Recruiters, Headhunters, and Other Shifty-Eyed Folks

[gaijin6423]

In most cases, there comes a time when we give in and move on in search of a real job. Having been Active Duty Sober for a whopping 17 hours, I find myself beset on all sides by the people filling the role of those up in the thread title. I'm sure that at least a few of us have dealt with one or more of the firms that are out there, and I'm curious if anyone else has had good/bad experiences with any of them.

I'll start with a good one:

I contacted the firm Bradley-Morris a while back, and within 24 hours, I received a callback from the officer recruiter for my region (name on request, but it's available out there if you don't want to ask). We spoke for about an hour or so, as he asked the standard questions and built a profile on me. After a while, he said, "You know, I'm sure we could place you pretty quickly, but to be honest, I think you're actually marketable well above the typical salary and responsibility ranges we deal with. I don't want to sell you short. I'll tell you what, let me forward your resume out to some other contacts that I have, and see what comes up." About a day later, I had the first of three companies--who were not clients of Bradley-Morris--call me up and conduct initial phone interviews with me. The recruiter in question wasn't making any commission or filling any contracted quota by sending me off to those companies, but he did so anyway because he felt it was the right thing to do.

Has anyone else had a good/bad experience along these lines? Has anyone taken a job through one of the many headhunting firms that they absolutely love/hate? What about pay? Negotiate for a signing bonus or higher salary, based on having a certain clearance, skill set, etc?

I wasn't going to get another job and just live off my wife, but she told me that she wasn't paying for any new guns or ammo. Consequently, I'm looking.

 

[Clux4]

What part of the country are you or where do you see yourself working? A friend, also a SuppO, recently got a job at Target as a Supply Chain Supervisor. I have not talked to him lately to find out if he still likes it but he sounded pretty excited to go home every day after only working 8 hours.

Are you looking at Federal Service? There is suppose to be a hiring freeze around the corner. I don't know if it is still the case.

 

[gaijin6423]

I actually have an interview the week after next with Target for something similar. Location is open for interpretation, as my daughter is nowhere near school age yet, and my wife has about as mobile of a career as there is these days (pharmacist).

I interviewed with State this past Monday to be a Foreign Service Officer, but missed the cutoff score by 0.05 points. I think you're absolutely right about the impending federal hiring freeze, but the VEOA and VRA are good enough deals that it is worth looking into.

 

[gaijin6423]

First recruiting firm-sponsored "hiring conference" is complete.

After a day of briefs and a mingling reception thing on Monday, I had seven interviews today with seven very different companies. Obviously, some of the interviews went better than others, but there were a couple on either end of the scale. It was definitely an interesting experience, that's for sure. Not to cut on the recruiting firm staff or anything, but they definitely seemed focused on moving product (us) more than anything else. Hey, I get it. It's how they get paid.

Incidentally, the company I was referred to by another recruiting firm flew me to their headquarters and interviewed me last week, and I received a verbal offer yesterday.

 

[gaijin6423]

Stumbled back on this thread after a few months, so how about an update:

I had three site visits/second interviews emerge from my hiring conference experience. All three visits were very professionally arranged (hint, hint incompetent DTS bastards), and the only travel hiccup I experienced was leaving my sunglasses in a rental car, which was quickly remedied by Hertz. I even got free upgrades to first class twice. Out of the three visits, I received three offers. One company, a large defense vehicle contractor, offered me a position higher than the one I was originally interviewing for, and waited until the other two offers were in, so they could beat them. I was everyone's best friend at the recruiting firm in question, seeing as how they stood to profit from my plethora of choices.

In the end, though, my wife and I decided that we didn't really want to pick up and move to the locations in question, and give up her very well paying job. All three places were in or nearby universities with very strong medical programs, which would have cut into her salary significantly. So I turned all three down in favor of the firm that had already offered me an even better paying consulting job here in NC. A job that I have yet to start, by the way, but that's another story.

Because I turned down the jobs, I instantly became blacklisted with that recruiting firm. As I mentioned before, they're focussed on moving product, and they're not in it for free. But overall, I think one or two people there handled it somewhat less than professionally. I don't want to paint a completely black picture of the company in question, though, especially considering that a couple people there were hugely supportive of both my decision and my logic. But I think that anyone considering a recruiting firm should do so with open eyes.

As it stands now, I find myself in the debatably enviable position of being a (mostly) kept man of leisure. To put it another way, my wife pays all the bills. I have, however, done a couple bits of freelance consulting, just to augment my firearm/ammo allowance from my wife.

 

[KBayDog]

As it stands now, I find myself in the debatably enviable position of being a (mostly) kept man of leisure. To put it another way, my wife pays all the bills. I have, however, done a couple bits of freelance consulting, just to augment my firearm/ammo allowance from my wife.

Wait a second - why are you looking for a job again? You're not in the military anymore. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. (As opposed to the DoD's unofficial motto: "If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is.")

 

[gaijin6423]

My homebrewing and gun addictions require more feeding than my wife is willing to provide. Besides, I'm bored out of my damn mind.

 

[KBayDog]

Besides, I'm bored out of my damn mind.

You know, for some strange reason, I really can't feel bad for you.

 

[gaijin6423]

Unlike most of Americans today, though, I do not demand sympathy or pity for my status. Especially considering that my in-laws have offered us the family business and one of their homes if we move back there. I'm game, especially since I've already dominated a couple PRPSA matches while visiting. But my wife is reluctant to get back in the grip of her family.

 

[KBayDog]

Unlike most of Americans today, though, I do not demand sympathy or pity for my status.

You don't have to demand it. You are entitled to sympathy and pity.

In any event, time to get to my jobby-job. Thanks for the info on the headhunters & whatnot.

 

[MasterBates]

Bumping the Headhunter thread.

Anyone have any good/bad experiences to add to the above?

I've seen the Big Three from what I can tell...
Cameron Brooks
Bradley Morris
Orion

I've actually informally met with one of the local (Va Beach) Orion recruiters at TAP class, she seemed to be fairly honest with what they do and how they get their cut. I kind of dealt a bit with Bradley Morris in the 06 timeframe when I was on the verge of getting out (name was in the hat for the "pay me to leave" thing they had going) and I got a weird gut feeling from the guy in JAX, but it's been 5 years and I'm in a different locale.

No dealings/contact with Cameron Brooks ever. I don't even think I'm on their mailing list.

Any firms I'm missing?

I'm also looking into aviation jobs on my own, seeing if I can cash in on the tail end of the "go to sandland and we will pay outrageous money" good deal before it's gone. ($18k a month? Yeah, I'll go fly a helo/prop/blimp/glider/hot air baloon in Afghanistan for that).

From my limited contact, they all seem to want an exclusivity arrangement.

I'd like to keep flying, but I'm also open to non flying stuff. At this point I'm open to all options. Ones that allow me to pay off my house in a year provided I keep living like a broke LT are especially tempting.

If anyone knows of something coming available, "Kiss Master's Ass Day" (aka my last day) is November 8th.

Of course, I'm either in Fallon, doing FCLPs or on the Boat until about 4 days before I get out. Anyone have any pointers for job searching when at River City 9000 like the IKE loves to be at for "Training Purposes" all the damn time.

 

[gaijin6423]

Master, I sent you a PM earlier, but Lucas Group is another that quite a few people use.

One thing that I forgot to include in the PM was that I was also recruited by Booz-Allen-Hamilton. They don't outsource any recruiting, and quite a few of their recruiters used to work for companies like Orion, etc. I'm sure plenty of people have had dealings with BAH on here, but despite the fact that my gig with them fell through (federal budgetary debacle), they were pretty first rate to deal with.

ETA: I've never, EVER had to sign an exclusivity agreement. That's a pretty radical departure from what I dealt with.

 

[MasterBates]

In my brief talk with Orion, they wanted one. I think it was if you were going to some conference they were having. Got the PM. Been busy as a mofo on SDO (3rd fucking day in a row, because all the Wizzards are "busy") so have not had time to reply to you yet.

 

[MasterBates]

Bumping thread.

Have a profile with B-M. Recruiter called me Thursday, called back, left message, no return call on Friday, but I was busy up on the roof (Phrogpilot and PSW can attest to the chaos of a construction site that is my house at the moment) and did not call them either.

While I was sitting on the couch waiting out a rainstorm (fresh mortar and rain don't mix) I got a call from Alliance International out of the blue.
www.alliance-careers.com

Recruiter told me who he was, who he was with, and that he found my resume online. I told the guy that I was currently working with BM while looking on my own. Felt like he shifted to hard sell for a minute saying they could "do better" than BM, but then said "hey, our website is here, check it out, think about it over the weekend, and call me back if you are interested". Website claims they only work with 300 JOs a year, top 10%, blah, blah. So of course, me getting pegged as a top 10 guy made me scratch my head, as I have no top ten patches.

Anyone work with them? Can't find jack about them online other than their website. Not that I don't have a reason to not believe them, but then again, would you put bad reviews on your website either.

 

[gaijin6423]

Are they the ones who do the, "You'll have to interview with the HMFIC after you talk to me," deal? I can't remember. If so, I spoke with an Alliance recruiter on my way back from getting turned down by State for an FSO position. They called me while I was detouring to hit up a specific gun store that was mostly on my way back, and I wound up speaking with the guy for a while. I got much the same spiel about top 10%, etc. The guy dipped into hard sell mode a couple times, but never quite crossed the line of what I'll outright walk away/hang up on. He wanted me to 'interview' with someone who he said was the President, CEO, or SVP, after I completed an online profile. I wound up meeting with Booz a few weeks later, and headed down that road (reference earlier post here). So I never really got around to digging any deeper. I can't remember if they wanted an exclusivity agreement or not, but if they did, that, along with the borderline hard-sell and quirky interview-with-my-boss deal, would have shied me away. Something got the ol' spider sense up.