4 ms·

It's the UK, 15% is standard finders fee there.

• ig1 13y ago
  Not in London it isn't; I've seen what a lot of startups are paying and 15% is definitely low for permie devs.
  • ash 13y ago
    Could you share how much these startups were paying recruiters?
    • ig1 13y ago
      20%-25% is the norm depending on skill set, generally if you go lower than that you need to throw something else into the offer if you want to get good candidates (for example exclusivity periods, super-fast turn-arounds, recommendations, etc.)
  • kamjam 13y ago
    Everywhere I've worked for in London it has been 15% for devs. If you're paying more then you need to negotiate better. The rates may of course differ for bigger companies, where recruiters are more likely to place more candidates.
    • ig1 13y ago
      It's nothing to do with negotiation, if you offer recruiters a lower rate than other companies you're simply not going to be their top priority. That said if you're offering recruiters 15% and you're getting candidates of the calibre you need then that's fine. But you should be aware that you're not even getting a look in at the best candidates that are on your recruiters books.
      • kamjam 13y ago
        I've only worked for fairly large companies, that recruit 10s if not 100s of people each year. I guess they get an "economies of scale" discount, and we've always had good candidates. If a recruiter was not to offer a good candidate then there will be 10 more in their place that would send the CV of that same candidate. In a digital marketplace I put my CV out once and I have 20 recruiters looking for me. It's a tough marketplace, and to the candidate they don't care what the recruiters fee is.
        • ig1 13y ago
          Generally the value in recruiters is in passive candidates and not active ones so in those cases it's unlikely that the candidate is working with a significant number of recruiters. Even in the case that a candidate works with multiple recruiters they'll generally all have "preferred clients" who get first look at candidates. And at 15% you're unlikely to be a preferred client for any recruiter except the bottom-feeders who spam every CV to every client. And you don't want any bottom-feeder recruiter to have your CV because many companies have a policy of instantly rejecting any candidate that comes in through multiple recruiters because they don't want to get into a legal dispute over priority. The recruitment market is a fairly complex one (I had a startup in the space so I've been neck deep in understanding how the different players interact). (You're right that if you're recruiting for lots of roles you can get a discount, but it's a tricky path, you really need to exchange information with industry competitors to get a good idea if you're being passed over for good candidates. In some industries like banking this does happen albeit on a semi-informal basis)
          • kamjam 13y ago
            Fair enough, and thanks for all the info. I've never directly recruited, but I've heard the 15% touted by my ex-employers. Certainly for headhunters 30% is more normal. To me as a employee though I don't care what the rate is, it's a negotiation between the recruiter and the employer.