Working the Corporate Ladder – The Job Hunt

Our world is such a fascinating place. There’s always two sides to everything. Just look around you. We have democrats and republicans. We have meat lovers and vegetarians. We even have people bashing and backing Dove. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about. Please click the link and read. It’s the latest and greatest news this month).

The point being, I’ve come to realize that there are two types of recruiters in the world – the ones that want to help you and the ones that want to make money off of you. There’s definitely more of the latter these days.

Actually, let’s take it a step back before I get to the recruiters.

Once I realized how drained I was from the public accounting lifestyle, I began my hunt. Linkedin and Glassdoor were my best friends. I love Linkedin for the fact that I can look for jobs and figure out who works there if I wanted reach out (either someone I know or someone I can get to know over some coffee). And Glassdoor is great for getting a feel for the company culture, benefits, and salary expectations. Some may argue that these are reviews from mainly disgruntled employees or nonemployees, but I believe there is always some truth to everything. Just think of Glassdoor as your Yelp for jobs (at least that’s how I look at it).

I utilized those two platforms for a couple of weeks before deciding I should try a different approach. I realized it’s hard to really get your foot in the door if you don’t have connections to the places you are applying. For me, coming from a public accounting background, trying to get into media/tech was a long shot. I started reaching out to different recruiters based on those who spammed my work email and my LinkedIn. I chatted with all types of interesting recruiters.

I remember one recruiter kept rescheduling with me and took their sweet time to respond to my emails. I told myself – “ain’t nobody got time for that” – and then moved on to the next.

A couple days later I had a call with a different recruiter where I explained what kind of role I wanted, and as I thought it was going great, they asked the big question – “What’s are your salary expectations?” After I answered they asked me – “why do you think you deserve that?” This caught me a little off guard, but I still had a quick answer for them. Let me tell you. The recruiter’s response? Beyond rude. The said “oh okay” with a splash of “hah… who do you think you are?” layered in their voice. The conversation went south from there. I didn’t think my expectations were that unreasonable. Either way. It’s a dub.

A few more days after that, I met with a recruiter at their office. Mind you, I was finessing all these calls and meet ups while working long days. Lots of paid time off and doctor appointments used. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. So with this recruiter, I get to their office and they are late for their own meeting. They show up ten minutes after I sit down, all frazzled. Their shirt was buttoned up incorrectly and two sizes too small. First impressions mean everything people. This was not a good look (literally). But, I gave it a shot. We chatted. We just didn’t seem to be on the same page. And then the infamous salary question arose again. What are your salary expectations? I answered. And again this recruiter says, “Well… no one is going to pay you that. But I’m going to send your resume out to places I think will fit. Let’s regroup in a week.”

Excuse me? Nah don’t touch my resume. I’m tired of these people.

These days, certain cities/states are banning recruiters from asking prior salary (i.e. California (as of this weekend), NYC, Philly, Delaware, Oregon, Massachusetts). How effective will this be? Not sure.

I promise I wasn’t even asking for that much. And my current job proves such because I received even more than I anticipated. So +1 Daniella. -100 Recruiters.

Tip #1 – Decide what you’re time is worth and stick to it. Don’t let recruiters and headhunters have all the say in what you’re paid.

After all these interesting recruiter experiences. I found two that I got along with and who were honest. They explained the process and explained that a recruiter should not send your resume out to companies without your okay first.

Well that is good to know.

I continued on the process with them until I hit a point where interviewing and gaining offers crossed paths. Should I continue the process with the recruiter or should I consider this job offer I got just by applying on my own? Hm.

Tip #2 for the day? Always trust your gut. It knows what your head hasn’t figured out yet.

Until next time…