Thread: The Inside Track on Recruiters – Top 10 Tips

>> At least half the recruiters have gotten laid off. The other half need to get laid off too. Agencies for the most part simply do a revolving door of hiring "90 day wonders" and simply getting a new batch every quarter.

...Would you call Robert Half a reputable firm? Because they optimize the type of firm that I wrote the article about... No. That's why I never worked for them, nor ever applied there. They've had a very poor reputation within the Recruiting industry for a very long time. Even when I was a "young upstart" 15 years ago, others told me to stay away from them, since they were only interested in the Ken-and-Barbie types, all...

In the days when agencies were able to bill out at say $90-110 while you could get $70-$90, it made some sense to let them do your marketing for you, but these days when they're not able to bill out for as much, but still want their $30 per hour leaving the contractor with $45, you just can't use them. You have to do your own marketing. I'm an FTE now but I see the contract market all the time, talking to my fellow workers....

My tips (All from real world experience): http://techtoil.org/wiki/doku.php?id=articles:contracting_companies

Want a sure fire way to get recruiters to call you back? To be proactive? To work FOR you? It's so simple, and so few candidates do this. And the higher up the management chain the candidate is, the more effective they can be using this strategy. Interestingly, the higher up the management chain the candidate is, the LESS LIKELY they are to actually do this! It's such an easy way to stand out, such an easy way to get priority and...

Want a sure fire way to get job seekers to call recruiters back? To be proactive? To work FOR you? It's so simple, and so few recruiters do this: 1. Learn something about the skills employers are looking for. Someone with only Windows experience is NOT going to get a Linux job. Learn the different operation systems. Learn the difference between a programming language and a database language. 2. Learn to read an applicant's resume....

Yep, I have another tip for working with recruiters. Keep in touch with the good ones, whether they got you your current job or not. Refer your friends to them. It's safe to say you will need another job eventually so don't burn any bridges.

" YOU WORK FOR THE RECRUITERS!" So my pimp keeps reminding me. You actually here from your pimp. Well aren't you special. I've heard from mine maybe twice and I've been here for 3 1/2 years. But the direct deposit is in my account every Wednesday morning and that's all I care about. Less I hear from them, less chance of getting bad news.

Very good list, uSE. Here's one more which is a little tricky - recruiters, don't work for sleezeball employers. OTOH, that would cut out a whole lot of jobs, wouldn't it? But most of all: EMPLOYERS, HIRE PEOPLE DIRECT - DO NOT USE EXTERNAL RECRUITERS AND AGENCIES WHO SOAK UP 1/3 OF YOUR BUDGET.

So having listed ones to avoid, which firms would you recommend, if any?