IT headhunter companies

Recently I have been intensely searching for a job. This of course includes applying and posting resumes to the likes of Monster, Career Builder, LinkedIn and Indeed among others. I have been contacted by 5 IT staffing companies. Is this normal practice in the industry and should I be weary at all of these companies? Thanks in advance!

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Comments

markulous

Recruiters are pretty common in IT. A lot of places only use these companies to bring in external candidates. While they are "legit" and a necessary evil sometimes, I wouldn't say not to be weary. There's a bunch of threads in here that go into detail of what to look out for. Basically, don't be surprised if they lie to you to reel you in.

arrogantbastard

Not all are bad, but many are. Most recruiters that have contacted me generally have a job that I'm not qualified for or associated with (ie senior software developer and I'm in networking /security), offer an absurdly low pay rate for the position, position is in the wrong geographic area, are flaky, or just straight up impossible to understand due to their accents. In about thirty seconds of listening to their opening talk you can weed most of those, though. I just accepted a job from a leading tech company while working with a staffing company and after chatting with the hiring manager at said company I found out all their contractors are solely recruited by that staffing firm. That's just how they do it and was necessary for getting the job. The pay is certainly decent, but the benefits are lacking. I'm going to gain the valuable experience and get this company's name on my resume while I can, and if a full time position opens up hopefully switch from contractor to employee.

iBrokeIT

Recruiting companies, just like direct employers, can be both good and bad so you'll need be aware of a few things before jumping right in.

One of the first things you'll want to do ask what type of employment terms are offered for the position. Know the difference tax and benefit difference between contract, contract to hire and direct hire.

Research the salaries for the position you are applying to ahead of time and know the acceptable range. If they are offering a 1099 contract you will need to ask for more and factoring things like benefits and the self employment tax.

Unless this will be your first IT job, ask for the salary or hourly range BEFORE accepting the interview.

You'll have better success dealing with recruiters that physically located in the same area as you. Ask them where their office is located.

Print out the job description the recruiter gives and ask the company you are interview with to verify that all the duties are accurate so there is less of a chance for a bait and switch.

If you are offered a contact READ IT THOROUGHLY. Ask for at least 24 hours to read and review it. Make sure you are comfortable with the terms and rate.

That should help cover you from most of the negatives people experience when dealing with recruiters but I'm sure I missed something.

As arrogantbastard noted, a lot of companies are switching to recruiting firms exclusively for a number of reasons. Some will do a contract to hire which will allow the employer to "try before they buy" (hire full time W2) to make sure the employee is able to preform up to their expectations. This can also go both ways and if you don't the employer you can choose not to extend your contract or be brought on full time.

Scorp6

Thanks a lot for the info everyone. Just from this I can say that there are a couple good companies I've spoken to and a few not so good companies. Thanks! Especially for the info on the contract types.

--chris--

iBrokeIT wrote: »

Recruiting companies, just like direct employers, can be both good and bad so you'll need be aware of a few things before jumping right in.

One of the first things you'll want to do ask what type of employment terms are offered for the position. Know the difference tax and benefit difference between contract, contract to hire and direct hire.

Research the salaries for the position you are applying to ahead of time and know the acceptable range. If they are offering a 1099 contract you will need to ask for more and factoring things like benefits and the self employment tax.

Unless this will be your first IT job, ask for the salary or hourly range BEFORE accepting the interview.

You'll have better success dealing with recruiters that physically located in the same area as you. Ask them where their office is located.

Print out the job description the recruiter gives and ask the company you are interview with to verify that all the duties are accurate so there is less of a chance for a bait and switch.

If you are offered a contact READ IT THOROUGHLY. Ask for at least 24 hours to read and review it. Make sure you are comfortable with the terms and rate.

That should help cover you from most of the negatives people experience when dealing with recruiters but I'm sure I missed something.

As arrogantbastard noted, a lot of companies are switching to recruiting firms exclusively for a number of reasons. Some will do a contract to hire which will allow the employer to "try before they buy" (hire full time W2) to make sure the employee is able to preform up to their expectations. This can also go both ways and if you don't the employer you can choose not to extend your contract or be brought on full time.

This is a concise summary of what I have read in multiple other threads. Great post.