Interviewed with recruiter than found job posting

techfiend

I just finished interviewing with a recruiter for a direct hire position. During the interview they told me the company name and I found the posting on the company's website. The listings are comparable except the company's title is architect and has a few more of the less advanced responsibilities listed. The recruiter's title is administrator. The responsibilities are definitely more along the lines of an architect than an admin, lead engineer is probably most fitting.

Salary was brought up during the interview and three times they attempted to negotiate lower. I can sense they were trying to get a bigger chunk and honestly what they were talking seemed too low for what I'd be doing. It's a new client for the recruiters and I'm not sure if I've been submitted yet. They said they should be able to get me in for a company interview next week. Do I bring up salary then?

Otherwise I'm tempted to ask them to not submit me and then apply directly. Thoughts?

NetworkNewb

I would be straight up with the recruiter about the title thing... Ask them if it is the same position.

As far as salary, you probably have an idea of what you should/want to be making and stick to that.

I'd personally just stay with the recruiter since they can almost guarantee you an interview already.

techfiend

Thanks, I'll do that. The recruiter seems to be very forthright and I might ask her if there's a finder's fee or if they take a chunk in a direct hire position. Maybe there's a (former) recruiter here who can answer that question?

NetworkNewb, in case you moved over the past couple of years, we are in the same market. I'm basing my desired salary on VCAP, what the guy I replaced moved onto and what I was making. In this market what do you think is a reasonable salary for a systems engineer?

boxerboy1168

I like to get jobs first then negotiate for salary. Why not just interview with the company and once they determine they like you tell the recruiter what you want??

yoba222

In my experience recruiters deliberately haven't told me who the client is and obfuscate the way the job ad is worded to prevent these kinds of discoveries. If you don't have a job right now I'd be a little reluctant in going behind the recruiter's back as the whole thing might backfire. If you are employed, it might be worth the extra risk in attempting to negotiate with the company directly. I would not tell the recruiter you discovered the job posting.

I've been in a situation where I thought I was playing two or three recruiters at the same time unbeknownst to them or the hiring company. I ended up having slightly different versions of my resume submitted to the same hiring team for the same job, but through different recruiters. Definitely not how I wanted it to happen. It was admitted to me that the company would have brought me on, but were reluctant because of the unfamiliar recruiter.

It is my suspicion that if the parent company was competent at hiring people they wouldn't have to deal with middle-man recruiters. You don't really know the politics of why that ad is up and here's a recruiter trying to fill that spot too. Who knows, maybe the parent company has an overly encumbered hiring system because stupid HR policies or something and you'd be wasting your time.

Blucodex

If you get submitted by a recruiter and then apply yourself you will probably be automatically disqualified (submitted twice) from the job. Most companies have a tight relationship with their recruitment sources.

And it is disingenuous to find out about about a job and then try to go behind the recruiters back.

NetworkNewb

techfiend wrote: »

In this market what do you think is a reasonable salary for a systems engineer?

At my company I believe they are around 80k, but I don't work anywhere near downtown. (down in Prior Lake) And guessing it would be a little higher downtown.

I find recruiters to be very forthright as well. So I'm usually very upfront with them with what I'm thinking in return.

techfiend

Thanks for the replies! I'll do the interview and I'm not going to mention the position I found on the company website to the recruiter. The job has been open for almost a month, I think the company is unable to get qualified resumes and went to a recruiter to help out.

I've never been mean to recruiters other than ignore them, going behind their backs this time wouldn't be nice. I feel like I'm leaving money on the table though. I'll go back to the recruiter after the interview and say what I really expect after hearing more about the position.

80k seems about right and it's my baseline. That's about what I'd have made at my other position after the annual review and I was hoping for a nice bump in pay. My goal and what I think I'm worth is 100k which would be about a 30% increase but it seems to be hard to reach currently in this market.

Blucodex

Don’t be afraid to ask for what you’re worth.