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> When recruiters do put you forward for a job, they require you to give up all negotiation power in advance, and generally they are paid bonuses on top of thei

• p4wnc6 10y ago
  I've dealt with several recruiters each from Huxley, NJF, Selby Jennings, Open System Technologies, Crystal Equation, Workbridge Associates, Jobspring Partners, Cybercoders, and Grady Levkov. And also one from Gina's Tech Jobs, and two freelance recruiters who had been recommended to me by friends. If, for example, you say you won't reveal your previous salary or your current expectations until after speaking with someone to get a sense of whether you're a good fit for the role, then they will throw every excuse at you to get you to say a number first, and if you still don't, they simply will not work with you. No matter how much I practiced and no matter how politely and professionally I dodged the question, I did not ever encounter a single recruiter who would agree to help me without first having me name a concrete, specific number for my salary. In a few cases, the recruiter even told me that to submit any applications on my behalf, they needed years of salary history including any equity or bonus payments. In one case when the number of years needed was 7, when I refused, I never heard from her again. That recruiter was actually referred to me by a trusted friend who had used her help to get a job, so it was not some fly-by-night scamster. While my friend, I guess, was OK sharing 7 years of data with some random recruiter, I was not, and so they simply did not contact me further. On the few occasions that I've opened up about what would actually make me excited about a job (having a quiet, private office is by far #1), they basically just say "yeah right, never going to happen, move on." So if I stick up for what I am seeking (or at least was seeking at that time) they also just discontinue all contact. Finally I just gave up on this and stopped ever telling recruiters anything at all that I felt they might think would make me 'weird' or 'unusual' or 'quirky' to present as a candidate, but because they all solely cared about getting that concrete salary number in the first conversation, this largely had no impact other than at least making the conversations take less time. They also often submitted my email/phone/resume to their general recruiters, so then I started getting spam mail and unsolicited phone calls at odd hours about positions that are extremely inappropriate for someone with my particular background. The time spent patiently explaining my background and current career goals to recruiters has been painfully wasted. If there is some way to locate good recruiters apart from the firms I've contacted and the people referred to me by friends, I certainly do not know how to do it.