Comments on: lies, damned lies and recruitment agents http://www.cheezhead.com/2009/07/21/lies-damned-lies-and-recruitment-agents/ Insight and opinion from the world of employment. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:01:22 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Graham Findlay http://www.cheezhead.com/2009/07/21/lies-damned-lies-and-recruitment-agents/comment-page-1/#comment-119259 Graham Findlay Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:44:00 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/?p=5836#comment-119259 Brasco, Donald "Was the writer also upset when he found out they charged money for ice cream cones?" No way, but I was when the recruiter licked it, charged extra and said they'd added value! ;-) Brasco, Donald
“Was the writer also upset when he found out they charged money for ice cream cones?”

No way, but I was when the recruiter licked it, charged extra and said they’d added value! ;-)

]]> By: Graham Findlay http://www.cheezhead.com/2009/07/21/lies-damned-lies-and-recruitment-agents/comment-page-1/#comment-119258 Graham Findlay Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:42:06 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/?p=5836#comment-119258 Scottthekyhrguy, My heart really bleeds for those poor recruiters....if you can't make money from a 33% markup then you look pretty inefficient to me! Glad that in your HR position you won't work with vendors (recruiters) who treat employees badly, but I guess that is a question of perception too! ;-) Scottthekyhrguy,
My heart really bleeds for those poor recruiters….if you can’t make money from a 33% markup then you look pretty inefficient to me!

Glad that in your HR position you won’t work with vendors (recruiters) who treat employees badly, but I guess that is a question of perception too! ;-)

]]> By: Graham Findlay http://www.cheezhead.com/2009/07/21/lies-damned-lies-and-recruitment-agents/comment-page-1/#comment-119257 Graham Findlay Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:37:02 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/?p=5836#comment-119257 Jim, Maybe that's the picture for the executive recruiters, but for the rest of us I expect it's a much bigger percentage. Jim,
Maybe that’s the picture for the executive recruiters, but for the rest of us I expect it’s a much bigger percentage.

]]> By: Graham Findlay http://www.cheezhead.com/2009/07/21/lies-damned-lies-and-recruitment-agents/comment-page-1/#comment-119256 Graham Findlay Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:35:14 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/?p=5836#comment-119256 Hi Jonathan, You were lucky with 3 calls from teh recruiter. Normally I get a call from the client (not the recruiter) or sometimes respond to an ad online. The only other time I get a call is a week before the end of the contract when they ask if I know what is happening! Hi Jonathan,
You were lucky with 3 calls from teh recruiter. Normally I get a call from the client (not the recruiter) or sometimes respond to an ad online.

The only other time I get a call is a week before the end of the contract when they ask if I know what is happening!

]]> By: Graham Findlay http://www.cheezhead.com/2009/07/21/lies-damned-lies-and-recruitment-agents/comment-page-1/#comment-119255 Graham Findlay Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:32:36 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/?p=5836#comment-119255 Michaela, Thanks for backing me up. I know there are some good recruiters out there, but their "customer care" has really gone out the window. Michaela,
Thanks for backing me up. I know there are some good recruiters out there, but their “customer care” has really gone out the window.

]]> By: Graham Findlay http://www.cheezhead.com/2009/07/21/lies-damned-lies-and-recruitment-agents/comment-page-1/#comment-119254 Graham Findlay Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:31:16 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/?p=5836#comment-119254 Hi Steve, Sure, it is a statement of a lot of worse case scenarios, but all the things I mention have and still DO happen. Do I "honestly think that anyone who behaved like this would still be in business"? Yes, most of them unfortunately still are! A lot of the time, the client has really no idea about how bad these recruiters (agencies) are. Hi Steve,
Sure, it is a statement of a lot of worse case scenarios, but all the things I mention have and still DO happen.

Do I “honestly think that anyone who behaved like this would still be in business”? Yes, most of them unfortunately still are! A lot of the time, the client has really no idea about how bad these recruiters (agencies) are.

]]> By: Brasco,Donald http://www.cheezhead.com/2009/07/21/lies-damned-lies-and-recruitment-agents/comment-page-1/#comment-119202 Brasco,Donald Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:50:58 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/?p=5836#comment-119202 Was the writer also upset when he found out they charged money for ice cream cones. Was the writer also upset when he found out they charged money for ice cream cones.

]]> By: scottthekyhrguy http://www.cheezhead.com/2009/07/21/lies-damned-lies-and-recruitment-agents/comment-page-1/#comment-119174 scottthekyhrguy Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:25:28 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/?p=5836#comment-119174 Graham I've been on all three sides of the temp/contractor relationship. I've been a contractor, I've been a recruiter and I'm currently an HR Manager. Much of what you mention in your post is perception, but it's very far from reality. The last staffing firm for which I worked had a 33% mark up over W-2 for a high volume, Fortune 500 company. We were the "tier 1" company and we used several tier 2, niche companies for areas outside our expertise. We drove a pretty hard bargain with the tier 2 over their mark up, but that never had a detrimental effect on the pay the candidate received. It was truly a mark up. It actually benefited us to pay the candidate more. Think about it -- we mark 33% up on $100/hour, we're dealing with more revenue than if we marked 33% up on $10/hour. With that 33% we had to pay all of the statutory costs on the candidate (matching Social Security taxes, federal taxes, State Unemployment Insurance, etc...). We also had to pay to keep the lights on, the rent, the internet connections and computers, and the salaries of the recruitment team out of that 33%. We eaked out a few pennies an hour per employee and were only profitable because we had so many people working there. Now I'm on the other side of the equation. I won't continue working with any vendors who treat their employees badly. There are some super shady recruiters out there -- especially when you deal with the contingency search people who only get paid when a deal is closed. But I really believe this is a case of the perception being much more negative than the reality. Graham I’ve been on all three sides of the temp/contractor relationship. I’ve been a contractor, I’ve been a recruiter and I’m currently an HR Manager. Much of what you mention in your post is perception, but it’s very far from reality. The last staffing firm for which I worked had a 33% mark up over W-2 for a high volume, Fortune 500 company. We were the “tier 1″ company and we used several tier 2, niche companies for areas outside our expertise. We drove a pretty hard bargain with the tier 2 over their mark up, but that never had a detrimental effect on the pay the candidate received. It was truly a mark up. It actually benefited us to pay the candidate more.

Think about it — we mark 33% up on $100/hour, we’re dealing with more revenue than if we marked 33% up on $10/hour. With that 33% we had to pay all of the statutory costs on the candidate (matching Social Security taxes, federal taxes, State Unemployment Insurance, etc…). We also had to pay to keep the lights on, the rent, the internet connections and computers, and the salaries of the recruitment team out of that 33%. We eaked out a few pennies an hour per employee and were only profitable because we had so many people working there.

Now I’m on the other side of the equation. I won’t continue working with any vendors who treat their employees badly. There are some super shady recruiters out there — especially when you deal with the contingency search people who only get paid when a deal is closed. But I really believe this is a case of the perception being much more negative than the reality.

]]> By: Jim Johnston http://www.cheezhead.com/2009/07/21/lies-damned-lies-and-recruitment-agents/comment-page-1/#comment-119135 Jim Johnston Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:47:54 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/?p=5836#comment-119135 Executive recruiters only get 15% of all searches across the board and fill half of them. I think we are making them seem like a bigger part of the job hunting process then they really are. Executive recruiters only get 15% of all searches across the board and fill half of them. I think we are making them seem like a bigger part of the job hunting process then they really are.

]]> By: jonathan http://www.cheezhead.com/2009/07/21/lies-damned-lies-and-recruitment-agents/comment-page-1/#comment-119127 jonathan Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:14:32 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/?p=5836#comment-119127 LOL'd at this Once had a job through an agency Had three calls from them during the term of the (management) contract One to say I had got the job Two to ask me to send in bank details and the like Three to find out where my invoice was (this was after the contract had been finished 3 weeks. Oh and I got time sheets through the post for about a year after every week with out fail... LOL’d at this

Once had a job through an agency

Had three calls from them during the term of the (management) contract

One to say I had got the job

Two to ask me to send in bank details and the like

Three to find out where my invoice was (this was after the contract had been finished 3 weeks.

Oh and I got time sheets through the post for about a year after every week with out fail…

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