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What's really shocking is that I've never once had an acceptable experience with a recruiter that has reached out to me. I've taken over 40 interviews this year

What's really shocking is that I've never once had an acceptable experience with a recruiter that has reached out to me. I've taken over 40 interviews this year in a variety of fields. I've had a much better experience and indeed received offers when applying to an ad or application posted on Indeed, Linkedin, Angel.co or the company website.

SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
Speaking as an employer, thanks for this. Recruiters really are a scourge on our industry and their fees come straight out of your salary. If only more people were proactive about job hunting.
- anoncoward111 8y ago
  So true. If the fee was reasonable then "whatever", but it isn't reasonable. And what is worse is that if an employee isn't motivated enough to spend maybe 30 minutes per day sending out some targeted info about themselves to companies that really could use their labor, then I don't think that employee is going to be motivated enough to do a really good job once they're in the seat. A corporation can afford to pay 125-150k per year plus lots of capex/opex benefits. Maybe the employee is motivated and is a "rockstar" and does a great job, too. But a startup hiring 10-15 people per year really needs to get it right every single time, and more often than not, motivation is more important than raw skill. Just my opinions :)
tinco 8y ago
What is the general bad experience that you have? I've engaged with one recruiter that made a good first impression, it took a bit of convincing to have him find me jobs with a suitable market rate (they probably like lower salaries because it increases their chance of success and this payout) but then he actually offered me a couple jobs that I think I would have had a hard time finding myself. I never acted on any of his offers, so maybe I haven't encountered his bad side yet, so I'm curious.
- anoncoward111 8y ago
  This goes for internal and external recruiters, in my opinion: The phone screen always goes just peachy. "Wow, this is great. Awesome experience. You sound great on the phone. We would love to have you come in." Then you either get rejected after the first round, ghosted after the third round, or shockingly they give you an offer and then after the first month "it isn't working out". Interviewers are either way too candy-coated or way too curt. Maybe this is just my experience, but I have over 8 years of legitimate professional experience in this industry and have been employed at megacorps and 20 person companies alike. I got so sick of the charade that I currently work for an oil company!! Go figure.
- booleandilemma 8y ago
  they probably like lower salaries because it increases their chance of success and this payout From my experience it’s the opposite. Recruiters try to get you the highest salary they can because then they get a bigger cut. More than one of them has told me this. There have been a couple times when I’ve told them my desired salary and they’ve upped it by 40% or more. Yes, there are scummy recruiters out there, but for the most part I think recruiters are great. It’s like having an agent! People in other fields don’t get this experience and they have to work harder to find a job. I’m not talking about technical interviews, but just getting your foot in the door.
  - tinco 8y ago
    I'm in The Netherlands so this might be a little different than SF where everyone capitalizes on the value of good developers. He opened with a salary that I'd consider average to slightly above average for a regular senior developer, in The Netherlands. I felt a bit cocky and thought if he's worth anything, he should be getting me jobs that pay more than I could get myself, so I countered him 50% above that. He was really hesitant and tried to talk me down, saying it would be difficult to find a job that pays that, saying my CV wasn't that impressive, I held on saying that a good hiring manager would see the value in my skills. Over ~3 months he came up with three leads, one of which ticked all three of my professional expertise boxes (ruby, devops and product ownership) and sounded really interesting to me, but I was pursuing other things at the time so turned it down. I do agree that it very much feels like having an agent. I tell him what I can do, and what I want to make, and he goes out and find a job for me. I don't mind him taking a cut, if he finds jobs that I wouldn't find because I just go starry eyed from startup to startup.

SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago

Speaking as an employer, thanks for this. Recruiters really are a scourge on our industry and their fees come straight out of your salary. If only more people were proactive about job hunting.

anoncoward111 8y ago
So true. If the fee was reasonable then "whatever", but it isn't reasonable. And what is worse is that if an employee isn't motivated enough to spend maybe 30 minutes per day sending out some targeted info about themselves to companies that really could use their labor, then I don't think that employee is going to be motivated enough to do a really good job once they're in the seat. A corporation can afford to pay 125-150k per year plus lots of capex/opex benefits. Maybe the employee is motivated and is a "rockstar" and does a great job, too. But a startup hiring 10-15 people per year really needs to get it right every single time, and more often than not, motivation is more important than raw skill. Just my opinions :)

tinco 8y ago

What is the general bad experience that you have? I've engaged with one recruiter that made a good first impression, it took a bit of convincing to have him find me jobs with a suitable market rate (they probably like lower salaries because it increases their chance of success and this payout) but then he actually offered me a couple jobs that I think I would have had a hard time finding myself. I never acted on any of his offers, so maybe I haven't encountered his bad side yet, so I'm curious.

anoncoward111 8y ago
This goes for internal and external recruiters, in my opinion: The phone screen always goes just peachy. "Wow, this is great. Awesome experience. You sound great on the phone. We would love to have you come in." Then you either get rejected after the first round, ghosted after the third round, or shockingly they give you an offer and then after the first month "it isn't working out". Interviewers are either way too candy-coated or way too curt. Maybe this is just my experience, but I have over 8 years of legitimate professional experience in this industry and have been employed at megacorps and 20 person companies alike. I got so sick of the charade that I currently work for an oil company!! Go figure.
booleandilemma 8y ago
they probably like lower salaries because it increases their chance of success and this payout From my experience it’s the opposite. Recruiters try to get you the highest salary they can because then they get a bigger cut. More than one of them has told me this. There have been a couple times when I’ve told them my desired salary and they’ve upped it by 40% or more. Yes, there are scummy recruiters out there, but for the most part I think recruiters are great. It’s like having an agent! People in other fields don’t get this experience and they have to work harder to find a job. I’m not talking about technical interviews, but just getting your foot in the door.
- tinco 8y ago
  I'm in The Netherlands so this might be a little different than SF where everyone capitalizes on the value of good developers. He opened with a salary that I'd consider average to slightly above average for a regular senior developer, in The Netherlands. I felt a bit cocky and thought if he's worth anything, he should be getting me jobs that pay more than I could get myself, so I countered him 50% above that. He was really hesitant and tried to talk me down, saying it would be difficult to find a job that pays that, saying my CV wasn't that impressive, I held on saying that a good hiring manager would see the value in my skills. Over ~3 months he came up with three leads, one of which ticked all three of my professional expertise boxes (ruby, devops and product ownership) and sounded really interesting to me, but I was pursuing other things at the time so turned it down. I do agree that it very much feels like having an agent. I tell him what I can do, and what I want to make, and he goes out and find a job for me. I don't mind him taking a cut, if he finds jobs that I wouldn't find because I just go starry eyed from startup to startup.