Job Hunting

[cguy]

I've only had positive experiences with recruiters...

Not sure why they are hated so much.
Because of recruiters our salaries are always increasing and we are constantly aware of more opportunities.

Mostly the same here. Recruiters have been instrumental in several of my bigger career moves.

The only two negatives I've had, has been one recruiter who lied to me about the job title, compensation structure, and rank in the company. The same recruiter also told at least one of my coleagues about my job search.

The other negative experience with a recruiter, was one that told me that the employer had agree to my terms, when they hadn't and hen proceeded to berate me for changingthe terms at the last minute (when their agreement was explicitly in an email with the terms listed in point form).

In the case of the first one, I really didn't care if my employer found out I was looking - it meant they would try to retain me harder. Not everyone is in such a position so it definitely warrants caution - extremely unprofessional on the recruiters part. For the second one, I told them to **** off, and have never dealt with the firm since, and have steered others (big ticket candidates) away from them.

 

[Gnome]

Free soda loses its novelty pretty damn fast.

Yep. Did that for my first year, then decided I won't drink any more fizzy water. Ever.

That said, there are some veterans I work with that still drink one every day.
Different strokes right

Agreed. The vast majority of the SV firm hires have degrees, and they filter out most applicants based on their degrees, however, when a very experienced non-degree candidate comes along, they consider them, and sometimes hire them. A blanket rule about "degrees only" and being non-negotiable is idiotic.

Yep, pretty much what most companies do.

However I suspect some of the contracts that companies like Entelect deal with are probably with finance institutions or old school corporates.
Contracting to them, people without degrees, may create the "impression" that you "peddle" subpar skills.

While I say this, keep in mind that perceptions are incredible important in corporate environments.
Golfing and comparing the size of your c#@ks are pass times in many managerial situations.

I wouldn't be surprised that a policy like degrees only allow you to skip a lot of possible criticism from said environments.

 

[Gnome]

Mostly the same here. Recruiters have been instrumental in several of my bigger career moves.

The only two negatives I've had, has been one recruiter who lied to me about the job title, compensation structure, and rank in the company. The same recruiter also told at least one of my coleagues about my job search.

The other negative experience with a recruiter, was one that told me that the employer had agree to my terms, when they hadn't and hen proceeded to berate me for changingthe terms at the last minute (when their agreement was explicitly in an email with the terms listed in point form).

In the case of the first one, I really didn't care if my employer found out I was looking - it meant they would try to retain me harder. Not everyone is in such a position so it definitely warrants caution - extremely unprofessional on the recruiters part. For the second one, I told them to **** off, and have never dealt with the firm since, and have steered others (big ticket candidates) away from them.

I mean I've had some dodgy offer VIA a recruiter. Like a company in Cape Town that sells electricity. A very big company. They still sell electricity
As part of my "interview" they wanted me to write a program for them that buys and sells electricity.

So they sent me the specifications of the API calls for a credit card payment gateway and the electricity integration API for the City of Cape Town along with usernames and passwords to access said servers. (apparently their "dev" credentials with said servers). The total doc they sent me was around 30-40 pages of info. All in all, I estimate at least 3 weeks of full time work.

Then asked me to code it up and send it along and then they would interview me "further" for a possible offer.
Needless to say I told them to go fornicate themselves.

 

[cguy]

Yep. Did that for my first year, then decided I won't drink any more fizzy water. Ever.

That said, there are some veterans I work with that still drink one every day.
Different strokes right


Yep, pretty much what most companies do.

However I suspect some of the contracts that companies like Entelect deal with are probably with finance institutions or old school corporates.
Contracting to them, people without degrees, may create the "impression" that you "peddle" subpar skills.

While I say this, keep in mind that perceptions are incredible important in corporate environments.
Golfing and comparing the size of your c#@ks are pass times in many managerial situations.

I wouldn't be surprised that a policy like degrees only allow you to skip a lot of possible criticism from said environments.

Certainly sounds plausible. I recall receiving various consulting firm booklets in the late 80's and early 90's (pretty sure Anderson Consulting was one of them), trying to attract candidates - they just wanted you to have a degree - didn't care in what...

 

[semaphore]

I've only had positive experiences with recruiters...

Not sure why they are hated so much.
Because of recruiters our salaries are always increasing and we are constantly aware of more opportunities.

Not sure if you're asking me why the hate for recruiters? Because I was actually supporting them.

 

[zippy]

Certainly sounds plausible. I recall receiving various consulting firm booklets in the late 80's and early 90's (pretty sure Anderson Consulting was one of them), trying to attract candidates - they just wanted you to have a degree - didn't care in what...

Accenture still pretty much the same. Afaik, they only take graduates here in the U.K. Was my first job in the U.K. They used to recruit primarily from the universities.