Does anyone work in recruiting?

Going to Cali

Going to Cali

Going to Cali

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23 Aug 2004
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I studied computer science and since graduating have a couple of years industry experience in software implementations. I took the opportunity to take 6 months travelling and am back on the job hunt.

I had a phone call today from a recruitment firm based in central london. They had found my CV (not sure where!?) and after a short chat asked If I would like to come down for an interview.

I know very little about recruiting aside from my own experiences with firms. My impression is that it's basically selling CV's to companies and getting the commission. I'll most likely interview, good practice and a chance to see what they have to offer but I'd like to hear anyone's perception of the job if you're involved in that field. Thanks!
 
If it's a good recruitment firm/consultancy then they can be very useful.

I've used the Graduate Recruitment Bureau, Goodman Masson, and a couple of others before, all of whom were very good, helpful and got me a fair few interviews without the hassle of application forms.

In fact I got my current job through the Graduate Recruitment Bureau :).
 
alx said:
If it's a good recruitment firm/consultancy then they can be very useful.

I've used the Graduate Recruitment Bureau, Goodman Masson, and a couple of others before, all of whom were very good, helpful and got me a fair few interviews without the hassle of application forms.

In fact I got my current job through the Graduate Recruitment Bureau :).
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I think you misunderstood, they've asked me to interview for a position working for them.
 
Going to Cali said:
I studied computer science and since graduating have a couple of years industry experience in software implementations. I took the opportunity to take 6 months travelling and am back on the job hunt.

I had a phone call today from a recruitment firm based in central london. They had found my CV (not sure where!?) and after a short chat asked If I would like to come down for an interview.

I know very little about recruiting aside from my own experiences with firms. My impression is that it's basically selling CV's to companies and getting the commission. I'll most likely interview, good practice and a chance to see what they have to offer but I'd like to hear anyone's perception of the job if you're involved in that field. Thanks!
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Most people hate them but theres sadly a load of jobs you'll never be able to find out about unless you go via a recruiter.

In general recruiters work like this:

Find your CV.
Contact you with a job spec they think you'll like.
Only if you agree to apply via them will they let you know the company name.
Ask the company if they're interested.
Get a large sum of cash upon you being hired, and possibly more based on you passing probation.


I guess you can make pretty good money doing it, and your experience may help you be a better than average recruiter. I believe its largely commision based though, and you might struggle to get back into IT if you spend too long out of it. So just depends what you'd like basically. :)

Going to Cali said:
I think you misunderstood, they've asked me to interview for a position working for them.
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That wasn't immediately clear. :P
 
Going to Cali said:
I think you misunderstood, they've asked me to interview for a position working for them.
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are you 1000 % sure ?

Its quite common for recruitment companys to ask you to come "down for an interview" before the put you on the books.

Have they actually confirmed the position is working for them and they're not sizing you up for a job with one of the clients on their books ?

This is the usual tactic they take.
 
That's alright then. I've heard it all before so wanted you to be sure there was no room for misunderstanding.

What role are you interviewing for ? Recruitment consultants are cut throat, two faced, bonus led, will usually trample over anybody and everybody to get what they want. Treat people like cattle.

They are a necessary evil however and the relationship can work if you can get them their commission and keep their clients happy.
 
Job agencies are scum, they'll tell you anything if they believe they can sell you as they work for commission. What they do is advertise jobs on behalf of companies and then find people's CVs through jobs sites and send them for interviews. If the company then employs them they get something like 16% of the employees wage as a fee paid by the employer.

MW
 
I used to work in headhunting, so seen as almost worse than recruiters. I used to poach people from their jobs for mine. Work in IT now and glad I do, but you learn some great skills as a youngen.

You just need to remember a few things, like as an agency they'll promise you the world and only deliver if you deliver their challenging targets set out from your from the outset.

As said above, it works generally like:

They will have PSL's that they're on (preferred suppliers lists) and a company will send them a number of JD's for roles.

They then hunt around for as many CV's for these roles as possible (job sites, linked in etc.)

Interview all the CV's they find (as some will be not good for this role, but for others that they've had off other clients)

See if they can find a match.

Get their commission (which is a lot less than it used to be! We used to charge 33% for a direct headhunt of say, a director on 100k, which left us 33k!)

The thing you really need to watch out for is communication. They have so many "candidates" that they're talking to, you get mugged off by recruiters quite a bit. So they won't get back to you or you will need to keep on at them, and please do! But when you find a good recruiter that keeps you in the loop, calls you on days to see if you're doing OK, what your position is etc. This is one to keep in touch with.

Summary: You can earn some good money, and learn some good business skills. Just don't end up one of the tards chasing targets and becoming a douche to all the people you deal with. :P
 
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