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Alternate approach: build a relationship with the 99th percentile super-recruiter that basically all the startups that know what they are doing in your area use

by mizzao 5y ago

Alternate approach: build a relationship with the 99th percentile super-recruiter that basically all the startups that know what they are doing in your area use to hire, and go to him for a job. In NYC, this is that dude: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkeenan/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkeenan/ I send all my friends to him when looking for jobs. He also doesn't lie to you and since he has a technical background, will rarely place anyone in a bad fit. He's literally sent 2nd tier candidates to other recruiters. It's a rich get richer game and the super-connectors have way more candidates and companies to match, effectively creating their own market. I believe John makes mid 7 digits a year from placements, plus companies love him and candidates keep going back to him for their next job. Once you have that reputation, it looks like art next to the other 99% of hustling recruiters that are trying to place poor fit candidates into the 3 roles they are "working on".

teakettle42 5y ago
Reminds me of NYC’s absolutely horrific apartment broker model. No thank you. Why would I want to give a recruiter a large cut of my potential compensation for no real value? If someone is making seven figures doing that, there’s a problem. If I want a job at a company, I can apply for it myself.
- marapuru 5y ago
  This. Thank you for overthrowing the comment above you.
- mizzao 5y ago
  I hate apartment brokers as much as you do, I assure you. I don't know what to say other than there is significant value in (1) getting a direct connection to someone who is running hiring from a reputable source and (2) having your recruiter actually understand you well enough to directly recommend you to jobs that are a good fit (some of which aren't even publicly listed anywhere) and saving you a ton of time. You are aware that pretty much no one looks at folks that are "applying on the website", right?
- maerF0x0 5y ago
  > If someone is making seven figures doing that How can you state that without knowing the value they provide?
evanelias 5y ago
Hard disagree. After years of random recruitment messages from him, he once sent me a series of obviously-templated robo-emails. In his database of NYC engineers, in the field that normally tracks your employer, he had me listed as "ex-[company]" -- with the name of a company I previously worked for and was no longer particularly fond of. Seems he robo-emailed using this data directly, so his templated emails (3 in a row within one month!) contained lots of cringey "How are things going at ex-[company]?" After the 3rd email, I informed him I was taking a sabbatical from the industry (as mentioned at the top of my LinkedIn profile at the time) and asked him to remove me from his list permanently. Instead of admitting to the obvious mistake and apologizing, he doubled down with a reply that I found pretty obnoxious. There were some other red flags years before that, so I blocked him, one of the only times a recruiter has ever led me to do so.

by mizzao 5y ago

teakettle42 5y ago

Reminds me of NYC’s absolutely horrific apartment broker model. No thank you. Why would I want to give a recruiter a large cut of my potential compensation for no real value? If someone is making seven figures doing that, there’s a problem. If I want a job at a company, I can apply for it myself.

marapuru 5y ago
This. Thank you for overthrowing the comment above you.
mizzao 5y ago
I hate apartment brokers as much as you do, I assure you. I don't know what to say other than there is significant value in (1) getting a direct connection to someone who is running hiring from a reputable source and (2) having your recruiter actually understand you well enough to directly recommend you to jobs that are a good fit (some of which aren't even publicly listed anywhere) and saving you a ton of time. You are aware that pretty much no one looks at folks that are "applying on the website", right?
maerF0x0 5y ago
> If someone is making seven figures doing that How can you state that without knowing the value they provide?

evanelias 5y ago

Hard disagree. After years of random recruitment messages from him, he once sent me a series of obviously-templated robo-emails. In his database of NYC engineers, in the field that normally tracks your employer, he had me listed as "ex-[company]" -- with the name of a company I previously worked for and was no longer particularly fond of. Seems he robo-emailed using this data directly, so his templated emails (3 in a row within one month!) contained lots of cringey "How are things going at ex-[company]?" After the 3rd email, I informed him I was taking a sabbatical from the industry (as mentioned at the top of my LinkedIn profile at the time) and asked him to remove me from his list permanently. Instead of admitting to the obvious mistake and apologizing, he doubled down with a reply that I found pretty obnoxious. There were some other red flags years before that, so I blocked him, one of the only times a recruiter has ever led me to do so.