Have recruitment agencies ever held back your career?

Question

Over the last few months i have been looking to change career from graphic artist to web developer. I used to be a senior web developer during the dot com boom, overseeing a few juniors but decided to follow graphics a little more and left software behind as a career.

Now it seems looking for a new career in web development, i need 'n' amount of years of commercial experience. I realize things are a little different now from when i used to develop sites 8-9 years ago but i never stopped programming and have many projects i could use to show a potential employer as a portfolio. I consider myself a better programmer than i have ever been and i can analyze, design and develop projects with a much greater scope than ever before. I have also written a book on software development (although application/games development) which doesn't seem to stand me in good stead either.

I have always used the standard web dev tools (PHP, MySQL, Python, Javascript, X/HTML, etc) i've even made sure i have experience using the latest frameworks and approaches such as jQuery and Ajax, etc and have lots of beautiful sites coded from scratch by hand (using only a text editor) that validate correctly to w3c standards.

When i speak to recruiters they dismiss everthing and say i need the commercial experience. Is there any way i can combat this attitude? I will continue to pursue my choosen profession, but i would be grateful of any advice.

After 5 months of looking to join the software development industry i have had only one interview. It went well and i was offered the job there and then, but declined gracefully because of a lot of travel which i didn't realize was part of the job.

How can i get more interviews? Do i need to start putting my foot down with the recruitment agencies and demanding they at least give me the benfit of the doubt? Would this even get me anywhere? or have the opposite effect?

Answer 1

Recruiters are only interested in signing you with a company so they get the signing bonus. I'd hazard a guess that the reason they're dismissing you is because you're probably not as easy to sell as other clients they have on their books.

Having said that recruiters aren't the only way to get a job.

Personally, I would look for some companies that you want to work for and apply to them directly. Prepare a CV, let them know you're passionate about development and highlight your experience and why it makes you a good developer. Send them a portfolio and let them know that you actually do want to work for them.

You'd be surprised how many companies just don't advertise because they don't need to as they have a constant stream of people that want to work for them.

Answer 2

Hi Gary,

I can't imagine 'putting your foot down' with the agencies will get you anywhere ... well, possibly flagged as a PITA.

Personally, I have 14 years experience, have been self employed for 8 of the past 11 years, but have never once been hired through a headhunter. I have a stutter which is sometimes severe and I've never made it past the initial phone call. ... JERKS!!! ;-)

My point is not to have a pity party, but to point out that I'm moderately successful in an industry dominated by Head Hunters, so don't let it get you down.

Don't take it personaly either, the HHs just want to flip you with a quick sale. Right now, the market is cooled off, and you'll have trouble competing in this market through HHs against programmers who've never left the market.

Maybe you should approach companies directly and network with people who will be impressed by your skills/talents. Your involvement here, may also get you noticed.

Answer 3

Agreed that solely relying on recruiters is definitely not your best option unless your pressed for work and will pretty much do anything :P

As i've heard some awful stories on how some recruiters[those that actually can read your resume and understand what you can do anyway] will setup a few candidates, some as fall guys so that by the time the company interview their setup star, he will easily get the job. Of course this is good if you're the star, ouch if you're not.

I've also had problems with the recruiters basically throwing candidates at companies regardless of what they're actually looking for. Those are a bunch of time wasters...

I would say the best way to get a better fit is to get your ex-coworkers and colleagues to introduce you to either a direct job interview or maybe some side projects on the side which definitely will help your resume.

Answer 4

Hi Gary,

I agree with John. All the recruiters want is a no-effort, quick sale and anytime they've got to work on a candidate, they'd rather be someplace else. Once you break into a company and work there for a year or two as a developer, these same recruiters will ask you every week whether you want a 'change' now. This is my advice: -

• Build a portfolio website where you can showcase your projects and capabilities.
• Many companies have a 'work with us'/careers page on their websites. Find suitable companies and apply to them. Do follow-up.
• Start working as a freelancer. If you're skilled, there will be work for you.
• Keep yourself a part of the development community and continue honing your skills.
• Think about self-employment. Make something that can earn you money.

Good luck Gary.

Answer 5

Recruiters suit the "tick-all-the-boxes" type of applicants where they can help fork out a resume to a bunch of companies and help negotiate a good salary.

If selling yourself to a potential employer is going to take any sort of creativity then I would not go with a recruiter as they will not know what to do with you. I don't think it will necessarily hold your career back but it will waste your time.

Answer 6

The Problem I have found with recruiters lately, is they want to keep you on their staff and have you move around like a temp. Robert Half Technologies, in my area seems to not want to help me get a direct hire job but want me to sign an agreement to stay on staff with them. I have been hesitant and as a result, I haven't gotten any help from them what so ever.

Answer 7

I've been a computer professional for 20 years and worked at a recruiting company for 6 years creating and managing their systems. Not all recruiters are just trying to "flip you", just almost all.

Ask the recruiter if they are paid by commission, salary or a combination. The company I worked for was salary based, with bonus. If their rent is coming due, they may need to place you anywhere just to get the commission to pay the rent. However, they do need to create a relationship with companies, so sending candidates that aren't qualified is not in their best interest. But they will gladly send you on an interview for a job with lots of travel because you are qualified, when you said you don't want to travel.

Recruiters generally can't read between the lines, they just try to match buzzwords on your resume with words in the job spec. You may have Enterprise Java Beans on your resume, but the company is looking for EJB experience, so the recruiter won't send you. The recruiter may be required to send your resume to Human Resources for filtering. HR generally does not know how to read between the lines either. Strike 2.

Some recruiters are worthwhile dealing with. Find one you like and stick with them. It is not better to use more recruiters. The unspoken rule in the industry is that whoever sends the resume in first gets to represent you. That includes recruiting companies without a contract with the seeking company. In which case you are now blocked.

Find out the job specs and work with the recruiter to adjust your resume accordingly, if applicable. The recruiters that are open to learning are the ones you want to work with. If they have a good relationship with the seeking company, they can get you if they feel you will do well. Even if you are missing some checkboxes.

Companies like Robert Half want to find a good person and place them as many times as they can, not just once. Which is why they want you "on staff".

Answer 8

I can only speak from my experience as a developer looking for work in New Zealand, but I have never had success with recruitment agencies. They seem to be exceedingly slow at finding work for you, and typically when you need a job, you need one now! Recently I heard back from a recruitment agency I had approached before I found my present job - 8 months later. You're better off ignoring these companies and just actively seeking work yourself.

Answer 9

Recruitment agencies can be a good thing in some cases - It is often easier to get the attention of a hiring manager through a recruiter than by sending a CV and hoping it passes the initial filter.

However, many companies use recruiters as a first line of defense against too many unqualified candidates, so they delegate the "throwing away resumes" duty to a recruiter. In that sense, yes, you could argue that an agency can hold back your career, if only by delegating decisions to somebody who is not your potential boss.

My experience with recruiters is that they are very different from one another in personality and style. Some are friendlier and informal, some are very strict. Some also develop a personal relationship to their clients, while others never ask anything about who you are besides buzzwords.

In busy markets there are many recruiters. It doesn't hurt to look enough and find a good one. In fact, recruiting in many ways is like dating - some people will occasionally pop into your life with an offer, others will disappear forever once you didn't get the job, and others will keep you updated on new things.

In addition, even though it seems that all recruiters have the exact same jobs, that is not always the case. My experience is that in certain fields (e.g., Finance on the east coast), each recruiter has about 80% clients that you have already heard of via other recruiters, and 20% that are unique to him. Thus, by going to more recruiters you are increasing your chances of hearing about a new position.

I don't know much about the world of web development, but you have to emphasize to the recruiter what makes you unique. Your dual background is likely an advantage, but for a select set of elite jobs. Most jobs probably take novices. It just takes time.

Answer 10

Hi Gary, I feel your pain! There are so many recruitment firms. Most are reviewing your resume to filter you out for a role rather than filtering you in for the opportunity. I strongly believe you must have a technical background to be successful in technology recruitment. I have a BS degree in Software Engineering and have been in IT recruitment for 16 years- 5 in Ohio, USA and 11 years in Brisbane Australia. Fortunately I have a strong client base who trusts my expertise and judgement when it comes to candidate suitability. Commercial experience is not the be all and end all to my candidate shortlisting. If you were over here in Oz you would certainly notice a stronger emphasis on candidate care...and it not just because we have less of a candidate pool in Australia. All the best to you and feel free to contact me on via LinkedIn.com - Mary E. Clark

Answer 11

I've had a wide range of different experiences with recruiters in Canada and the U.S., so here are a few ideas and gotchas:

1. Have a spreadsheet of who has your resume and about what kinds of jobs are you wanting them to send you details. Usually this means there is a face to face meeting and can range from 2 minutes of face time to a few hours of really getting to know someone as I have had both extremes and sometimes neither is particularly useful as the shorter ones are so short you wonder, "Will they remember me?" and the long ones feel like part of your life has been sucked from your existence, never to return again.

2. Carefully review which recruiting firms you use and what kinds of jobs are you expecting them to find for you. Contract or permanent? Product development or Information Systems? Development, support, or system administrator? Some places may treat you like a piece of meat and sometimes the same job will appear to multiple agencies where you do want to be submitted from different agencies is the main reason for the spreadsheet in one but I think there is a subtle difference here.

3. If there are nearby colleges, perhaps there may be general "Career Fairs" or "Job Fairs" that may allow for some ease in finding companies directly to discuss what you want to do and what do they think is a good way to get your foor in the door. It may be surprising what you find here if you go in prepared and not doing the "shotgun" approach of just handing out dozens of copies of your resume.

4. Are there on-line job boards where you have your resume for employers to view? This can be helpful in finding some recruiters but make sure you know what you want and need before meeting them so that you aren't "Hhmm..." and "Ummm..." when asked these kinds of questions that should help gauge which companies seem like good ones to know and which are the kind where you wonder where your resume went as you never hear from the company again, ever.