Recruiter and job

joey74055

Ok, I get a call from a recruiter about a postion because in th epast I had submitted my resume to him. He asks me what I am making and I tell him but then I tell him I want at least $$$ amount which is $10k more than I am making right now. He goes into this spill about how comapnies don't like to pay increases in that large amount blah blah blah and that he would have to submit me at $5k more than I am making and that it is a good comapny and with time I could make that extra $5k. So, after I get off the phone with him I take a look at his website and they have it listed at $12k more than imake. Is this just some recruiter hogwash or is he woirking on the companies side and trying lowball me? What do you guys think, what should I do, go ahead with an interview or tell him "no thank you"?

networker050184

If its a temp position and you are going to get paid through the recruiting agency they will be getting paid X amount from the company and then have to pay you out of that and they keep the rest. So they will try to low ball you as much as possible there.

If its a direct placement position they will probably just get a flat fee for filling the position. This one they may not care as much about salary because that will be negotiated between you and the company. They just want someone to get hired through them and the less the company has to pay you the more likely they are to hire you.

Either way if you are not hurting for a job then just tell them what you want to get paid. If they can't meet that then move on.

joey74055

Thank you. Yes, it is a contract-to-hire position which I always steer away from but the recruiter assured me that, that is how they do for every job and that it is way the his agency and the companies do business, that it had nothing to do with the employee. He assured me that in this economy that no one would pay more than $5k than you are making..........so this brings me to my next question, if this is how it works then would I be better off by lying what I make or not disclosing that to them at all since it appears that they base what they will start you out by what you currently make? the point is to get a job making what you want to make because you will never get that many raises where your currently at, right?

joey74055

networker050184 wrote: »

If its a temp position and you are going to get paid through the recruiting agency they will be getting paid X amount from the company and then have to pay you out of that and they keep the rest. So they will try to low ball you as much as possible there.QUOTE]


Ok, so what you are saying is that he wants to pay me as little as possible so that he can keep the difference between the $12k that the company pays him and what he pays me? What a dirty little rat!

Bokeh

Having worked as a recruiter once, I have a bit of an insight on this. Co A gets a hold of the recruiter and says find me someone to do XXXX. They agree on a bill rate, which is typically twice the hourly rate. So if the company is paying 50/hr for your services, you should expect 25. The rest is for the company, which uses a portion of the remainder to pay unemployment, insurance, disability, etc.

The recruiter makes more money on temp, or temp to permanent placement than they do on an outright direct hire in the long run. Everybody tries to build a "temp book" so they have a constant flow of money coming in.

In your case, the recruiter may be a bit shady (just personal opinion), and may be trying to undercut others in his office. Letting the employer know they can get someone for ZZZZ instead of XXXX and do the same job. Its a very cut throat business.

mikej412

I've seen people move from a help desk position to another IT position and double their salary -- of course they were getting paid "squat" on the help desk.

If the salary they are offering you is insulting -- and you have the skills and job opportunities elsewhere -- walk away.

UnixGuy

mikej412 wrote: »

If the salary they are offering you is insulting -- and you have the skills and job opportunities elsewhere -- walk away.

perfectly put !!! Some salaries are indeed "insulting" !! I think I'll be using this term with future employers who try under pay me in an "insulting" way !

joey74055

mikej412 wrote: »

I've seen people move from a help desk position to another IT position and double their salary -- of course they were getting paid "squat" on the help desk.

If the salary they are offering you is insulting -- and you have the skills and job opportunities elsewhere -- walk away.

Yeah, to me it is a little insulting. He told me that once I got my foot in the door with them that they would probably increase the pay but thats his words not theirs. How do these usually work, after the contract period do you then negoiate with the company, salary-wise? With that being said, the company where this position is at has the reputation for being a very good company in my area. Every year they are always one of the two companies in my state that are listed in the countries top companies to work for.

joey74055

UnixGuy wrote: »

perfectly put !!! Some salaries are indeed "insulting" !! I think I'll be using this term with future employers who try under pay me in an "insulting" way !

Yes it is insulting, because they want to pay based on what your making now. Thats the whole point of moving on when you are maxed out pay-wise, is to make more money, not what you could get after a couple of raises! Actually, I don't think it is anyones business what one makes, you don't post a job and pay someone just a little bit over what there already making, lol

BigTex71

Always tell them what you WANT to make... not what you currently make. A new employer will WANT to have you divulge what you currently (or last) made, but most (if not all) companies do not want you to divulge what you will be making with their company. Therefore, the current company you are with would not want you giving out information on what they pay for your position. It's kind of funny actually - "Don't tell anyone how much you make with us... so, how much did you make with your last company?"

joey74055

Yes I agree, lol

Well, it was the recruiter who asked, not the actual company, I actually was naive in thinkning that a recruiter would have my best interests. I have never got a job through one before, I usually just find job postings that are direct hire, posted by the company itself. They usually already have a salary range in mind when they post the position.

mikej412

joey74055 wrote: »

I actually was naive in thinkning that a recruiter would have my best interests.

The order in which it works:

1. Recruiters (and recruiting companies) look out for their best interest (and what will earn them the most money).

2. Recruiters (and recruiting companies) look out for the interests of their customers (the companies who pay them) so that they hopefully continue to be customers (and continue to pay them).

3. Recruiters (and recruiting companies) will look out for the people they have hired who make them lots of money -- as long as they continue to make money for the recruiting company (and can't be replaced by someone who will do the job as well for less pay, thus making even more money for the recruiting company).

4. Recruiters (and recruiting companies) don't give a damn about you if you can't make money for them.

joey74055

mikej412 wrote: »

The order in which it works:

1. Recruiters (and recruiting companies) look out for their best interest (and what will earn them the most money).

2. Recruiters (and recruiting companies) look out for the interests of their customers (the companies who pay them) so that they hopefully continue to be customers (and continue to pay them).

3. Recruiters (and recruiting companies) will look out for the people they have hired who make them lots of money -- as long as they continue to make money for the recruiting company (and can't be replaced by someone who will do the job as well for less pay, thus making even more money for the recruiting company).

4. Recruiters (and recruiting companies) don't give a damn about you if you can't make money for them.

Well put Mike. This does make sense now.
Thank you very much.

UnixGuy

joey74055 wrote: »

Yes it is insulting, because they want to pay based on what your making now. Thats the whole point of moving on when you are maxed out pay-wise, is to make more money, not what you could get after a couple of raises! Actually, I don't think it is anyones business what one makes, you don't post a job and pay someone just a little bit over what there already making, lol

I played it very well in the last interview, I told them that my current salary is a confidential information and my current employer doesn't want this information to be disclosed and I respect their wish I told them market rate, and I said I cant accept less than that.

joey74055

UnixGuy wrote: »

I played it very well in the last interview, I told them that my current salary is a confidential information and my current employer doesn't want this information to be disclosed and I respect their wish I told them market rate, and I said I cant accept less than that.

Awww, that is an excellent way around that question. I have learned something today! Thank you very much!

UnixGuy

joey74055 wrote: »

Awww, that is an excellent way around that question. I have learned something today! Thank you very much!

I actually read this in one of the posts here in this forum, but can't remember where...and I used and it turned out very well !

JockVSJock

UnixGuy wrote: »

I actually read this in one of the posts here in this forum, but can't remember where...and I used and it turned out very well !

This post has a ton of golden nuggets in it on how to deal with recruiters.

Would love to have a 'best of' thread and sticky it...

JBrown

UnixGuy wrote: »

I played it very well in the last interview, I told them that my current salary is a confidential information and my current employer doesn't want this information to be disclosed and I respect their wish I told them market rate, and I said I cant accept less than that.

There is no way that they will buy it unless you work for a government agency.

UnixGuy

JBrown wrote: »

There is no way that they will buy it unless you work for a government agency.

It worked for me ! They can't call me a liar now can they ? lol

He tried to corner me and asked again, but I said "I can't disclose this information, it's a matter of ethics".

joey74055

JockVSJock wrote: »

This post has a ton of golden nuggets in it on how to deal with recruiters.

Would love to have a 'best of' thread and sticky it...

Yes, it seems that most recruiters are shady and are only looking out for THEIR best interests.

undomiel

I generally take the route of telling them that it is confidential. If they press I tell them that it is not my policy to give out such information but that I will be more than happy to give them a rough estimate of what I would expect based on what I know about the job. Most will be happy at that. If they are still being extremely pushy after that, I just drop them, as they obviously have no respect for you.

So far, of the hundreds of recruiters I have talked with over my career I've only run across one who was respectable and genuinely had my interests at heart. I didn't get the job but that was my fault for dropping the ball during the interview. I can't even recall getting interviews with the actual employer at all with any of the other recruiters I spoke with. All the jobs I have gotten was when I had an interview with the employer. The majority of these I found through craigslist or general networking.

ScottFern

undomiel wrote: »

I generally take the route of telling them that it is confidential. If they press I tell them that it is not my policy to give out such information but that I will be more than happy to give them a rough estimate of what I would expect based on what I know about the job. Most will be happy at that. If they are still being extremely pushy after that, I just drop them, as they obviously have no respect for you.

So far, of the hundreds of recruiters I have talked with over my career I've only run across one who was respectable and genuinely had my interests at heart. I didn't get the job but that was my fault for dropping the ball during the interview. I can't even recall getting interviews with the actual employer at all with any of the other recruiters I spoke with. All the jobs I have gotten was when I had an interview with the employer. The majority of these I found through craigslist or general networking.

I've been in contact with a dozen recruiters over the past 3 months and all I have to show for it is two job interviews and no job.

However, I applied direct to a company that manages Hotel IT infrastructures and setups up custom wireless solutions for large groups for their Network Administrator position. I just got an offer today for 62k.

undomiel

Congratulations! Sounds like a great gig.