I'm not thrilled with them.  You're right in that many of them want to cram
a square peg into a round hole and call it done.

I also don't like the contract-for-hire thing.  I've seen too many people
fall through that hole and not get hired even though they were doing a good
job.  The headhunter collects their fee and why do they care if the person
is hired permanently or not?

On the flip side, I've seen too many people who were obviously not a good
fit be placed, on the headhunters insistance, persistance, whatever, in jobs
they absolutely weren't compatible for.  Of course that's the employers
choice, ultimately, but also a waste of money and resources where they could
have gotten someone who would be a good fit.

I did tech support.  A former supervisor used a temp agency to try to find
candidates.  They sent us people who couldn't type.  How the heck are you
going to do tech support on the phone, in a Unix environment, if you can't
type?

I was placed in a job back around 1992 by a headhunter.  I honestly think
she was doing her best to find a good fit for me.  I stayed in that job for
just over a year.  He was the boss from HELL.  This guy would march around
like an Army General, screaming at people.  He didn't treat anyone like they
were people.  The only reason I stayed there for a year was because I had to
sign a contract stating the company would not pay the headhunter fees unless
I'd been there for 1 year.  That year mark hit and I was immediately job
hunting.  Found my job at SCMS and stayed there for 11 years.

But I went back to the headhunter and told her what a nightmare that job
was.  Funny, that company is no longer in business.  Imagine that.

I don't have much positive to say except it wasn't HER fault that boss was
an idiot.  I did fit the qualifications; the whole company was f***** up and
how was she to know that?

Jill

Dunno how it works inthe USA, but if a head hunter cold-calls you, there's a
very good reason. They want you! True, what they really want is their
"Finders fee" but they wouldn't be calling you if they didn't think that
gettingtheir finders fee via placing you wasn't likely.

In the end, you get to say what jobs you are willing to take and which ones
you will never consider. If you are looking for work, don't close any
windows of oppurtunity, even if you aren't particularly thrilled about the
view from one particular type. You just never know.

Yowie

All the headhunters I've ever known have used the "shotgun" approach to
filling jobs.  IOW they send in the resumes of anyone even *remotely*
associated with the skills needed hoping that at least one of their
candidates will get picked and they'll get their fee.

Even though I got placed in a previous job by a headhunter my boss later
told me that the headhunter told her I was desperate for a job because I was
going through a nasty divorce (I was/am happily married and had not told the
headhunter my marital situation!!!).

I think I'd rather go with a contracting firm because they usually have a
long-standing relationship with companies and are concerned enough with
keeping their good reputation with those companies that they sincerely try
to find a good fit rather than "shotgunning" resumes.

Hugs,

CatNipped

There's a real difference between recruiters that are filling contract
or low-level slots, and recruiters that are retained to fill a specific
hard-to-fill position.  The first kind, especially when they have
contracting in mind, are often clueless body shops just trying to match
buzzwords on a resume.

Ask them, early on, if they have been retained to fill a specific
position. You may or may not get a real answer.

That's a hard call. Some legitimate companies routinely do
contract-to-hire so they can see your performance in the actual job, but
not commit to benefits and such until they are fairly certain. Others
regard contractors as interchangeable parts.

This is one area where it helps to have contacts in the
hiring/contracting company, to find out the practice in that firm.

Retained headhunters, typically for senior levels and rare skills, can
be very good, but are much more rare than they used to be.  For the most
difficult-to-fill positions, they get 10% of your annual salary as a
fee, sometimes capped and sometimes not.

Not much. Although they did find me my last job. I found the female
headhunters much better than the males. (flame away). After a few months of
unemployment, the males basically said you're screwed, I can't present your
Resume to my clients, depsite your 15 years of experience. Transalation,
they can make a buck easier elsewhere.

Call them a tool in the job-hunter's toolkit. Use them to your advantage.
They may have a job of use to you. You don't have to accept a job they
introduce you to, but they might be in a position to have access to job
information you won't get as an individual.

Cheers, helen s

Depends on what you do.  I worked for three *major* ag chemical
companies and we always used head hunters to fill our top positions.
These were very specific research positions, though, so highly
specialized - hard to find the right candidates.

When  I hired I didn't care where the resume came from - if it was sent
via third-party, it didn't matter, but most of those came from specific
head hunters I worked with.  If I hired that candidate, my employer
would gladly pay the finder's fee.  It didn't affect the compensation
package I was able to offer at all.

But again, it depends on what you do and the kind of businesses you are
targeting.  These were all huge Fortune 500 companies.

I have never used a head hunter myslef because I have never had to (I
only worked for 3 companies during my 15 year career).  I wouldn't be
opposed to it in my field, if I were to return to the workforce (not
likely).

Good luck,

-L.