How to play the recruiter game

RATTLERMAN

I have had a few recruiters call in the past few weeks promising the world.

They tell me they have a job that they are trying to fill but when I get there things change. Most of the time they are pulling my resume from monster or career builder. I always get past the initial phone screen but when they meet me thay start singing a different tune.

I amnot one to play any cards i.e race,nationality,sexual orientation,religion etc but my mind is beginning to wonder what the H3LL is going on

Any one have any techniques or tricks of the trade to dealing with recruiters.

JDMurray

Recruiters that work for employment agencies work on commission. They get $$$$ for every person they place. The greater the new hire's salary the more commission $$$$'s earned by the recruiter. If it looks as through they can't "sell" you right away to an employer, you may not hear from them for a while they are pursuing quicker, higher-dollar sales. When it looks like your skills are something they can quickly place, you'll get a call from the recruiter pretty damn quick. To a recruiter, you are basically a commodity that is on sale to the highest bidder.

What is means to you is that you can't expect to send out a few resumes and sit back waiting for recruiters to call your back with job offers. You must be proactive and call back the recruiters, agencies, and organization that have your resume. Recruiters deal with hundreds of people every week, and resumes can be misplaced and people forgotten. If you are unemployed, your job is to find a job, and you should spend several hours every day doing just that.

Munck

I have often asked recruiters about which skills/certs that were in demand in their opinion. They are in touch with the employers, and I have often got unewxpected answers. Most are very glad to help, as it raises the chances of them earning $ by placing you in a position. Ask yourself what you can do to make their life easier, and then use them to your advantage.

RATTLERMAN

I hear what you guys are saying... i am just frustrated with recruiters right now.

I cant keep taking days off to meet with them all the timebecause my IT director is a major ass and is always in everyone business.

I have been told that I interview well and my resume is clear and to the point. I just dont know what else I can do to make myself more marketable. I am doing toastmaster's to work on my public speaking and going to join a IT professional association to get out and meet people.

I hope these new things will help out this year

Please forgive my grammar

JockVSJock

Where I'm from, the recruiters talk a good game on the phone. They want to meet with you, they want to work with you, they want to build relationships.

At the same time, they want to know what your salary was, who you worked with, and what was the name of the director of your dept or other people.

It seems to me like all they want to do is suck information out of you and then throw you aside

An example I can give is that there was a woman who kept calling me wanting me to meet her, and how important it is to build relationships. So I threw out lets do lunch, and she got icy cold and claimed that she never does lunch. Whatever...

Can someone offer a better way to deal with these people?

JDMurray

JockVSJock wrote:

At the same time, they want to know what your salary was, who you worked with, and what was the name of the director of your dept or other people.

It seems to me like all they want to do is suck information out of you and then throw you aside

Can someone offer a better way to deal with these people?

Yup, this happens to me all the time when I talk with headhunters. They work on commission and look for any scrap of information that could be a lead to a prospective customer or a commodity to sell. The more inside information they can get about a company the better for them. It's hard work and I don't blame them.

I am not a hiring manager, so I usually just say something like "I don't have information on that; you'll have to ask my manager." You can also just give a negative answer to the questions, such as, "We are not hiring," "We have no open positions," "I do not know anyone suited for that position," "I don't know what the current job requisitions are for other departments," etc.

Whatever you do, don't mislead a recruiter to waste their time or be rude. You may really, really need them one day yourself.

oldbarney

I went through the recruiter game early last year. Most recruiters attempted to place me in temp positions with promises of permanent hire. After a while, I viewed myself more as a commodity than a future corporate asset. Nearly all the recruiting contacts originated from monster.com or my state's workforce website. Even months after deactivating my resume, I received offers about 1-2x per week.

JD is right. Never burn bridges and refrain from misleading. Networking, as in maintaining good relationships with people in the business, is golden.

Immediately before my present position was finalized, some temp-agency recruiters, who I had known for about 4 years, offered me a decent position. A problem existed with my undergrad transcript that could have stopped hire for my current job. The transcript issue was luckily resolved. However, had the offer been pulled, then I was fortunate enough to have a backup.

Don_PA

I agree with Rattlerman. This has happen to me as well as my work colleagues. Some recruiters are good and honest and some are sharks and dishonest. They do the prescreening interview and questioning which I don't mind, yet some do not offer or reply back after you do get a inteview the client. You know the big ones like Robert Half Technology, Manpower, Kforce, Tek Systems, Spherion who are the middle man/agency who hires you on contract for the firm and bill the client/firm twice as much as your contract hourly rate. There is some debate on this and how much they make from your rate. Any way deal with them each individually and trust your judgement on who is honest and who isn't. That is who I see listing jobs in careerbuilder.com, yahoohotjobs.com, and monster.com

JockVSJock

oldbarney wrote:

JD is right. Never burn bridges and refrain from misleading. Networking, as in maintaining good relationships with people in the business, is golden.

Agreed, but don't take abuse from these so-called 'IT Recruiters' who don't give a damn about you or your career, and only care about their commission.

I for one feel if I am being ****-tested, I in turn will throw out a **** test:

-They want me to come in and talk, I throw out lets do lunch. And then followup about building relationships. Most of them quickly lose interest
-If they want to talk, I tell them to send some job descriptions my way

I'm also finding out that most headhunters are only recruiting for big pay positions...Remember, its your career. You have worked hard to get your skillset, degrees, and experience. Don't let some headhunter dick you around.

RATTLERMAN

It's been interesting dealing with them... I have heard the stories from my peers but I did not believe them untill it happened to me. I even had one who was obviously new to recruiting , hound one of my references who happens to be a IT director for jobs,luckily he is a good friend and mentor. He is the one who basically schooled me on how some of them work. It's just so frustrating when you are trying to improve your lot out here in the IT world and they play with your career. But it is a new year and I have some plans.