[POLL] Recruiters?

Agency recruiters - can be quite the valuable resource or a nightmare.


Curious who has worked with recruiters, and what those experiences looked like.


What about the opportunity/process/recruiter appealed to you? What turned you off?


Looking for some honest feedback to incorporate into my candidate-facing tactics.

Ever worked with an agency recruiter?

Attached poll
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🏰 War Stories
👥 Hiring
🤷‍♂ Poll
2
LordBusiness
Politicker
2
Chief Revenue Officer
I would say it went "Ok" - most are decent but they only really care about what the biggest client they have at the time, so if you are a high spender with them you'll get a lot of love, if you don't (or turn down enough of their "high qualified candidates") they tend to lose a bit of interest and move on to greener pastures.  The biggest challenge is they are solely focused on filling the slot, so they tend to sell the hell out of candidates who aren't within your search criteria. 
BigCheese
Notorious Answer
0
Agency Recruiter
This is an extremely accurate generalization.

I, myself, and money motivated, but I also care about the people I'm recruiting and looking out for them. Pays off in the long run as well, with long-lasting relationships and referrals. I can't stand the complete lack of human to human empathy that some recruiters have - even the ones who can't recruit for shit.
HarryCaray
Notable Contributor
2
HMFIC
I've always been curious, since there's no direct cost to the candidate, to the employers get that back from your base salary or potential sign-on bonus?
pitchandputt
Executive
2
Account Executive
Recruiters typically charge the employer 10-25% of a candidate's first year salary as their fee. 
BigCheese
Notorious Answer
0
Agency Recruiter
Yeah, permanent placement sits right about there - my company does 20% which is the average for our industry. 

For contract roles, the client pays us per hour, and we pay the employee an hourly rate based on that. Typically look to stay in the 20-30% GP range - sometimes lower, sometimes higher.
pitchandputt
Executive
2
Account Executive
Definitely depends on the recruiter. A lot of them have extremely poor processes and have no interest in improving them - a simple CRM would dramatically help a lot of them but so many just go for a rolodex/"I'll remember them" type system for reasons I can't really fathom.

As a candidate, sure, there's no $ cost (if there is, run for the hills), but I've dealt with recruiters that really talked me up and their ability to find me jobs... And then I would get deflated when they failed to deliver. Very often, I got ghosted even when I followed up several times. 

For me, it's not worth it at all for the emotional rollercoaster that many recruiters put you on, especially when LinkedIn and Indeed are full of solid job postings.
BigCheese
Notorious Answer
1
Agency Recruiter
I have quite a few recruiter friends outside of my company and I'm unaware of any that don't use a CRM, but a lack of organization, poor data entry, and blatant incompetence is definitely a plague in the industry.

Recruiters will blue ball you for sure. They'll hype you up for a role, telling you you're the perfect fit, truly hoping you get it, but there are already 25 submissions from other agencies. I would say that lack of coming through is only on the recruiter a portion of the time in these scenarios, but they could've been more transparent with the process.


Corp's video on recruiters from 2 or so years ago is pretty spot on.
slaydie
Big Shot
2
Account Executive
I tried once and had a bad experience. I felt like I was a commodity and just being pushed into these interviews which I didn't know much about. It felt like they just wanted to get people in front of their clients.  It was a pushy experience which left a sour taste in my mouth. Totally acknowledge not every recruiter is like this so I would be willing to try again but I'm definitely not seeking one out.
BigCheese
Notorious Answer
1
Agency Recruiter
Yeah fair enough. A lot of the larger staffing firms have unhealthy metrics and quotas where this becomes a common experience. 

Used to work at one of those and felt quite unethical trying to hit my numbers.
funcoupons
WR Officer
1
👑
I'm an ex-agency recruiter, would definitely consider working with one in my own job search. Since it doesn't cost me anything as a candidate, I think it would be silly not to use them to my advantage when needed.


BigCheese
Notorious Answer
1
Agency Recruiter
Yeah, I'm with you. Given you're working with a solid recruiter. I'm not trying to get recruited just be kept warm on a role for 6 weeks and then ghosted. Lots of recruiters are some shady peeps that I would not want representing me in my job search.
funcoupons
WR Officer
1
👑
Oh for sure...there are way more terrible recruiters than excellent ones. You need to choose wisely.
CaneWolf
Politicker
1
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
I would say it's been a mixed bag. I think the big key is finding somebody who actually gives a shit, which isn't always easy. For the recruiting agency, you're the product to at least a degree, so you become a commodity. Specific recruiters might care about you though.
BigCheese
Notorious Answer
0
Agency Recruiter
Yeah, candidates are literally just a dollar sign to a lot of recruiters which is the biggest ethical problem in the industry - also what gives us such a bad rep. Like @funcouponssaid, there are way more terrible recruiters than excellent ones.
NorthernSalesGuru
Politicker
1
Manager, Outbound Sales
I’ve worked with agency and independents. 

totally depends on the role and such, but I go independent day and night (speaking from a hiring perspective)
BigCheese
Notorious Answer
0
Agency Recruiter
How have your experiences differed from each other? I'm quite curious.
GetAHobby
Arsonist
1
RVP Sales
If you are the right candidate its a great experience, if they are just trying to throw candidates in front of a hiring manager it stinks. I'm in my current role by working with a recruiter and they prepped me for all interviews, and even helped negotiate my comp. 
BigCheese
Notorious Answer
0
Agency Recruiter
Good for you! I agree with you that these are two of the most common experiences.
7

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Advice
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Invest the time to educate
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[Poll] LinkedIn Recruiters

Question
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How do you feel about LinkedIn Recruiters?
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45
Members only

Do you answer recruiters?

Discussion
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