Questions on job headhunters & job agencies

[NewJeffCT]

In the past, my wife and I have been contacted by various job agencies / headhunters that would inevitably start with, "I saw your resume on monster.com..." (or careerbuilder or hotjobs, etc)

In my field of accounting & financial reporting, Robert Half / Accountemps is probably the biggest name in the way of a job agency. Is there an equivalent in my wife’s field of Supply Chain / Global Sourcing and/or Purchasing/Procurement?

Normally, they have one specific job in mind that they call you about, and then you probably don't hear from them again for ages (I had one guy call me earlier this year that I had not heard from in almost 4 years!) And, the agency gets a commission or a fee from the hiring company.

However, I think there are also personal "headhunters" that will actively look for a job for you, and if they do find something for you, you give them the fee instead of the hiring company. Is my understanding correct? It seems like this would be a better, but more expensive, way to fin a new job. If might understanding is correct, I would hope to find one for my wife, as she is getting pretty frustrated at her current job. At her level in her career, there are a lot fewer choices for a job than there are in my field of accounting. So, it might be worth it to use a personal headhunter.

Thanks

[AlCzervik]

1. you the looker should never, ever pay a fee to a headhunter

[NewJeffCT]

2. I know that is how it normally works

but, I had thought there were other options?

[AlCzervik]

3. my bil owns a "job placement" company and in my own experience with

head hunters the rule is the seeker never pays. Maybe there is another cottage industry out there that are more like career coaches that you hire to help you improve your resume and sharpen your interviewing skills but i would think that almost all head hunters are paid solely by the companies that contract with them.

[AlCzervik]

4. here is an article worth taking a look at.

http://carolinanewswire.com/news/News.cgi?database=columns.db&command=viewone&id=57

[NewJeffCT]

6. thanks

good article

[Sannum]

5. they are evil

Don't waste your time. Trust me. I get calls all of the time from them. They will say they have a position for you, you will go in, interview with a person who has no idea about your field of interest, you will spend 3 hours doing tests that are useless, and they will call in a week asking if you want to do data entry or stuff envelopes. Which you need an advanced degree for. I have a degree in Marketing Comminications and Art History and I am not qualified for their stuff the majority of the time.

They want to fill a quota. That is it.

[Zomby Woof]

7. A headhunter once told me...

My experience was only worth 25k/year, tops. Then he wanted me to pay $1,000 to shop me around! Thank gawd I was broke and not a sucker. I knew it was shady for that amount of money.

It was sweet proving him wrong when I beat his estimated salary qualifications by far when I landed my next job. :D

[NewJeffCT]

10. that's a hefty fee

My wife once said that in an old company of hers, a headhunter asked for $1,000 just to get a second interview with his client for a job in her area. And, this was for a job that paid like $30,000!!

good for you in finding the better job, too.

[Lady President]

8. Start with the yellow pages

My advice would be to go old school with the yellow pages. I'm also in Sourcing/Procurement, and I don't think there is a prominent national headhunter firm in our field. The yellow pages might direct her to an agency that specialized in professional positions, rather than a generic "buyer" position.

How do you feel about Columbus,OH? I can think of 4 or 5 companies with openings in procurement. :)

Best of luck!

[NewJeffCT]

9. I was contacted a while back about a job in Columbus

I even had a phone interview with a woman in HR at Nationwide in Columbus... but, the person in Columbus that contacted me said that they were re-organizing their finance department at the time, so they'd contact me after that.

Actually, I think it was just about a year ago. (If you scroll back on the Ohio state forum here, you can probably see when I asked about Columbus! Found it from Sept of '05 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=172&topic_id=8150&mesg_id=8150)

However, since that time, I think we've kind of decided that if we move for somebody's job, it would be for my wife's job since it would be easier for me to at least find a temp job in accounting/finance, while it might take her a bit longer if we moved for my job.

I know The Limited companies are in/around Columbus, and that seems right up her alley with her background.

I think my wife has been frustrated because she has had some interviews at some prestigious local companies (GE, UTC) that have gone very well, only to see them go to internal candidates.

[Lady President]

12. Very small world

The "finance focus" re-org. at Nationwide is wrapping up and there is quite a bit hiring happening, so if you're seriously thinking about Columbus, you should re-apply. I'm part of committee that meets at The Limited and that place is so pretty! Everyone has good things to say about it too.

I can sympathize with your wife. I was in a job that I disliked for over a year until I found something in procurement. The strangest thing is that I know of a couple companies that have left positions unfilled for months. There don't seem to be any tangible requirements that are consistent throughout the field-- where I work one team is full of MBAs/JDs, one high school grads with experience, one new college grads with specialized procurement degrees. You just have to flood the market and hope for the best.

Here are some companies that I know have sizable procurement departments in Columbus:
Nationwide
The Limited
JP Morgan Chase
Huntington Bank
Cardinal Health
Abercrobie & Fitch (sp?)

[NewJeffCT]

14. Probably why

Probably why the headhunter that contacted me a year ago about the job at Nationwide recently left me a msg at home.

I had actually heard from a few people that the Limited is a tough place to work - a lot of long, stressful hours. (Like GE in our neck of the woods has that reputation, too)

[NewJeffCT]

11. kicking

for the early evening.

[sendero]

13. I've been looking for a while now..

... and here's what I think I know.

1) never pay a headhunter. they get paid by the employer.

2) way more employers than used to now post their job listings on monster.com, careerbuilder.com craigslist, etc.

3) lots of "recruiters" will post on those same sites jobs that the actual employer has already posted. if you send your resume directly to the employer, you are better off since they won't have to pay any fees.

4) on the other hand, it is true that a portion of recruiters do actual work screening candidates and the employers are happy to pay for it. in other words, some recruiters have a certain confidence level with the employer and that might help you.

The problem is that a large percentage of "recruiters" really don't do much except collect resumes, collate keywords and try to get the client to interview you. Actually, I think the percentage that provide actual value is rising, because they now have to compete with monster et al directly.