[Anonymous]

Do you think they undersell you to potential employers? Are they legit for getting you a good job with compensation that you deserve? What is your opinion about their reputation? Any personal experiences?

I went to speak with one of them long ago and I’m not sure I trust what they tried to tell me…which was basically that even though I have a few years of experience at a small CPA firm that I wouldn’t get paid as much if I left for an industry job. That doesn’t really make sense and then they were telling me that I would probably go into an industry job as a staff accountant and take a $10K salary cut compared to the Senior Accountant public accounting position I had. Then after telling me that, they pushed hard on selling me the idea of going the Big 4 route or go to one of the larger firms.

It just seems odd to me, I would think recruiters are supposed to be like agents who want to sell you to employers. What are your thoughts/experiences? This was years ago by the way, but considering a recruiter again for when I complete the exam.

[kay]

I had a similar experience a few months back. I was looking for an entry level tax position. And was basically told that because I'd worked at HR block for 2 tax seasons that I wasn't worth more then $15 or so an hour.i was making over $20 in commission even with the insane hours I worked. I have Master's degree in accounting and finance, had 3 years experience in a non accounting but still professional role. Unfortunately this seriously killed my self esteem and I didn't do as well as I could have negotiating salary a few days later when I got an offer from a mid sized regional firm that I found myself. Fortunately they offered a reasonable starting salary and have a built in system for raises every 6 months. My suggestion know your worth and if they tell you, your worth less move on, there's plenty of recruiters out there that could help you.

[Anonymous]

Yea it's just strange dealing with recruiters. They also mentioned to leave public accounting as a Senior instead of becoming a Manager because you don't really get any transferrable experience as a Manager compared to a Senior for a job in industry. They said you basically just want to be able to say you have experience managing different jobs and teams as a Senior and that making it to Manager doesn't really give you any advantage over a Senior who left before becoming a Manager and has a few years of industry experience (compared to a Manager that has no industry experience).

I mean, if I have 3-5 years of public accounting experience and many job listings seek candidates with 3-5 years experience for a Senior accountant role, why would the recruiter tell me based on my experience I would only be considered a staff accountant? Why not sell me as a Senior Accountant who meets the requirement?

I've heard many odd stories about recruiters so I wonder if there is a reason behind this. Maybe it is just best to not use a recruiter at all? What do you guys think?

[Anonymous]

They are paid a % of your salary by your new employer, so it's not in their interest to undersell you, at all.

I have used them to find jobs and regularly use them to hire staff.

[jenpen]

I worked in law firms for about 8 years and couldn't get out of the secretarial role (I have an AAS in paralegal studies) so I kept going back to scbool. Eventually I went back for an MBA with an accounting concentration and decided to switch fields when I was about done with that. While looking for a job, I sent my resume to Robert Half hoping they could help me get my foot in the door somewhere, or at least some real experience. They called and said they wanted to submit my resume to the legal portion because that was where all my experience was. I told them no, I was trying to get out of law. I never heard back and then found a job as a staff accountant for a really small CPA firm (I was the first full time employee besides the partners). I jumped at that and never looked back. I'll probably look for a new job after I finish my CPA, but I have it pretty good with this company so it will make it hard to leave, even though I know I'm already about $10k under market in salary.

AUD - 56 - 68 - 61 - 9/8/16
REG - 75
FAR - 7/15/16
BEC - TBD

Wiley CPAexcel and NINJA 10 Point Combo

[Parthamis]

In my job search, it needs to be made clear that for entry level accounting, recruiting firms like Robert Half WILL NOT help (are unable to help) with getting you a job in public accounting.

[Anonymous]

The more I research it now it looks like it is a common dilemma for many people deciding when to leave the Big 4. The consensus seems to be that staying till Manager means you will be pigeonholed and it's not really worth it. Leaving as a Senior apparently is the best bet when exploring new opportunities. Still even if the recruiter was right about that, it was odd that they didn't present any competitive job roles to me. They mentioned I have plenty of options and paths I could take, but really only pitched Big 4 to me. They even brought up some of the bigger publicly traded companies in the area, but downplayed those jobs saying I wouldn't like it because of the pigeonholed nature of the position.

Lol idk, I just feel like it's strange that a recruiter would do that. Maybe they were truly looking out for my best interest and helping me avoid jobs where you'd get pigeonholed? Well, whatever, think I'm pretty set on going the Big 4 > 2-3 year Senior-exit route even though I already have 5 years of public/private experience from a couple smaller firms.

[Skynet]

AN ABSOLUTE JOKE!

Had a recruiter once sent me to an interview where they had already hired someone. Found out about it when i saw the email.

Another time, was sent to an interview on to find out the employer decided to “promote within” which is really code for you guys are too expensive and we are going to hire on our own. No notice by the recruiter either. Only found out when i went to the interview.

One of the recruiter i was working with was just horrible. I had already sent her my most updated resume. Only to continue to receive emails to send me her and updated resume. This was barely a week after we had met in person and already provided her what she needed. Then a week after that sent the same email.

These days i still get their emails from different recruiter but i just delete their emails or i reply back telling them to remove me from their list.

[Ana]

They are a joke and I would never use them.

[General_Ledger]

From my experience, that is the standard route. Going to big 4, stay till senior, and then leave for industry. Also from my job searching experience, most positions tend to look for ex-big4 experience. I do see some (very little amount) job postings that only ask for accounting experience. If you are ex-big4, you get to negotiate for a higher salary than if you are just a regular accountant (idk why either… companies don't seem to value industry experience). So if you can get into big4, i would go for it even thou most don't enjoy their time there.

FAR 73, 75*, 79! n DONE!
BEC 72, 75
AUD 64, 75
REG 43, 74, 72, 70, 88!
*Expired...FML

HELLO 300 CLUB! 6/8/13

[Anonymous]

Those of you saying RH is a joke, can you elaborate more on why? PS thank you to those who have shared their story already.

I think my biggest concern is that I mistakenly provide too much information or enter into a job that was recruited by RH and it turns out not to be what was expected or they somehow jeopardize my salary/job outlook.

I hear they are sharks and un-humanlike so I'm just trying to look out for the half-truths and lies that they might tell me and look at the entire process from all angles.

For example, if they can get me into a long-term job for $100,000 salary and they take 10% of that, I don't think I would mind.

However, if the job had earning potential of $150,000+ and they took more than 10% and made a deal with the employer to significantly underpay me and offered a salary of only $100,000, that would be an issue.

So if there is a “right” way of dealing with these employment agencies, I'd like to learn more about all of it.

[x260bm]

The right way deal with them is to never have any thing to do with them. They make their money primarily through temporary jobs with companies that have no intention of ever hiring full time staff through recruiting agencies. They will tell you they can get permanent jobs but 99% of the time they are lying to you. Sure they will sent out your resume to everyone they can get a hold of, but that’s not actually a good thing because it prevents anyone they contacted from hiring you without the recruiters getting paid. Since few employers are actually interested in paying their finders fees, it effectively prevents you from getting hired by those employers for the next year. They do this on purpose to make you more open to taking the temp jobs they are trying to steer you to. If you have already let a bunch of recruiters sent out your resume you are going to have a real hard time finding a job.

[jbergmann1]

To be clear they are not taking 10% of your pay. The employer is paying them 10% of your salary on top of paying 100% of your salary. They would want you to have the highest salary so they could get paid the most. However you are right in that they would try to sell you on a lower salary because that is what the employer is offering, take it or leave it.

Would say that they act like they know every employer so do not make them mad.

Passed all 4 parts of the CPA exam!
License application in progress

[Starved_Wolf]

I used RobertHalf before and will use them again for the future if need be. I have the job that I have now because my recruiter worked really hard to get me this job. From setting up the interview and giving interview prep to understanding that i can only attend interviews after work hours, the whole process was smooth sailing. Again, I really feel that your experience depends on the recruiter you get. I first used Roberthalf 2 years ago when I was laid off from my job due to the company going bankrupt. One of my coworkers referred me to his recruiter at Roberthalf and although i was skeptical about using a recruiter to find a job, i decided to reach out to the recruiter anyway. And I'm glad I did. After i reached out to him, he was super proactive in getting to know me and sending me jobs that I might be interested in. He set me up with 2 interviews, one of them with a big public company. He prepped me up for the interview and called me after the interview to ask how it went. After that he gave me tips on how to send a proper thank you email and then told me he would follow up with them and then with me. I had another 1 more interview with that company after and then they offered me the job. This happened 2 weeks after my last day at my previous job so it was super fast. And after that he took me out to have a celebratory lunch. He always treats his clients out to lunch after they get placed. We still keep in touch. Even when i'm not looking for a job, he'll send me an email here and there and ask me how things are progressing at my job. I think RobertHalf is great, just depends on who your recruiter is I guess. It also helped that he was one of the vice presidents for direct hiring.

[Anonymous]

Yea it's interesting the wide range of experiences people have. Some have great experiences, others have completely horrible experiences.

From my experience of visiting recruiters is that they generally try to talk your skills down and try to have you settle for a lower position and pay rather than talk you up and pitch you to the higher level positions.

That is doing the employer a “favor” by bringing in overqualified candidates and paying them less.

I want a recruiter who will assess your skills in depth and promote you to the best positions available. I'm sure they generally have a secret stash of positions and connections that are looking to hire great talent. I want to know how to get into that pool of candidates for the best available positions without compromising so much on compensation.

[Missy]

Recruiters get paid more like 18-30% of your first year compensation. If they've got a client looking for an A/P Person for 40k/year the recruiter is going to get an 8k commission whether they send a college kid or a CPA.Their end goal is fast turnaround and client retention, so they're always going to send someone that exceeds the minimum requirements for the job substantially.

That said I went to a smaller boutique type recruiter with a list of exactly what I was looking for and told him nothing on that list was negotiable. He said he had no positions to fill at that time that met my requirements but he'd keep my resume. A year later he called and landed me the job I'm at now.

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

[Author]

Replies