#RecruiterExperience #JobMarketReality #CareerConfusion
Hey everyone! 🌟
I wanted to share a little something I experienced today. You know how sometimes a recruiter reaches out, and you think, “Ooh, maybe this could be something exciting?” Well, that’s what happened to me recently!
So, I got a voicemail from a recruiter about a senior developer role that they said matched my experience perfectly. Even though I’m not actively looking to switch jobs (and haven’t been for a while), I was intrigued—especially because this was from a big-name company that everyone knows. 🚀
Curiosity got the better of me, so I called him back to learn more. But let me tell you, it was quite a letdown. Here’s a quick rundown of what went down:
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Contractor Role: It turns out the job was a subcontractor position, lacking any benefits or health insurance. 💔 I’m currently a W2 salaried employee enjoying solid benefits.
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Salary Shock: The pay was $50K less than what I make now. Talk about a steep decline! 😳
- In-Office Requirement: They wanted me to be on-site four days a week. I’ve been loving my fully remote setup lately!
I politely expressed my disinterest, but the recruiter was persistent about pushing my resume to the hiring manager. Honestly, it felt a bit awkward.
If this is what the current job market looks like, it’s a bit bleak out there. It makes me worry about friends and others who might be searching for jobs. 😢 Here’s what I think:
Possible Solutions:
- Transparent Job Listings: Companies should clearly outline roles, expectations, and benefits upfront.
- Flexibility in Work Arrangements: Embrace remote or flexible work options, as many of us have settled into this new norm.
- Better Communication from Recruiters: They could really be more upfront about the details to prevent awkward situations.
What about you? Have you had similar experiences with recruiters lately? 🤔 Let’s discuss! Share your stories or tips on navigating this tricky job market below!
It’s an indication of what recruiters are like (and the current market) – “Hey, I have this shitty role that nobody wants and is less than you currently make, but I’m going to keep pestering you to take it so we can lowball the fuck out of you and I get my commission”
When you have a full time role you’re fine with, then I’d avoid recruiters from mainstream job agencies in general. It’s a numbers game, chances are your 10 minutes and whatever schedule you messed up fitting the call in turns out to be a contract role.
You’d want to see recruiters whom are full-time at the actual company. And as for non-company recruiters, you want to see SPECIALIZED recruiters coming from top recruiting speciality like Staton House. These firms usually have a page on LinkedIn where all jobs are posted. If you can find the page and find all roles has good comps or perks, take the call.
They can actually articulate your resume and caters to higher end of seniority ladder, such as Staff+ and even executive recruiters. Often times, these look for high YoE, history of startups, or FAANG experience.
My approach had narrowed to 1 great recruiter for every 10 messages I get on LinkedIn. And there was A LOT until I finally got a new role and turned off the job seeking status.
YMMV.
>I told the recruiter I wasn’t interested, but he insisted to go forward with it and show the hiring manager my resume.
You should learn to say no in a way that no recruiter will question it
I think amid all the doom and gloom, people forget that the current environment was preceded by one of the craziest job booms in history, and a lot of folks found amazing gigs during the great resignation and are now still employed in well paying jobs with nice perks. Obviously “returning to median” isn’t appealing to them.
Statistically speaking, even if every company had laid off 10% of their employees, that still means 90% are still employed. Most of them just don’t come post in CS career subs.
I once had a recruiter call me for an open position at my own company. He had an old resume on Indeed. So I indulged him so that he could reveal more to me.
The role was my fucking role, where I had been for only 3 months. The pay was $90K _more_ than what I make now. Fucking bullshit. This was 4 months ago, the job market was still hot. I planned on using this to ask for a promotion. But now, I feel like I have no leverage in this job market downturn.
They couldn’t fill the role btw. I guess they kept me because I’m making less.
Deadass you should be rude to that person.
Always get a salary range before wasting your time speaking to a recruiter, especially if you’re not actively looking.
Yeah. When a recruiter doesn’t understand my requirements I drop all contact. I had same exp. even prior all these layoffs. “Let me send your cv”. Like how about no? Why waste people time. One recruiter once told me I was a lier and there was no way I made my current salary.
Make yourself unfireable. Write an obscure library that every project depends on that nobody knows how it works and you’re the only guy who knows how it works.
What you guys need to know is that these roles aren’t meant for you to actually take them. This is them playing the H1B political game. They have to “prove” that they can’t find the talent for the role in order to utilize the H1B path.
If no one takes this (albeit garbage) role, then they’d get the green light for H1B.
I am beginning to suspect that there are also companies paying for this kind of gloom on the internet, to trick us and make us think we are worth less than we are and so we accept lower salaries.