[Anonymous]

so i just finished my masters and am currently looking for a new job. anyone have any experiences with headhunters? i was recently contacted by a couple, i suspect they pulled my resume off of monster.com. so far with 1 headhunter i was able to get 2 interviews already. however alot of the other ones had not gotten back to me at all including robert half.

Thanks for any advice you might provide.

[Iron_Victory]

I have some experience with a few different firms.

Robert Half and Hunter Hamilton tend to be a little more aggressive IMO since they have a ton of recruiters on staff who have to meet quotas. Most of the jobs they were interested in me for were large corporate accounts. Honestly none of them were really my cup of tea.

I also worked with an older gentleman who ran a placement service here in MN and although he was old school he really got the job done. He placed me in my current job now which is a senior staff position with a local CPA firm. It is smaller and we focus on closely held businesses and it is really more my speed.

Advice would be decide if you feel more comfortable in a smaller to mid size firm or in a larger firm or a corporate setting then stay in contact with recruiters who work in those specific areas. I know it might be hard to decide but think about your college was it large or small, other jobs you might have had big companies or smaller, and how well you functioned as part of a larger or smaller team. These past experiences might help in defining what path you want to talk. Regardless of what people tend to believe there is life outside of the Big 4.

Good luck!

AUD - (74),78
BEC - 85
FAR - 86
REG - 84

[Anonymous]

my college was actually a pretty big school with alot of focus on accounting/finance. ive also been applying alot through linkedin and the schools career search center. im planning to go our school's career fairs next month and pass my resumes along to them. i had attended these fairs a few years ago after i completed my bachelor's but alot of the cpa firms wanted candidates with the 150 credits to take the cpa. i have that now and am currently studying for the first part of the cpa (far)

[RedBullRacing]

I have a lot of experience with Robert Half. Be careful, as they want to push you off to the first job ASAP. Like the other poster said, they have quotas to meet.

I got offered a job so entry level, I think a two year degree would have sufficied and got lambasted when I told her absolutely not. Also, a lot of false promises. Worse, they say, “Don't apply somewhere unless you come to me first. That way, I can present you!”

All that means is they get a shot at the several thousand dollar bill that employer would get by going through RHI.

All-in-all. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

BEC - 85
FAR - 72, 80
REG - 79
AUD - 81

Used only Becker. Let the book burning begin!

[Gatorbates]

They can be helpful in times of desperation, but look at it this way, it's their job. They have a handful of clients, and a multitude of candidates. They throw 12 candidates at the wall, someone is going to stick, and they get their commission. They are way more concerned in filling the position than they are about you, just an individual candidate.

Licensed Florida CPA:
B: 71, 73, 79
A: 83
R: 78 (expired), 77
F: 74, 74, 80

It's finally freaking over.

[Anonymous]

I interviewed for a job via Robert Half. I rocked the interview; everything seemed like a shoe-in. The feedback was that I was by far the top candidate out of 8…until the hiring manager also interviewed external to Robert Half applicants, and I didn't even get the 2nd interview I was originally offered. (I'm glad it didn't work out, because I found a far better job.) BUT, what I learned is that you're actually LESS likely to get hired because of the HUGE finders' fee the company has to pay the recruiter. I started applying to jobs on my own right away after that.

[mla1169]

Headhunters are like breadmakers. They're “nice” to have but more often than not are useless.

As mentioned above most have quotas and are going to try to place you in the easiest job possible for them to place you in (meaning they're not looking out for your income at all!)

Its worth talking to them, never hurts to have an extra set of eyes and ears open. I'm working with several now. In the last week 2 have called me about a job I applied directly to 5 weeks ago, LOL. Obviously if the job was listed directly by the employer 5 weeks ago, none of them have been contacted by the same company.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Anonymous]

I have gotten quite a few, including Rainmaker Resources and a few others. I am very careful with them. And they give me the whole speech of if I see a job I want I should go to them first so they can present me to them since they have a “relationship” with most companies, plus I find most of them really do give you a false sense of hope, the whole speech with you are a top candidate bla bla bla. You will realize they are all talk, and really do not match your skills with the perfect job, tend to throw you in to a bad position with the first job they see that needs someone. You are better off going off on your own. They care about their revenue, not the needs of the candidates. I found a job and a applied on my own, sold myself in an interview and was able to negotiate for a high salary based on my experience, just waiting on an offer letter now, basically got a guarantee from the manager that I will hear back from them. You can do much better on your own than counting on others, their priorities is not the same as yours, so keep that in mind.

[Anonymous]

I have gotten quite a few, including Rainmaker Resources and a few others. I am very careful with them. And they give me the whole speech of if I see a job I want I should go to them first so they can present me to them since they have a “relationship” with most companies, plus I find most of them really do give you a false sense of hope, the whole speech with you are a top candidate bla bla bla. You will realize they are all talk, and really do not match your skills with the perfect job, tend to throw you in to a bad position with the first job they see that needs someone. You are better off going off on your own. They care about their revenue, not the needs of the candidates. I found a job and a applied on my own, sold myself in an interview and was able to negotiate for a high salary based on my experience, just waiting on an offer letter now, basically got a guarantee from the manager that I will hear back from them. You can do much better on your own than counting on others, their priorities is not the same as yours, so keep that in mind.

[Soundwave]

I got a job via Accountemps straight out of college. I was ignorant and didn't apply anywhere during the school year after my chances with on campus recruiting ran out. I was getting really impatient so I took up the recruiter's offer and everything worked out well. I'm satisfied in my current position and is a permanent employee of the company.

[someaccountant]

I have had extensive experience with recruiters in my area.

Robert Half is the most prominent recruiter that I have worked with over the past few years. However, my experience with them is much the same as with everyone else. They will call you and talk about interviews and everything and then completely drop the ball and you will hear from them a month later when another job has popped up. After the same thing happening a handful of times, I don't even bother contacting them anymore since it's always a waste of time.

I think the key with recruiters is that you need to understand their incentive. They only make a profit when a company hires someone through them. In essence, if you have a bad recruiter they will try to get you a job even if it's not the best job for you. The key is that you need to evaluate your value to a company and understand what you want in an employer.

Over the last month, I have worked with two recruiters. One for corporate positions and one for public accounting. At the same time, I would constantly search for corporate and public accounting jobs to open in my market. I was offered roughly 8 interviews through recruiters and turned down all but two even for minor details. Eventually, all the low-level positions were weeded out and I was getting the chance and the great opportunities. If you provide a relevant range of desired salary, make sure you explain that you must consider the entire compensation package (vacation, 401k, health, reimbursements, company stock, etc) but your baseline salary is $XXX with the best benefits package. If you truly calculated your value in the market, you can negotiate for a great salary. More importantly, make the sure the company is one where you are comfortable within the culture. Otherwise, you will just be looking to leave in a few years.

In the end, I received an offer that had a salary and benefits package that is higher than someone that would honestly have more experience. In addition, the recruiter I worked with was from a local firm and we have established a great relationship that could be utilized in the future.

Basically, my suggestion is that you utilize recruiters so you are aware of all opportunities. You just need to remind them that you are not going to just take any job they send your way.

FAR - 84!
REG - 76!
AUD - 80!
BEC - August 2013

[Author]

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