IT recruiters, in their own words(cvmountain.com)
cvmountain.com
IT recruiters, in their own words
http://cvmountain.com/2011/08/it-recruiters-considered-harmful
6 comments
You're paying for the recruiter's database of programmers. I get calls from recruiters who first contacted me 5 years ago, from time to time. That database is invaluable in most cities, where programmers are more sparse than in the west coast. If you have to rely only on people who are applying or putting their resume on Monster, CareerBuilder, etc. it can take a long time to find someone competent (I've seen it first hand). But recruiters have no problem calling up people they've placed as recently as a year ago.
The future is dangerous! looking forward advanced recruiters could begin to use API from sites like StackOverflow to retrieve developers with high reputation. Yesterday I just wrote a small post about it since I needed to recruit people for my company around my location (Buenos Aires, Argentina). If you're interested for a responsible use :-) http://blog.databigbang.com/converting-excel-cells-to-hyperl...
That service (reputations from SO, Github, LinkedIn etc) is available: http://strictlydev.com/
So when recruiters contact me (Python, Seattle or telecommuting), what might I ask them to find out whether it's worth my time? I guess first I'd want to know all the things recruiters are influenced by or tend to do that I don't like, and see what I can ask them that would suggest they're less likely to do those things than most.
o Do you get paid a flat-rate?
o What's the difference between Unix and Linux?
o ...Cost: There's more to it than just the filtering and introduction.
Agencies we've worked with have had a guarantee clause. If the person quits within 90 days, the recruiting company pays their salary. If they quit after 90 days, the hiring company pays them.
This gives companies a way to soften the blow of bad recruits, at the cost of higher fees to the recruiter.
It's insurance.
Agencies we've worked with have had a guarantee clause. If the person quits within 90 days, the recruiting company pays their salary. If they quit after 90 days, the hiring company pays them.
This gives companies a way to soften the blow of bad recruits, at the cost of higher fees to the recruiter.
It's insurance.
Just out of curiosity, what happens if the person is fired, instead of quitting?
I'm pretty sure it's the same deal... But I could see how that could cause an integrity issue.
Generally, a company wastes enough time and money training a person that firing and hiring every 89 days wouldn't be worth it.
Generally, a company wastes enough time and money training a person that firing and hiring every 89 days wouldn't be worth it.
I only know one excellent one, one where I could hire all developers unseen from.
Curious what you think makes them excellent - for example, do they do the process differently in any way?
I think that IT recruiters who are more technical in nature (ie were former IT employees) attract more competent IT people and know which candidates are relevant to employers. As a result, the experience from the employer is much more pleasant.
No, all the others either a.) send PHP developers for Java positions or vice versa b.) try to sell you mediocre developers as top notch c.) send you profiles that do not match at all. a+b+c often means, recruiters are worse than the developers that just send you a resume.
Excellent are those that only send you resumes that do fit and represent excellent developers.
I think the process is the same, the results are different.
Excellent are those that only send you resumes that do fit and represent excellent developers.
I think the process is the same, the results are different.