Recruiting firms...

[jayken]

How exactly does going through a recruiting firm differ from getting directly hired?

How does it affect pay/benefits, job security, etc?

Will be meeting someone from Aerotek Monday.

 

[GregLocock]

I'd say I've got roughly 50% of my jobs via agencies or headhunters. It makes no odds.

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Recruiters in general are okay, but there are exceptions.

Don't go.





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Zogzog]

Recruiters usually charge the hiring company a fee for finding you, can be as high as 50% of your salary. I always believed that if a company is going to make you an offer and they have to pay a percentage of that to a recruiter that offer would be lower than it would be on a direct hire, someone has to make up the difference and it most likely will be you. Just my viewpoint.

 

[GregLocock]

Whereas my attitude is that if a company decides to outsource its recruitment process it is likely to be to save money. I'm not expecting a pay rise because of that!

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[vc66]

My girlfriend actually works for Aerotek. Apparently, and this is what I figured--if you're going for a contract position, the recruiter is trying to get as much as he/she can from the company, and then will tell you that they only offered you so much (probably BS, because they make the difference). If you're going through a recruiter for direct hire job, then it is to their benefit to maximize your salary, because with a direct hire the recruiting firm gets a percentage of what you make.

Hope this helps. Either way, good luck.

V

Mechanical Engineer
"When I am working on a problem, I do not think of beauty, but when I've finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong."

- R. Buckminster Fuller

 

[BJC]

Aerotek is the Wal-mart of temp agencies.
They are a temp agencie not a recruiting firm.

 

[jayken]

interesting responses... I'll still head over tomorrow to see what he has to say... big thanks for the insights. Is this something I should treat like an interview, or something I can just were a nice pair of jeans and a semi-profesional shirt to?

 

[DonPE]

Some temp agencies are like pimps. They are not interested in your career, just what you can do for them. They'll try to pimp you out to any employer needing an engineer, even if the type of engineering they do isn't what you want to do.

They prey off of those just graduating and those early in their careers. If you ever send them a resume, they will harass you, even many years later, and contact you at your current company to try to get you to work for them.

The recruiting firm is your employer for the period of the contract. As a temp/contract employee, you will not be accruing vacation time, 401K, or other pension, with the client company.

I'm not sure, but this may also effect your ability to obtain a professional license, since you are working for an employment company, not an engineering company, and your actual supervisor is not an engineer, but a recruiter. Maybe other people have more information on this.

 

[zdas04]

The only time I ever sought out a headhunter, I did the whole interview thing (Brooks Brothers suit, Johnson & Murphy shoes, resume on 35 lb paper, etc.) and the guy was in jeans (and the jobs he pointed me to were what I was doing with different faces). I've had several of them take me to lunch and THEY always wore the Brooks Brothers while I wore what I wore to work.

If you hope for something good to come from this, dress up. I it is a fishing expedition, wear fishing clothes.

David

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

http://www.muleshoe-eng.com

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

The harder I work, the luckier I seem

 

[csd72]

They are vampires. Use them only when you have to, and certainly dont trust them.

Remember that once you get introduced to an employer you are contractually obliged to go through them for up to a certain time period(can be up to a year) even if it is not the same job.

 

[BJC]

Aerotek was notorious for "broadcasting" your resume.
You send them your resume for a particular job, they send it out to a dozen places that may or not be close to what you do or want.
For some reason you don't want or get the job that you applied for. Time pases and a couple of months later you see another job with another temp firm "B" and you apply for that job. You didn't know it but Aeroteck sent them you resume two months before. The company with the job has two submittals for and both temp firms claim they submitted you. They will both want the fee your employment generates. The company with the job rather than get in the middle of the fight will pass you up and go on to the next canidate.
If you submitt a resume to a temp firm tell them to submitt it only with your specific permission.

 

[KENAT]

Hope I'm not too late-

BJC obviously has heard of or experienced some issues with Aerotek, as by the sounds of it have others.

I actually got my current job through them and when you bear in mind that they are in it to make money and all that goes with it, found them to be OK, although I don't know how much of that was just my recruiter who was always really helpfull.

It was a temp to perm position, my now employer was actually using them more as a recruiting firm. They'd been unable to find someone with the right combination of skills/experience and so were using aerotek to help. It was temp to begin with as a 'try before you buy' type situation. I was working for the agency for almost 7 months before I went permanent, my immediate boss & his boss wanted to make me direct sooner but internal company politics prevented this (the whole department was temporary pending proving its worth).

In my situation Aeroteks fees were based around breaking even after a year. That is if I'd contracted for a year then it wouldn't have cost my employer to take me on direct. As I went direct after only 7 months it cost them (quite a lot as I recall), had I gone direct sooner it would have cost even more. I couldn't work for my current employer for I think it was a year witout going through aerotek.

Aerotek didn't want me to even mention money with my actual boss at the company but he brought it up and ended up talking up aeroteks initial offer by a few dollars an hour to make sure he got me.

How does it affect pay/benefits, job security, etc?

Pay - in theory I got more per hour than I would have direct. In practice when I got made direct I got a small pay rise + benefits etc. however this was because I'd impressed my boss & his boss and they went to bat for me. I don't believe this is typical, as I understand it often times when you go from temp to direct you actually get a pay cut since they count benefits etc as part of your salary.

Benefits - I was eligable for healthcare through aerotech after a month or so as I recall. However it was pretty expensive so I didnt' take it up. I believe they had a 401k too but again I did't partake as it was originally only meant to be a few months. As I recall you started to earn vacation time after a certain number of hours, I think it was equivalent to about a year full time, so I never got any paid time off.

Job security - well that's something of a joke these days anyway, at least where I am. We've had some layoffs since I went direct. In theory they got rid of temps first before directs. In practice they have at least one temp still who was kept while around 20% of directs have been let go from my site in the last year or so (including unfilled positions eliminated).

As to the interview, treat it like you would any other with regards to what you wear. As such I'd expect at least shirt & tie, preferably suit.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[jayken]

well i went to my meeting today and came out pretty pleased with how i can view aerotek... it seems to jive with what kenat was saying, a contract-to-hire type situation. Unfortunately no openings for EE's, so I'll be waiting / continuing my search.

 

[Comcokid]

Recruiters, headhunters, meat-packers, resume-sharks - just a few of the 'more postable' names by which they may be called. There are good ones, and there are bad ones. The bad ones, both individuals and some entire firms, create enough problems to taint the whole industry. But find a good one and you may use him/her dependably for years.

Also, there are companies that will use recruiters, and companies that will not. What I've observed over time is that employers who use recruiters tend to more often be companies that are looking for true-talent. Many companies that do not use recruiters tend to only be interested in employees at the lowest cost, and this 'cheap' approach may carry to all aspects of the company. There are exceptions to this general rule, and that is where the less reputable recuriting firms are involved - second rate employers may use less reputable recruiting firms so there is always new 'meat' in the queue at the front door as exasperated employees are exiting the rear. Hence the term "meat-packer".

There are web sites by which you can learn more about the recruiting process, and how it can go wrong, such as asktheheadhunter <dot> com <slash> articles. I learned quite a bit by reading the short articles there.

 

[rcooper]

I'm in the UK. I have had two jobs, one I found myself and the second through a recruitment agency. I found the recruitment agency knew more of the potential employers in my market and had a higher expectation of what I could earn. I couldn't believe how much my current employer offered to pay me. On the other hand, I had to be prepared to say no to any jobs I did not like. I thoroughly researched any companies who were approached on my behalf and had several telephone interviews and grilled them about the work. In the end I am working for a fantastic company.

 

[MikeHalloran]

That last is important. If _you_ don't grill _them_, you didn't have an interview.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Noway2]

I was once given a piece of advice that I suspect applies to everyone here.

During a recent job interview the interviewer said, "At your level, you are interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you".

I believe that his words are true, regardless of the level of the employee.

 

[JamesBarlow]

Despite what they might say, it's important to remember that the recruiter works for the employer, not you. They are not going to work to get you as much money as possible but to get a candidate to take a position for the money the company wants to pay.

As has already been said, some are great and some are not. The great ones are really great. They do their own homework and really comunicate. The bad ones are really really bad. I have been sent to interviews for positions that I had zero interest in because the recruiter either didn't know or lied about the position. I have also had a recruite try and convince be that I was being over paid for my current skills to get me to take an offer below what I was currently making.

Overall my experience with recruiters has been good and my current positon was thru one, but you just need to be aware and understand the relationship.

 

[Gymmeh]

I went to an interview for a drafter position because the recruiter said it was a design engineer position... obviously wasting my time and the other company’s time.