Recruiters

I have the solution to this problem: Don't use recruiters. Even the "honest" recruiters will charge between 17-28% commission of a CTC - so you can work out if this commission is fair when you consider a 300-600K/p.a. CTC placement - i.e. comms is a min of 40K per candidate. I have yet to see the value proposition that could justify a 40K placement fee.

And show me one recruiter who is interested in the job-seeker (this means: has a recruiter actually phoned you / the employer at any time after a candidate was placed)?
 
Actually the really good recruiters always follow up with the job seeker and employer for at least the first 3 months, mostly because there is usually a guarantee involved for the first 3 months.

The also consider a candidate 600K CTC, they are far and few in between and then only a hand full are on the market, compared to candidates with a CTC of 100K of which there are many and a lot are on the market, so they are getting paid for the amount of time going into a placement. And you would be surprised how few placements are actually made in a month.

Sorry for defending here, but just had to mention these facts. If you worked with a recruiter either as job seeker or employer and you never hear from them again then you most likely worked with the recruiters mentioned in the article.
 
MagicDude4Eva said:
And show me one recruiter who is interested in the job-seeker (this means: has a recruiter actually phoned you / the employer at any time after a candidate was placed)?
Click to expand...
There was one recruiter who regularly followed up with me during my first year at the company they helped place me in. Was a pleasant experience it has to be said.

Although this was an exception rather than the norm. The vast majority you never hear from again after your initial meeting with them...
 
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As in any industry you get good and bad ones and it is all about the relationships you build. Some candidates find it difficult to seek alternative opportunities on their own and then are too afraid to stand up to bad recruiters because they think it will affect them with their chances at getting an opportunity at a potential company.

The best advise I can give someone who is working with a recruiter or 20 is that you play open cards with them from the start, if they seem less interested or do not disclose any information about the company they are recruiting for when you have your first discussion, then you know that they are not serious about assisting you.
 
MagicDude4Eva said:
I have the solution to this problem: Don't use recruiters. Even the "honest" recruiters will charge between 17-28% commission of a CTC - so you can work out if this commission is fair when you consider a 300-600K/p.a. CTC placement - i.e. comms is a min of 40K per candidate. I have yet to see the value proposition that could justify a 40K placement fee.

And show me one recruiter who is interested in the job-seeker (this means: has a recruiter actually phoned you / the employer at any time after a candidate was placed)?
Click to expand...

A few corrections.

- recruiters often charge a lot less these days. 12.5% to 15% is normal.
- many recruiters care about their placements partially because their former placements are a great source of good candidates. You look after a candidate and he sends you more people.
So calls on 1st day and after a month or 3 are quite normal

Phoning the employer is even more important after all is the recruiters bread and butter and where threat spec will come from

You have been using the wrong recruiters

Be clear I know nothing about placing call centre agents etc. I have heard terrible things there

This is mybb so we are talking real IT jobs
 
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Biscuit1018 said:
A few corrections.

- recruiters often charge a lot less these days. 12.5% to 15% is normal.
- many recruiters care about their placements partially because their former placements are a great source of good candidates. You look after a candidate and he sends you more people.
So calls on 1st day and after a month or 3 are quite normal

Phoning the employer is even more important after all is the recruiters bread and butter and where threat spec will come from

You have been using the wrong recruiters

Be clear I know nothing about placing call centre agents etc. I have heard terrible things there

This is mybb so we are talking real IT jobs
Click to expand...

Maybe the recruitment environment changed dramatically in the last 5 years, but prior to that I have used every recruiter in this country as part of my various engagements (Vodacom, FNB, SBSA etc) and have worked with some good ones (I can count them on one hand) and some really unethical ones. My statement regarding the recruitment environment is based on the "mainstream recruiters" and not the head-hunters / executive agencies which provide superior service compared to the rest.
 
I dealt with Carmen from Annie Mercer Recruitment and even 2 years after working for the company I'm at, she was still checking up on me to see if I'm happy.
 
Lots of these agencies run out of garages (from home), and are basically bored housewives with zero skills.

Just like dodgy estate agents, and car sales men, you will find business like this EVERYWHERE in every industry imaginable.

What I would suggest is, stick with the reputable agencies. They wouldnt have existed if they didnt add some type of value for both candidate and client.
 
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