Teksystems

ElGato127

Anybody heard of them? Experiences? They seem to handle a lot of entry-level around here.

Segovia

Yeah, I have had a couple phone interviews with them and even an in-person interview. The guy actually did a very poor job trying to recruit me. Always saying he had a job for me and never delivered on it. I have been in sort of an ongoing interview limbo with them for about a year. I got very fed up with all recruiters in the end.

I had a friend who worked for Tek for over 3 years and always told me how much he hated them and always had to fight for his benefits and raises. That being said, I would have definitely taken a job through them if they ever actually had one for me. I would say go for it or at least talk to a representative for your area. They are also a Fortune 50 company IIRC.

danny069

Just another consulting company, too many of them out there. Better off getting a job directly with a company that will give you benefits (401k, medical/dental) paid holidays, sick time, vacation. Most consulting companies don't do that, and I despise that.

Russell77

They have there own approach. Very contact oriented to the point of being annoying. They seem to try and put up correct candidates for the right positions. Most likely they are local to your market and they do try to stay up to date with what is going on. They like to prep you for interviews which is not bad if you have not been on many, but If you have been on dozens like me I don't really need someone calling me up every two hours making certain I know where and when the interview is. I can understand they work with a lot of people and do not want to look bad. They have systems in place that they follow and you just have to deal with that. If you need to get your foot in the door they can help. If you have to deal with a recruiter you could do worse.

ElGato127

Would it help someone trying to break into the field?

Russell77

I would say yes. They will bring you in for an interview with them. If you are seeking your first position you have to try every open avenue until you get a job.

techfiend

Like others mentioned recruiting agencies can be good for interview practice and tips. I wouldn't put money on them finding you a position or at least one you'll enjoy. I've met with three teksystem recruiters and each time they wouldn't say what jobs they had for me until we met in person, phone or skype isn't good enough. When we met they had very uninteresting positions to discuss. They really persisted on meeting but never stay in touch afterwards. Even asking about the jobs they presented in person they said they just said it's been filled after a few week delay.

Pretty strange process they have and if you ever apply for a job listing they'll contact you to meet before going any further. I guess meeting people is their top priority. I'm glad to see others sharing the same experiences with TekSystems, at least it's not just the local area.

Segovia

techfiend that is exactly what I went through with them. Left a sour taste for me.

kohr-ah

I've had my ups and downs with them.

Where I live their downers grove branch the recruiters were basically useless. Like most other people's experiences always wanted to meet with subpar positions. Face to face all the time.

However, Chicago branch I've had better luck. Send me full position description with the client name in the email. Never want to do face to face besides a quick coffee to catch up on what's going on every few months. Tell me their expected range. They know to not send me CtoH positions as well. A completely different experience.

I'd say at least give them a shot.

Dojiscalper

I worked a lot of contract positions with them during the early 00's. Never had a problem and they were great to me back then. I haven't heard from this lately in my newest job search.

cshkuru

I worked with them a couple years ago (2012) after a previous stint in the late 90's. Night and Day difference. The had decent if not great benefits, didn't try and cut my hourly rate for holidays / benefits. Had a resume review process and some computer based training services that you could participate in. All in all as contracting companies go not bad. In the 90's it was the complete opposite. They were so sleazy it made my skin crawl talking to them.

thomas_

I've only put a resume on their website to never be contacted. I have a feeling that you don't have the skills they are currently looking for, you will never be contacted. I guess that kind of goes without saying, but it kind of sucks when you post your resume to their website and it doesn't have any views after 6 months.

4_lom

I know an owner of a local consulting company that was contacted by a recruiter at TekSystems. The recruiter asked him what type of job positions he is hiring for, the owner told him they aren't currently looking to hire anyone. The recruiter then asked him; hypothetically, were he hiring, what types of positions would he be hiring for. The owner of the consulting firm told him about a few of the job roles that the company MIGHT be hiring for in the distant future.

The next day, the owner found a job add on Dice and LinkedIn, posted by TekSystems. The job description exactly matched the job roles that the consulting firm would hypothetically be hiring for in the future.

Moral of the story: If a recruiter reaches out to you about a job, he/she likely doesn't actually have a job for you right now. They probably want to get to know you and your skills, for potential job openings they learn about in the future.

Personally, I have talked to a recruiter at TekSystems. Really nice guy. After talking with him, he immediately threw two job openings my way. So, not all of them are bad.

Remedymp

I used to work for them. My person of contact was very technical and used to be a Server engineer. He bought me breakfast and chatted with me for about an hour about just IT and the stock market. I ended up with a a couple contract roles that put some money in my pocket. However, the pay wasn't that great.

People need to understand that staffing firms exist because the corporations are too cheap to pay for the benefits of the potential human resource. As long as corporations can get away with outsourcing domestically, they will do so. The government (DOL) have come up with some new policies recently to curb some of this. We will see.

techfiend

Good point about companies not wanting to pay for benefits and also take on more risk to hire. I can see this for lower level positions but I really can't see this in upper level positions. I can't imagine someone making a career out of working for recruiters. Although the IT field is fairly fluid, there's just way too much risk for the worker to rely on recruiting contracts.

If you discount one Fortune 50 who regularly has dozens of openings, the IT market here is >90% recruiting agencies. Some positions I'm guessing are fake but I think it's time for me to pull my resume from boards again and focus on companies only.

Remedymp

Yes, some of the jobs are Mock jobs based on pass positions. But, those mock jobs are referenced from what ever company they have very ties to as well. Upper level or Senior level people are usually dragged through the contract to hire role. But, you're starting to see more and more of that with government positions (booz allen, etc) where they just don't want you enjoying paid vacations, paid sick time,etc.

But, again, new labor laws may very well render these recruiters to just 90 day assignments.

Priston

Teksystems in my area has very good and nice recruiters. They actually know how to match job descriptions with resumes. I've meet with a few of the recruiters and one of them took me out to lunch. While I don't work for them, one of my co-workers does work for them and he doesn't have any complaints about them.

TechGromit

ElGato127 wrote: »

Anybody heard of them? Experiences? They seem to handle a lot of entry-level around here.

I got laid off in 2013 and after four months unemployed I couldn't find anything. Out of desperation, I took a contract position with the third rate staffing company you mentioned to do a Windows 7 deployment. They pay crap, no benefits and so long as your earning them money would be more than happy to work the rest of your life at the starting wages they hired you at. They offered benefits in 2014, due to new medical insurance laws, but at $650 a month and 25k out of pocket deduction, I was sure they were making a profit on there company owned health insurance provider. For a company that claims to have thousands of employees you would think they would have better group coverage health insurance rates. I opted to stay with my Corba coverage, it was twice as much, but it actually covered something with reasonable deductible.

In short, I would never work for them again. They should only be considered if your desperate. Don't believe there BS about getting hired as a full time employee by the client, they have no interest in that (they just want you to keep working for them forever so they can get there contract rate from the client) and will actively fight against you getting hired, even if the client wants to hire you. You can pretty much forget about any unemployment benefits your contract ends, they will fight and lie not to have to pay any unemployment.

Priston wrote: »

Teksystems in my area has very good and nice recruiters.

The ones I worked with in Randor, PA were Scum. My manager at the client site I worked at even said they seemed sleazy when he talked to them.

bpenn

I worked with a couple here - even met with one. However, they still havent done anything for me yet. Hell, I know plenty of people that said they could talk to someone and probably help me get an interview and nothing from them, either. The job search sucks...

Mike-Mike

i never actually worked with them, but a recruiter bought me lunch one time, so that is cool

Blackout

I worked for Teksystems in my last role, My experience with them was good, they usually went above and beyond for me if I asked for something. But with all big organizations you are going to get good and bad people. I happened to get good ones.

JockVSJock

Don't even waste your time with recruiters. They don't care about you or your career, so why bother...

kohr-ah

JockVSJock wrote: »

Don't even waste your time with recruiters. They don't care about you or your career, so why bother...

Because when you get one that can help you they are the way to bypass HR and get your resume to the hands of the person it needs to get to.

JockVSJock

kohr-ah wrote: »

Because when you get one that can help you they are the way to bypass HR and get your resume to the hands of the person it needs to get to.

And good luck getting one that can help, that is like finding two matching snowflakes.

techfiend

I wouldn't give up on recruiters, especially if you need a job and/or interview experience. I wouldn't set your expectations high and it's quite alright to ignore and take breaks from them, they are used to it.

LeisureSuitLarry

I put my resume on file with them. Haven't heard anything, though.

cshkuru

I've found that just putting your resume on file with them doesn't accomplish much. Start applying via craigslist and you will run into Teksystems pretty quick.

techfiend

Recruiting agencies on craigslist? Around here there's none which is really nice but craigslist volume is also really low.

Remedymp

JockVSJock wrote: »

And good luck getting one that can help, that is like finding two matching snowflakes.

All of my talent acquisition managers have been great and excellent. I wouldn't be where I am current career wise without them.

bpenn

I find TekSystems jobs posted to SimplyHired and Thingamajob frequently if anyone is interested in their positions.

ElGato127

In short, I would never work for them again. They should only be considered if your desperate. Don't believe there BS about getting hired as a full time employee by the client, they have no interest in that (they just want you to keep working for them forever so they can get there contract rate from the client) and will actively fight against you getting hired, even if the client wants to hire you. You can pretty much forget about any unemployment benefits your contract ends, they will fight and lie not to have to pay any unemployment.


How do they do that exactly?