A Recruiter Story, Part I

This conversation came up on Twitter a few weeks ago. There is a perception in the IT community that recruiters are nothing better than bottom feeding, used car salesman. As a point of reference, I’m trying to hire a DBA right now, and I’ve posted to Linked In and Twitter about it, and have had to be hassled by several sleaze bags types. A really good, professional recruiter is hard to find, and if you find one keep their name in your Rolodex forever.

I’ll echo what Brent says in one of his posts—recruiters don’t work for you, and they aren’t the employees of the company you’re trying to work for, they are contracted middle men, who only get paid if you get the job, and typically work there for six months. So remember—you don’t have the same best interests as a recruiter. Also, please note, most of these blogs are written with the perspective that your are currently employed, and looking for a more interesting role, if you’re currently unemployed, all bets are off, you need to try to talk with everyone you can (just don’t work with anyone who asks you for money!!! Major no, no)

The names in this post have been omitted to protect the innocent and the guilty.  This was a story told to me by a fellow DBA who worked with me in past job.

I get a call from a recruiter about a Senior DBA position with a healthcare software company in the area, and the salary range is X-X+25. I told the recruiter that I would really need to be at the very top of the range for this to work. Of course, the recruiter says no problem. This position was interesting to me, because I would be involved a lot more in development, and I could continue to carry my healthcare experience along.

I send my resume along to the recruiter, and their HR likes it and schedules quick phone screen (with HR).  When HR calls me the first question, after pleasantries were exchanged, was “What is your salary range?”, no questions about my experience or details about the role. Of course, I try to back away from the question; by saying., you know I need to hear more about the responsibilities of the position, etc. The HR rep won’t back down, so I say I need to at least be at X+25, she responds with “Oh, we were only looking to pay X, and no more” . So that call ended quickly—I called the recruiter back and told him the story, and he didn’t quite know what to say.

The next day the recruiter calls back, and says the hiring manager would like to talk to you, and that they would be willing to pay X+25 for an extremely qualified candidate such as yourself…

Come back next week for the conclusion to this exciting story!

A recruiter story, Part II