Anyone deal with Tek Systems ?

I'm meeting with a recruiter from Tek Systems tomorrow in NYC, and was wondering if anyone has dealt with them before. If so, what were your thoughts about them?

From the conversation I had on the phone, the recruiter was very personable and I enjoyed the conversation. I'll post back with my impressions after the meeting.

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Iristheangel

Not me personally but there are tons of old threads about Tek Systems

TheCudder

I worked my first IT position as a Help Desk Analyst through Tek Systems. I personally had no issues during the 14 months i worked them.

lantech

My first data center job was through Tek Systems. My experience with them was pretty good. My recruiter even took me out for drinks every Friday and brought my check to me. To this day the account manager for the account still remembers me and always talks highly of me.

They got me a job interview several weeks ago. This was another recruiter in the office. I went to the interview and he gave me some initial feedback from the interviewer that day but at that point the person I interviewed with hadn't made up her mind yet. That was the last time I heard from him. Not a word since. So I can assume I didn't get the job lol.

Two pretty different experiences with the same office. The point is that it's not necessarily the agency that makes an experience good or bad but the specific person you are dealing with in each office that determines whether the experience is good or bad. The most important thing is that you get a recruiter that is good.

drkat

I did a bunch of contracts through TEK - they're the better of the agencies. You also get a full membership to skillsoft as long as you're an employee of tek which is pretty good WBT's

powerfool

I have dealt with them in the past, and I wouldn't exactly call Skillsoft a great perk. They send you a paycheck as long as you keep making them money. If you have a decent headhunter, they may take you out to lunch every once in a while. I wouldn't call them one of the "better agencies" unless you have just been dealing with places that like to call you up daily and insult you. They aren't bad, but they don't tend to look at you as a long-term "asset" like some places do that try and find you additional work (that is unless you have a better than average relationship with your headhunter). Some places go well beyond offering Skillsoft and even allocate an annual training budget, if you are on anything longer than a very short-term contract. That being said... they will pay you on-time for services rendered... and that isn't bad at all.

j.petrov

Thanks for all the replies! I'll post with my thoughts after the meeting.

cmitchell_00

Well I've worked with them on and off since 99" and back then they sucked. However, now they are allot better plus they have more hungry and younger recruiters. They pay allot better for short term assignments and they do have recruiters who are more I.T. knowledgeable than in the past. I think the CBT's they offer are ok but, you have to demand your money upfront because if not you'll be stuck @ that same pay. Wish you the best!

BigMevy

I worked with them back in 99 when I got out of the USAF. To overuse one of my least favorite sayings: It is what it is. They may have changed over the years, but keep in mind that what they're after is to make money off of you. I think my gig with them was paying me $13/hr, and I later found out they were charging the company something like $23/hr. Pretty good racket if you ask me. But they do get you a job, so there's that.

Later, when the company I was contracted to went bankrupt, I got an interview with a competitor who had interacted with me through the course of my previous contract. I ended up taking the job and Tek Systems threatened legal action and all sorts of stuff, saying the competitor owed them money for TS placing me or some such nonsense. My new employer got his lawyer involved, and after a couple letters it went by the wayside. They don't like losing one of their cattle, that's for sure.

But if you're having trouble getting into the industry, or getting a job, they'll get you in.

QHalo

My last gig was with TEK Systems. Overall my experience was good. I wouldn't go back to contracting with them again though. There were a few things that left a sour taste in my mouth.

TheCudder

BigMevy wrote: »

I worked with them back in 99 when I got out of the USAF. To overuse one of my least favorite sayings: It is what it is. They may have changed over the years, but keep in mind that what they're after is to make money off of you. I think my gig with them was paying me $13/hr, and I later found out they were charging the company something like $23/hr. Pretty good racket if you ask me. But they do get you a job, so there's that.

Later, when the company I was contracted to went bankrupt, I got an interview with a competitor who had interacted with me through the course of my previous contract. I ended up taking the job and Tek Systems threatened legal action and all sorts of stuff, saying the competitor owed them money for TS placing me or some such nonsense. My new employer got his lawyer involved, and after a couple letters it went by the wayside. They don't like losing one of their cattle, that's for sure.

But if you're having trouble getting into the industry, or getting a job, they'll get you in.

That will be the case with any IT Staffing Agency or IT Service Company...they're always taking home a bigger part of the pie, that's how & why they exist. You expect them to take a $2 profit and give your $21 hour for an entry help desk position.

powerfool

TheCudder wrote: »

That will be the case with any IT Staffing Agency or IT Service Company...they're always taking home a bigger part of the pie, that's how & why they exist. You expect them to take a $2 profit and give your $21 hour for an entry help desk position.

Their profit is likely less than $2/hour with them paying $13/hour. You have to factor in all of the expenses to operation... you subtract that from their revenue to get the profit. All employers (of W-2 FTEs) have to match what you contribute to FICA (and actually, they pay higher into SS right now), which is 7.65%. Plus, they actually pay for the Skillsoft stuff, and there are benefits, the cost of the recruiters, the administrative staff, accounts payable and receivable staff and operational costs... It isn't cheap to run a company.

That being said, if you can find your own contract work, you can keep much more of the money.

Keener

powerfool wrote: »

Their profit is likely less than $2/hour with them paying $13/hour. You have to factor in all of the expenses to operation... you subtract that from their revenue to get the profit. All employers (of W-2 FTEs) have to match what you contribute to FICA (and actually, they pay higher into SS right now), which is 7.65%. Plus, they actually pay for the Skillsoft stuff, and there are benefits, the cost of the recruiters, the administrative staff, accounts payable and receivable staff and operational costs... It isn't cheap to run a company.

That being said, if you can find your own contract work, you can keep much more of the money.

You also have to factor in any benefits you receive from the company. Insurance, PTO, etc. usually reduce the amount they will pay you as well. Even though you may pay $200 a month for your insurance doesn't mean the company isn't paying another $800+ for your insurance.

With some companies it is a la carte. PTO lowers your pay $x/hr, health ins. lowers it $y/hr, etc. Factor all that in and close to 50% of your possible pay can be taken out before you ever see it.

j.petrov

Just got done with my meeting with these guys, and over all its a positive one. I'm in the midst of a career change and don't have any prior experience, so that was a big sticking point. They are still going to try and get me an interview for a level 1 helpdesk support job. We'll see what happens. In the mean time I'm gonna keep working on my certificates. Sitting for the ICND 2 next week... Hopefully my A+, N+, and CCNA will help me land something.

Going for Active Directory certificate next... seems like all jobs want this knowledge...

shodown

Tek offered me the highest paying job I have ever encountered. The only problem is that they weren't willing to give a corp to corp or 1099 option.

Everyone

I have worked with Tek Systems recruiters before, they were always very professional. Plus all the ones I worked with were native English speakers, which is a plus for me. They never had jobs that were a good fit for me at any times that I was actually looking for a job, but I can't fault them for that. I also worked at a company that did temp to hire contracts exclusively through Tek Systems. We'd get our Help Desk people from them, and usually hire them on if they did a good job after about 6 months or so.

MrPuzzlez

Well, I've had an interview with them and they were very polite. The only thing is, I've worked at a couple of places in the past that are now shut down and can't find anybody who worked for those companies. I have an A+, but they still need references...

Freestuff212

August resolutions, reply to questions.

I am currently working for Tek Systems, this is the second time. The first time i was "let go" for dating another contractor (she worked for a different comp, in a different department) don't know why I was let go but that's just a side note. When push comes to shove they value the company they hire for over the employees (you as a contractor). Which is understandable. No hard feelings.

Over all I'm still happy with Tek Systems, they have a lot of opportunity's (in most places). Once piece of advice is negotiate your wage don't go crazy but I went from $13.50/hr to $15/hr. Based off my start date (which was 2 days from the offer) and experience.

Good luck!

MiikeB

I have had positive experiences with them. It may be different in entry level, but I have used them for two mid level Sys Admin jobs. Both times the recruiter asked me what I wanted my hourly rate to be, told me if they thought that was low average or high for the position but they would submit me at a rate that would allow them to pay me that.

Both times I got it, the second time I was going to be working with a bunch of other TekSystems people. Because of how much I asked for and got the local manager had a sit down with me to stress the importance of not discussing pay with coworkers.

The important thing to remember here is that Teksystems makes money by filling the contract. If you interview with the main company and they want you then you now have some power over Teksystems to get more money or perks because if the main company doesn't get you, and they have other candidates from other staffing firms then Teksystems might get nothing if the companies second pick is from someone else.

ElGato127

I got in the door through TekSystems, but now I need to know how to get an IT job without going through them or any other temp agencies.

tedjames

Back in 2001-2002 during a long bout with unemployment, I interviewed at TekSystems for a contract position. After applying online and driving way across town for what turned out to be a brief, very general interview (no job-specific questions), they had me fill out a five page application. Then they told me that they didn't actually have any jobs but would call me if something came up. Why the hell did they post a job that they didn't actually have? Thanks for wasting my time!

To be fair, I've known others who had great success with them.

byron66

Start applying to companies directly or get to know people from other companies and see if they could put in a word for you. I left tek systems in October after a 6 month contract.

ElGato127

byron66 wrote: »

Start applying to companies directly or get to know people from other companies and see if they could put in a word for you. I left tek systems in October after a 6 month contract.

How would you suggest getting to know people from other companies? If you try to contact a company it goes nowhere, and if you look for the ad, it just leads to temp agencies. I enjoy working with computers, but it is pretty discouraging when companies won't even do their own hiring.

Dakinggamer87

My experience with TEKSystems was positive overall and they helped me get in the door for IT. So, I would recommend them if your just getting started.

jeremywatts2005

I can vouch that Tek Systems is great especially on the entry level side. They gave countless numbers of my students their first breaks in the field. Most hadn't even graduated yet and were doing desktop rollouts on the weekend. Now those students are working in great jobs because when they got their 2 yr degrees they had in field experience. As a bonus, I had the college pay for their A+ and Net+ certs if they passed and I provided the instructors to train them at no charge. So you had some real ready to go to work folks straight out to the field. In some cases it welfare to working a great job. Life changing for them and something I really enjoyed seeing. A person struggling barely making ends meet to making 40K with benefits and able to actually start providing a decent life for themselves and their kids. I had folks doing the weekend and night rollouts making more money in a week or two than they did in a month or month and a half at a minimum wage job. I even did a contract for a mid-level position with them yrs ago and I stay in touch with their offices to help others when I hear someone is entry level looking for a break.

jeremywatts2005

MrPuzzlez wrote: »

Well, I've had an interview with them and they were very polite. The only thing is, I've worked at a couple of places in the past that are now shut down and can't find anybody who worked for those companies. I have an A+, but they still need references...

Here is how you solve the reference problem. Find someone who is in the field and has been for awhile and have them vouch for your experience professionally. For instance, I have people come to me for a reference they are people I know or people who I know in the field. I do an interview with them and ask them basic tech stuff or stuff applicable to what they would be doing. This is a great way for an entry level guy to get a reference from someone who can professionally vouch for them. I have had several people who I have done this with and they got a job because of the reference I gave them. It's how you help the new guys coming into the field who are good but need a boost to get noticed by the employers because they lack experience and therefore lack references.

alias454

ElGato127 wrote: »

How would you suggest getting to know people from other companies? If you try to contact a company it goes nowhere, and if you look for the ad, it just leads to temp agencies. I enjoy working with computers, but it is pretty discouraging when companies won't even do their own hiring.

It is tough but if you can find local meetups related to IT then you can get yourself out there. That's what i am starting to do now since I want to transition into infosec.