Working with an Outside Recruiter: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
by Jeremy McCarthy, CEO, VentureLoop
When you decide to get into job search mode, whether or not
to work with an outside recruiter can be an important decision. Do they help your chances? Do they hurt your chances? How do you find a good one?
The Basics
Contrary to popular belief, recruiters do not help you find
jobs. Recruiters are paid by their
corporate clients to find candidates, and they work for those corporate clients. That means that right out of the gate you
need to adjust your expectations and realize that recruiters are not there to
help you find a job, and you should never expect them to act that way. If you run across a recruiter who offers to
help you find a job for a fee, run the other way. Fast.
Now that doesn’t mean recruiters aren’t nice people who can
be very helpful with your job search. Many recruiters are networked into great opportunities and can expose
you to jobs you would have difficulty finding on your own. But the sooner you understand that recruiters
do not exist to help you find a job, the happier you will be with the
experience of working with them.
Types of Recruiters
Outside recruiters generally fall into three categories: Contingency, Retained/Contained, and
Temp/Contractor. Contingency means that the recruiter
only gets paid by a company once the company hires a candidate. Fees for this service generally run 15-30% of
the candidate’s salary. Contingency recruiters
generally work on mid-level to high-level positions, and multiple recruiting
firms can work on the same position. Retained/Contained recruiters get paid a
retainer to work on a search for a company. They are generally entitled to keep this retainer regardless of success
on the search, and they get an exclusive right to work on the opening. They tend to work on senior management and
C-level (CEO, CIO, COO, etc.) positions or those that are extremely difficult
to fill. Fees can run from 25-40% of a
candidate’s compensation and often run over $100,000 for a single search. Temp/Contractor
recruiters recruit candidates for temporary positions or for short and
long-term contracts. Many of these are
“temp-to-perm” opportunities where the person might be given an offer for
employment after some time on contract. The level of job a Temp/Contractor recruiter works on varies widely from
administrative to even C-level roles.
The Good
Working with outside recruiters can gain you access to jobs
that you wouldn’t know about otherwise. Many companies do not advertise some of their jobs and work with
recruiters to help them fill the positions. Sometimes openings are also confidential, and only the recruiter knows
they exist. If you are a passive
candidate, a recruiter can also be helpful in filtering opportunities to you. They can keep an eye open for certain
positions, so you don’t have to spend your valuable time searching on your own.
Recruiters can also be very good at helping you understand
the market for compensation and helping in the negotiation phase. They work with job openings every day, and
they have an insight into the market that most outsiders do not have. Utilizing them as an independent negotiator
for your offer can also help diffuse any hard feelings that might come out of a
difficult and prolonged negotiation.
The Bad
Sometimes recruiters can actually hurt your chances of
landing a position. Because of the fees
charged by a recruiting firm, a company might be hesitant to pursue you for a
position in order to avoid paying a large fee. If you hook up with a few bad recruiters, they often spread your resume
across the board and give you a reputation of being unfocused and desperate to
find work. I have seen situations where
the same candidate was presented by four different recruiting firms. That does not look good. A very small percentage of all jobs are
actually filled by outside recruiters. You should not plan to use a recruiting firm as your only resource in a
job search.
The Ugly
There are a lot of bad recruiters and recruiting firms out
there. The “headhunter” reputation does
not come without merit. Recruiters can
make a lot of money placing people in companies, and the barrier to entry for
being a recruiter is very low. That
means some unscrupulous people focused on making money are attracted to the
recruiting industry, and they care more about closing the deal than making a
good match. Unfortunately, they often
misrepresent facts in order to place a candidate in a job, and you end up being
hurt in the end.
So should I use a
recruiter?
The answer is, it depends. How’s that for advice? If you are
a more junior level candidate, then you would be best served working with a
temp firm recruiter if you are out of work and looking for other
opportunities. Companies rarely pay
contingency or retained/contained recruiters to fill more junior level
positions. As a mid-level candidate, it
makes sense to work with one or two select recruiters that specialize in your
field and have a solid reputation. But
only do that if you’re serious about actively pursuing a new position. You will turn off recruiters if you are
kicking tires and not ready to pursue a good opportunity should it be
presented. Executive level candidates
should always be developing relationships with retained/contained
recruiters. Most C-level jobs are not
advertised publicly and may only be accessible through a retained search
firm. Having a relationship with a few
retained search firms can give you valuable access to positions that open up in
top management.
Finding a Recruiter
The best way to find a good recruiter is to network. And look for a good individual recruiter, not
just a good recruiting firm. There are
good and bad recruiters in every recruiting firm, so you will want to find one
with whom you are comfortable. Where do
they hang out? Well, the good ones
attend just about every networking event on the planet. Get out and meet them at networking events
while you are networking with others in your job search. Research their backgrounds online and see if anyone has written negatively about them. You should also ask people in your industry
who they use or recommend. Ask who they
might have used for their own search or who they use to find people for hire their
organization.
How to work with a
recruiter
It is important that you define the relationship up
front. Let them that you do not want
them to send your resume to a company without your prior permission. Give them detailed, written information about
what you are interested in. Take the
time to meet with them and let them interview you to find out your strengths
and interests. Listen to their advice on
resume structure and interview techniques. Don’t expect to get a call every week with a job opportunity. Good recruiters will only call you with the
right opportunities, and those don’t surface on a daily basis. And feel free to sever your relationship with
them if they consistently send jobs to you that don’t match your interest, or
if they are not completely honest with you about a job.
About Jeremy McCarthy
Jeremy conceived and co-founded VentureLoop in 2000 to create a unique
network of jobs, news and resources for the venture capital community
and their portfolio of startup companies. His vision for connecting
talent with startups is driven by passion for venture capital and its
importance to the world’s economic engine. Jeremy began his career at
PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he worked with venture capital firms,
startup companies, SEC filings, mergers and acquisitions, and IPOs.
After a brief stint as COO of Aspen Plan Services, a retirement plan
consulting firm catering to the venture-backed community, he moved on
to a Recruiting Manager position with Management Solutions (purchased
by TMP Monster). Jeremy then ran a small recruiting and consulting
firm, Jeremy McCarthy & Associates, until creating the VentureLoop
idea.
He has his B.S. in Accounting from Santa Clara University, where he was named Outstanding Accounting Student of the Year.