what is up with Headhunter's these days?

[matcom]

about 10 years ago i used a headhunter. I emailed, they called back and 'interviewed' me over the phone to get a sense of what i wanted, who i was, etc...

THEN they set out to find me a job

NOW, i have emailed/called several and NOTHING. no interview, NO interaction at all!

a couple have emailed me with CONTRACT opportunities but NOBODY has bothered to call me to find out WHAT I am looking for etc..

i emailed the contract ones back and told them i am looking for full-time and STILL, nothing.

have the rules changed that much?

:shrug:

[FloridaPat]

1. It's been like that for year in data processing. I've even had interviews

and no one ever called me back to say yes or no. Rudeness reigns.

[northzax]

2. ten years ago...

the market for employees was growing, they wanted to build their books of potential folks. now? it's a buyer's market.

[GOPisEvil]

3. I wonder if time of year has anything to do with it.

The holidays are traditionally slow for hiring.

But it is a buyer's market for employees these days. Whenever a Bush is President, the job market sucks.

[Capn Sunshine]

4. Try Craig's List, and Monster

If you haven't already. I've noticed that Recruiters and Headhunters work these areas relentlessly.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

5. I used to be a recruiter and had my own company for about five years....

...and in my first couple of years hiring was going gang-busters. Unfortunately, in 2001, the bottom dropped completely out of the Computer, IT, Telecomm, and Software Engineering industries in which I used to work. As long as the U. S. is outsourcing most of the jobs in those fields, recruiting in those areas will never be the same. Most people I used to place in those industries are now making 40% less than they did in 1999-2000.

As a result, a lot of the people I used to know in the recruiting business have found something else to do. I've tried a handful of different industries since then, but they just didn't work out.

It's not the rules that have changed, it's the lack of permanent full-time jobs all over the country. Most companies are hiring contract people so that they won't have to pay for benefits and can cut the contractors loose anytime they wish.

It is SLIM pickings out there, particularly if you don't have the skills for the jobs currently available in the market.

[DaveJ]

6. That's a cold perspective

I'm going to surmise that the OP's main frustration is with recruiters' unwillingness to behave in a personable manner. I know that many recruiters now are corporate property, and really have no leeway with regard to what to say. Some who work for larger companies act according to a script that is given to them, and if they deviate from the script they are fired.

A few years ago when I first encountered a 'skills matrix' I knew we were heading down a dark path. A person's value and potential cannot be summarized by a skills matrix. Moreover, the contents of a skills matrix is based on what prior employers 'let' you do, not what you “want” to do. My view is that people will be most highly skilled at what they want to do, not what makes it into a matrix by chance.

I share the same frustration. My goals and interests completely differ from what my employer has me do. I am interested in designing electronic devices, programming their embedded controllers, and writing any necessary software needed to interface with them. I know there are many jobs available for experienced embedded programmers, but nobody will ever hire me based on my interest (or education) in the field. So I am forced to build my own devices, and start my own business. I would like to work with in a team in the meantime but there is no recruiter who will talk to me and try to place me in an appropriate environment. So by the time I do start my own business, I will have the skills to get a job in my area of interests, but I will no longer have the need for one. By that time I will be my own boss, maybe even financially wealthy, but I will still be pissed off that nobody ever gave me a chance.

Those who do get jobs are probably less interested in the field than I am. I doubt the vast majority of them love the field so much that they have the motivation to start their own business. The hiring process is idiotic. People really need to be interviewed in a manner that takes into account their personalities and ambitions.

[doodadem]

7. There's a new thread going

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x633324#633883

I've been a headhunter for 17 years. Did I.T. for the majority of it, until that went belly up with Bush and 9/11. Slow going at first, but I've been able to make the switch to other fields.

What most candidates do not understand, is that a headhunter is not working for you. Our fees are payed by client companies to fill a set of requirements for a particular job. If you answer an ad, or contact a headhunter, and you have a pretty hot skillset, you will get their attention. If not, you go into the database as a possible match against future requirements. It has most definitely been a buyer's market for the past several years, with tons of good candidates, unemployed.