[The Dude]

Hi All — my first post. Nice to meet you all.

Not really looking for work — more passively putting my feelers out there. Wouldn’t mind a gig closer to my house and a healthy pay bump. Anyway, a Robert Half recruiter reached out to me and I had a harmless 30 min conversation. Gave her my location requirements, job title requirements, salary requirements. Seemed nice enough. After hanging up the phone, I started researching the recruiting agency as I have never used a recruiting agency before (always internal referral or direct hire) and the reviews by candidates are HORRENDOUS.

Definitely feeling spooked by everything I’m reading so looking to see if anyone else has used Robert Half to get placed and what their experience was like. Thanks.

[Missy]

I've worked with recruiters both as a job seeker and a hiring manager. They're like anything else, theres good and bad.

Here's my advice:

Do not ever EVER let a recruiter tell you what you're worth. They have no clue.

You go in and say you're looking for X, Y, and Z and not to waste your time with offers that don't meet your criteria. They still try to send AP clerk opportunities my way that pay $13/hr.

I tell them they're wasting both of our time.

Other recruiters take my list, and literally only contact me for matches. The job I have now a recruiter found for me but it took him 2 years to find exactly what I required to make a move.

I am being laid off in a few weeks and about 6 recruiters have MY list of requirements. Some say I want too much money. Others say I'm limiting myself geographically. It only means they're too lazy to meet my expectations and thats fine, I'll keep searching on my own and will find something that meets every one of my requirements.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Adam]

RH has some good people but lots of bad ones…

Recruiters in general are worthless…I had one who surprisingly did get me an interview with ORBA a large firm in Downtown Chicago that had otherwise ignored me, however I as a CPA was looking for a position in Tax/ Audit and right before the interview I found out it was for QB bookkeeping and payroll..I confronted the recruiter about this and she insisted I would be working in Tax and Audit despite the person I interviewed with telling me 2-3 years I might be able to switch departments.

BE CAREFUL…they only want the commission.

Get experience and a license and be likeable and you shouldnt have much issue.

[aaronmo]

Was called by 3 different staffing firms that place accountants today. On tax day. My resume clearly indicates I work in a tax firm.

I really, really, hate these people.

[noclady]

I think there's some value to recruiters, as I have been placed by smaller ones who didn't actually waste my time. I agree with the advice to never take any “try-before-you-buy” assignments. I did this once a long time ago and regret it. It was the longest 6 months of my life. The only advantage was that I was able to see if I really wanted to continue with the company (which I didn't) without it looking bad, since I always indicate that position was contract. But had I wanted to stay, that 6 months would not have counted towards my tenure. I would've started from square one. I've learned to try to avoid securing employment through a recruiter. Some of the companies I've worked for have offered up to 20% less to a candidate than if they had recruited the candidate themselves (to offset the recruiting fees). Luckily, the last couple of companies I've worked for have hired me directly.

[Author]

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