not otherwise find, and sometimes they even have some inside information that helps you interview better or get a better sense of whether you want the job or not. In my experience, you know a recruiter is good the same way you know anyone is good - they listen to you and communicate clearly with you and there are no little red flags.
I highly recommend that you post your profile on LinkedIn, make sure your keywords (skills) are relevant and findable, wait for the recruiters to contact you (all the good ones are on LinkedIn) and then pick a few that you have rapport with. If you are worried about your company finding out, you can list your latest job as "Large Medical Equipment Manufacturer" rather than the actual company name (just an example, obviously).
posted by rada at 3:08 PM on July 24, 2015
In IT at least, they're sometimes useful, as some companies prefer to work through them rather than having their own recruiting team, and they may know about jobs that are hard to find through public searches. Read the contacts carefully, the one I worked with tried some bullshit stuff in the non-competes. They didn't quibble when I demanded it be removed, but it could have been a headache had I not gotten it taken care of.
posted by Candleman at 6:26 PM on July 24, 2015
posted by Candleman at 6:26 PM on July 24, 2015
So, there are two types of recruiters -- ones who are on retainer, and contingency recruiters. A recruiter who is on retainer will typically only contact you about one opportunity. Their email may start with something like, "Hi, I'm so-and-so from LinkedIn." You should always talk to these people.
But I'm guessing the ones you're asking about are contingency recruiters. They're the ones with a big long list of opportunities from various companies, and they try to hook you up with one or several. Think Glengarry Glenross or Boiler Room. I don't have good experience working with these people. I'd say if you're having trouble finding opportunities, yes, you might as well go to them. They'll get you interviews. But if you can avoid it at all, you should avoid them. They're crazy pushy. They don't always find the best jobs. They'll send out your resume without asking you first. And if recruiters from two different companies try to hook you up with the same job, you may have to step in and adjudicate. I just hated the whole experience of working with them. I walked away from the experience feeling like some of the recruiters I talked to were actually bad human beings.
So I'd say try applying to companies individually, work your social network, go to meetups, etc. Do anything you can to avoid working with recruiters. But if you don't have any other options, go ahead and work with them.
posted by panama joe at 2:05 PM on July 25, 2015
But I'm guessing the ones you're asking about are contingency recruiters. They're the ones with a big long list of opportunities from various companies, and they try to hook you up with one or several. Think Glengarry Glenross or Boiler Room. I don't have good experience working with these people. I'd say if you're having trouble finding opportunities, yes, you might as well go to them. They'll get you interviews. But if you can avoid it at all, you should avoid them. They're crazy pushy. They don't always find the best jobs. They'll send out your resume without asking you first. And if recruiters from two different companies try to hook you up with the same job, you may have to step in and adjudicate. I just hated the whole experience of working with them. I walked away from the experience feeling like some of the recruiters I talked to were actually bad human beings.
So I'd say try applying to companies individually, work your social network, go to meetups, etc. Do anything you can to avoid working with recruiters. But if you don't have any other options, go ahead and work with them.
posted by panama joe at 2:05 PM on July 25, 2015
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Use it! I've worked with a pile of technical recruiters from the employer side, and they are pushy pushy pushy about moving things along. They put a spit and polish on everything, do their best to stop communications between the applicant and the employer directly, and filter everything. So just don't let them push you around.
Ask your questions thoughtfully, push for full information, don't settle for explanations that aren't entirely satisfying, and use common sense.
Recruiters can be great, just don't let yourself be bullied or scare worded ("I got a call from another candidate just this morning who's very interested in this position!") into making a decision you're not 100% comfortable with.
posted by phunniemee at 12:02 PM on July 24, 2015 [2 favorites]