When recruiters lie II

Rules of thumb when dealing with recruiters:

• Stay away from anything that has the word “contract”.
• Don’t trust the recruiter (internal company recruiters can be trusted a little more but still be careful).
• If they don’t speak good English when calling you about a job hang up.
• Don’t waste your time interviewing with a recruiter at a physical location. They often ask for this so they can see that you look presentable to the client. It has nothing to do with your skills and is a waste of your time. If they insist on this then move on….unless you want to waste your time.
• If the job description is vague insist on getting details. Be persistent they will hide as much from you as possible.
• When you interview with the company confirm it is a permanent position (recruiters will say it is perm just to get you to the interview where you find out it is really a contract).
• Ask to see the benefits package before accepting the position.
• Ask the recruiter how they are paid by the company seeing the contractor? Knowing the type of arrangement they have will help determine your standing. If they are a new recruiter to the company you might have a little more leverage.
• Ask the recruiter how much they are charging the company for you. I doubt they will tell you but that put them on notice you know what they are up to and not to play games with you.
• Often the recruiter is stupid, and does not know about the industry you work in or your skills (most of time they don’t care and just want a warm body) so ask lots of questions be persistent.
• Stick to your guns when negotiating. Ask for way more then you think you are worth (trust me you are worth more then you think). If they say you are too high what they are really saying is that they can’t make any profit off of you. Ask them what the margin is? Remember you bargaining with the recruiter not the company and the company does not care how much you make from the recruiter. They have worked out a separate deal with the recruiter. The recruiter sends the most profitable candidate for them to the company not the most qualified for the job. The company does not care who is most qualified because it is just a temp job to them.