In your experience is going through a recruiter in any way more beneficial then contacting companies directly? I have heard arguments both ways before.
In my experience they have been a waste of time for me.When i looked for work recently i tried using 2 recruiters and they low balled my salary to companies,applied at companies i had no desir work at,applied at companies i have already told them i applied at and after a little bit of effort they just stop trying to find you work. My current job i spplied for myself and got it.
depends on the recruiter. got my current job through a big UK based recruiter and I think they were very competent and helped me a lot. They also had some very useful resume advice.
Personally, right now, I think you want to have as many options/offers as possible to choose from if you're really desperate for work.
tip: don't work with more than 2 recruiters you trust - it gets confusing otherwise remembering which recruiter sent your resume where. Update each recruiter where the other applied - no need to mention that you have a 2nd recruiter. just tell them you applied there. Recruiters don't like submitting your details just to find out the company already has your stuff.
Don't hesitate to tell recruiters to stop looking if you think they're not helping you or if they don't seem to care.
I've had positive experiences with the ones I've worked with. They had good advice and got interviews arranged for me which led to job offers. The current job I have I applied for myself though, the company apparently doesn't work with recruiters.
They can also be quite annoying though, after the company I was working with before went bankrupt I got tons of emails from various recruiters, and quite often with only "AAA Studio looking for artist" as offers, not always entirely helpful.
I've had good and bad experiences. I had one recruiter talk to me on the phone for an hour and never heard from her again, I've also had ones that sent me jobs that were in no way applicable to my skills(after being repeatedly told so).
However, I also got my current job through a recruiter. I wouldn't have known about this job without them, the company wasn't even on my radar. The only part I didn't like about the process was not being able to negotiate my salary and benefits myself and having no direct contact with the company outside of my interview. But, if you're unemployed and having a hard go, they're worth a try.
What about artists that have no prior experience? From the recruiters that I've come across, they only work primarily with people that have X amount of years under their belt.
If a recruiter gets you interviews, then they are good, and worth the trouble. You aren't obligated to take any job that a recruiter brings you. So if they bring you a job you don't want, that isn't really a problem. As long as they are getting you interviews, then they are doing their job.
You should never turn down interviews, even if you aren't especially interested in the job in question. Getting plenty of practice at interviews is one of the most important steps in any job search. And an interview for a job that you're not actually looking to get is one of the very best kinds to acquire practice. If you aren't actually thinking about getting the job, then there's no pressure on you. You can waltze in there as cool and confident as you please, and just focus on the experience.
back when I was laid off from Gearbox Software in 2008, I had 5 recruiters "supposedly" working for me. There were a lot of emails exchanged "oh your experience will have no problems" or "we found a right fit for you" etc. In the end, it worked better for me to apply directly to companies. Do the homework about them, market myself.
If you have no experience and trying to get your foot in the door, recruiters won't give you the time of day as I experience back in 2004. Your better off applying directly.
Honestly, I've heard alot of shit about recruiters but I have to say, they aren't that bad. I'm now dealing with a few of them and some give a better impression than others. The ones that keep you updated and write you daily or every second day, those are the ones you should stick to.
Things are actually looking up career-wise because of them. Let's see if they/I deliver... I'm having my first interview this year this week and I have some really hot leads for positions at companies I had totally missed.
Give it a chance. You can always say no if they come with a suggestion you don't like.
Realistically, this is not an either/or scenario. Even if you use recruiters, you shouldn't rely on them. Go ahead and give your information to the recruiters in your area. And then continue actively pursuing jobs on your own. Recruiters might find leads you missed. But they might also miss leads that you find.
Definitely don't just sit back and think that recruiters will do the job-hunt for you. You need to be proactive in finding employment.
When I used them as a graduate, I thought they were useless. Didn't get any useful advice or a single interview with anyone whereas applying to companies directly I managed to get like 7 interviews.
Also when you apply directly, you get their responses directly so you can see just how generic their replies are - and be pleasantly surprised when its not the usual generic reply
Realistically, this is not an either/or scenario. Even if you use recruiters, you shouldn't rely on them. Go ahead and give your information to the recruiters in your area. And then continue actively pursuing jobs on your own. Recruiters might find leads you missed. But they might also miss leads that you find.
Definitely don't just sit back and think that recruiters will do the job-hunt for you. You need to be proactive in finding employment.
This may go without saying, but something else to keep in mind. Recruiters don't work for free. They generally have it worked out so they get paid by the employer who ends up hiring you. Either by taking the cash out of what your salary might have been, or adding it on the the salary you're requesting. Which means either you get paid less, or the company has to pay more to get you. With the industry as it is now, seems like there's a high chance companies will pass up potential prospects based on this alone.
Of course they also have policies preventing you from reapplying by yourself, to get around the recruitment fees incase a company is interested, but unwilling to pay the extra money to get you.
Replies
In the future i will not be using them.
Personally, right now, I think you want to have as many options/offers as possible to choose from if you're really desperate for work.
tip: don't work with more than 2 recruiters you trust - it gets confusing otherwise remembering which recruiter sent your resume where. Update each recruiter where the other applied - no need to mention that you have a 2nd recruiter. just tell them you applied there. Recruiters don't like submitting your details just to find out the company already has your stuff.
Don't hesitate to tell recruiters to stop looking if you think they're not helping you or if they don't seem to care.
They can also be quite annoying though, after the company I was working with before went bankrupt I got tons of emails from various recruiters, and quite often with only "AAA Studio looking for artist" as offers, not always entirely helpful.
However, I also got my current job through a recruiter. I wouldn't have known about this job without them, the company wasn't even on my radar. The only part I didn't like about the process was not being able to negotiate my salary and benefits myself and having no direct contact with the company outside of my interview. But, if you're unemployed and having a hard go, they're worth a try.
You should never turn down interviews, even if you aren't especially interested in the job in question. Getting plenty of practice at interviews is one of the most important steps in any job search. And an interview for a job that you're not actually looking to get is one of the very best kinds to acquire practice. If you aren't actually thinking about getting the job, then there's no pressure on you. You can waltze in there as cool and confident as you please, and just focus on the experience.
If you have no experience and trying to get your foot in the door, recruiters won't give you the time of day as I experience back in 2004. Your better off applying directly.
Things are actually looking up career-wise because of them. Let's see if they/I deliver... I'm having my first interview this year this week and I have some really hot leads for positions at companies I had totally missed.
Give it a chance. You can always say no if they come with a suggestion you don't like.
Definitely don't just sit back and think that recruiters will do the job-hunt for you. You need to be proactive in finding employment.
Also when you apply directly, you get their responses directly so you can see just how generic their replies are - and be pleasantly surprised when its not the usual generic reply
Of course they also have policies preventing you from reapplying by yourself, to get around the recruitment fees incase a company is interested, but unwilling to pay the extra money to get you.