Interview this Friday with a recruiter

Sounds Good

What can i expect? Robert Half Technology is the agency by the way.

Would I meet with the actual company they are recruiting me to?

I've never been to a REAL interview before by the way. Any tips/hints?

Repo Man

The recruiter generally does a prescreen then if they like you sends the resume over to the company to review.

Most recruiters from my experience just review your resume and don't get into technical questions but that will vary depending on the company.

Since this is your first job interview I'm guessing you're going for helpdesk/deskside support? I'd prepare answers for customer service type questions (name a time when x happens, what would you do when x happens, etc)

mikej412

Sounds Good wrote: »

Would I meet with the actual company they are recruiting me to?

Depends on their customer and what their staffing contract is for.

Since it's their reputation on the line when they send a candidate to interview with one of their customers, they may interview you first to make sure your knuckles don't drag on the ground.

But the fact that they are talking to you and interviewing you means they might have you in mind for something.

Or they could just be training a new recruiter and you're just a "practice interview" -- which still sounds like it could be a good thing for you.

Sounds Good

There is a specific position in mind. I applied for an IT Support Specialist position and the recruiter called me today to see if i was interested. I'm to bring a list of references with me. What is the general format of how references are written? The recruiter also asked me what salary I was looking for.

here is a link to the job description.

Jobs at Year Up

how much do you guys think this position should pay in NYC?

Thanks for all the help guys!

erpadmin

Sounds Good wrote: »

There is a specific position in mind. I applied for an IT Support Specialist position and the recruiter called me today to see if i was interested. I'm to bring a list of references with me. What is the general format of how references are written? The recruiter also asked me what salary I was looking for.

here is a link to the job description.

Jobs at Year Up

how much do you guys think this position should pay in NYC?

Thanks for all the help guys!

Desktop Support, NYC...non-profit...could go realistically $40k-$45k. No harm in shooting for $50k and see where it goes...though I suspect you'll want to stay in the $40s....

Sounds Good

erpadmin wrote: »

Desktop Support, NYC...non-profit...could go realistically $40k-$45k. No harm in shooting for $50k and see where it goes...though I suspect you'll want to stay in the $40s....

Interesting. I was going to ask for $17/hour. I don't mind gettin lowballed a little, since I have very little experience in the IT world professionally (Have a lot personally). But the difference between 17/hour( 35k roughly) and what you say seems a little drastic.

i'll attach my resume for you guys to see for yourself.

Any other thoughts of what salary I should request is welcome.

Thanks again erpadmin, you seem to be right behind all my posts!:)

SteveLord

Keep in mind that RHI is headhunter, the largest actually. They habitually post jobs allover the top job sites, but many aren't even real jobs, just bait to enlarge their pool of applicants. And whatever they agree to pay you, (if they even allow such negotiation) they will be forced to charge the client 50-75% more than that.

Watch your back.

Hypntick

I've worked with RHI and am currently looking for a few things with them as well. They should send you a format for references in your email. At least my guy did. Also depending on who you talk to, they could get very technical. Last time I went up there I had 3 guys in the room talking to me about everything I knew how to do, what I did in my previous jobs etc. My main recruiter knows quite a bit about this stuff or can at least talk the talk. They'll probably have you take a skills assessment test, which most of the questions will be a bit dated. Took the system admin one, quite a few 2000 and Netware questions.

I've also worked with a few other staffing agencies, sometimes you'll get lucky and get a good recruiter, sometimes you won't. Just depends really. However stay on top of them, if you need a job badly you'll want weekly or bi-weekly emails etc. I lucked out this time around, my guy calls me every other day asking me if i'd be interested in something. He knows what I want, but wants to be sure he doesn't pass me over for something that I may enjoy. Unfortunately where I live, pickings are quite slim.

Sounds Good

Hypntick wrote: »

I've worked with RHI and am currently looking for a few things with them as well. They should send you a format for references in your email. At least my guy did. Also depending on who you talk to, they could get very technical. Last time I went up there I had 3 guys in the room talking to me about everything I knew how to do, what I did in my previous jobs etc. My main recruiter knows quite a bit about this stuff or can at least talk the talk. They'll probably have you take a skills assessment test, which most of the questions will be a bit dated. Took the system admin one, quite a few 2000 and Netware questions.

I've also worked with a few other staffing agencies, sometimes you'll get lucky and get a good recruiter, sometimes you won't. Just depends really. However stay on top of them, if you need a job badly you'll want weekly or bi-weekly emails etc. I lucked out this time around, my guy calls me every other day asking me if i'd be interested in something. He knows what I want, but wants to be sure he doesn't pass me over for something that I may enjoy. Unfortunately where I live, pickings are quite slim.

Good to know. I didn't receive a format for my references unfortunately, is it possible for you to send me the one that you received?

joshmadakor

Sounds Good wrote: »

Interesting. I was going to ask for $17/hour. I don't mind gettin lowballed a little, since I have very little experience in the IT world professionally (Have a lot personally). But the difference between 17/hour( 35k roughly) and what you say seems a little drastic.

i'll attach my resume for you guys to see for yourself.

Any other thoughts of what salary I should request is welcome.

Thanks again erpadmin, you seem to be right behind all my posts!:)

That resume is really clean. I like the style and what not of it.

Hypntick

There ya go, I attached it. It's just a basic little form. Good luck with your job hunting. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact it's going to be after the end of the year before I find something concrete.

erpadmin

Sounds Good wrote: »

Interesting. I was going to ask for $17/hour. I don't mind gettin lowballed a little, since I have very little experience in the IT world professionally (Have a lot personally). But the difference between 17/hour( 35k roughly) and what you say seems a little drastic.

i'll attach my resume for you guys to see for yourself.

Any other thoughts of what salary I should request is welcome.

Thanks again erpadmin, you seem to be right behind all my posts!:)

Part of it is lack of sleep...part of it I'm in the NYC area (other side of the hudson) and other part is you're asking stuff I either am familiar with or know the answer to.

Sounds Good

joshmadakor wrote: »

That resume is really clean. I like the style and what not of it.

thanks man. always good to hear good feedback regarding the good ole resume.

Thanks hypntik for the reference form.

any more thoughts?

Danieltheman

Hey man I also have an interview on friday with a recruiter but this one is from an agency called Aerotek, they found my resume on monster and gave me a call about a couple jobs they wanted to know if i was interested and since I don't have any professional experience I told I was interested, I just hope all goes well and I'm able to get into something thats going to help me gain experience..

Hypntick

Danieltheman wrote: »

Hey man I also have an interview on friday with a recruiter but this one is from an agency called Aerotek, they found my resume on monster and gave me a call about a couple jobs they wanted to know if i was interested and since I don't have any professional experience I told I was interested, I just hope all goes well and I'm able to get into something thats going to help me gain experience..

I personally don't know a lot about Aerotek but I do know a few people that have dealt with them previously. Haven't heard anything bad but it's always a good idea to google em and see what's up. I imagine they're similar to Teksystems, RHI, Vaco etc. Good luck, hope you get something. I got my news from RHI the other day basically saying that the position they've put me up for is holding until after new years, so much for a nice Christmas present

Dclown

I may be wrong "again", as i usually am , but I think Aerotek is actually sister company to TekSys. Aerotek is more of the manufacturing, maintenance, etc type jobs and they have TekSys for the IT market.

As I said, I'm probably wrong...

GOOD LUCK either way !!!!

Danieltheman wrote: »

Hey man I also have an interview on friday with a recruiter but this one is from an agency called Aerotek, they found my resume on monster and gave me a call about a couple jobs they wanted to know if i was interested and since I don't have any professional experience I told I was interested, I just hope all goes well and I'm able to get into something thats going to help me gain experience..

Sounds Good

any last minute tips for us noobies?

Hypntick

Sounds Good wrote: »

any last minute tips for us noobies?

It's going to be pretty laid back. They'll go over your resume, ask for your references, talk about your personal goals etc. They usually try and get a little history on you to see where you've been and where you want to go. Then, should they have something available, they'll let you know up front and see if you're interested. However if they don't have anything available, they'll just say we'll start getting you info out there to see what we can find. You may get some calls about things that are totally off the wall that you're not interested in. If you have a good recruiter at least that's what will happen, just to be sure they don't pass you over for something. I think it's good practice to just shoot them an email once a week to two weeks just to make sure they're not slacking on ya. Good luck.

Sounds Good

well i went to the interview friday and although everything went fine between me and the recruiter, ultimately, i don't feel as if i am ready for this type of position. the position is a SOLE IT guy, so there would be no escalation as it ends with me. at least i got some decent interview experience though. =/

ibcritn

Sounds Good wrote: »

well i went to the interview friday and although everything went fine between me and the recruiter, ultimately, i don't feel as if i am ready for this type of position. the position is a SOLE IT guy, so there would be no escalation as it ends with me. at least i got some decent interview experience though. =/

Yea you should find an environment where you can work side by side to mid-level to senior guys (/mentor).

Good luck on your job hunt.