Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4 > 05-20-2011, 07:33 AM BingCherry 1,090 posts, read 2,951,673 times Reputation: 729 Advertisements



Since there has been a very obvious and recent spike in jobs and calls for interviews, it's now time we get a little bit choosier ourselves. I'm not telling anyone to turn down jobs, but I'm telling them that it's OK to FINALLY raise their standards.....just a *pinch*. I have a strong feeling that NYC is FINALLY turning the corner and I would be shocked if the job market did not continue to improve.



1) Stick with recruiters that SPECIFICALLY staff for your specialty or you're going to be wasting your time..or rather, have your time wasted. If they don't staff for your specialty, then you're going to be a number somewhere in a stack of paper. You'll also find out that they will attempt to send you on interviews outside of your specialty. What a headache!



2) If they cannot reply to you within 24 hours, mark them as unprofessional. A good recruiter has very strong communication skills and follows up. If they take longer than a day to reply to you, check them off your list. What they're basically telling you is that you're not a priority for them. Don't listen to their "sweet talk" later. It's like having a cheating boyfriend. Don't take them back just because they're telling you great things later. Actions speak louder than words and to take more than 24 business hours to follow up is beyond unprofessional.



3) Don't allow them to bully you, because they WILL try. They will tell you that their positions are "moving quickly" and that if you don't get in there that the positions will be gone. I'm sure there is some truth to this, but the fact of the matter is, if they're good at what they do, they will have more positions on a week to week basis. This will not be the last position they have available. In order not to overwhelm yourself, I would say to stick to a maximum of 3 interviews a day...preferably even 2. Lay out your calendar and block off a 2-3 hour slot for each one and figure in travel. If you can fit them in, let them know. Don't let them give you times--YOU give them the nearest time and date that you're available. A good recruiter will work around that if they really want to see you.



4) MAKE SURE TO SPEAK TO THEM OVER THE PHONE BEFORE GOING IN. Phone etiquette speaks MULTITUDES about a person. Have a small list of questions on hand to see how they answer. They generally won't expect them. Ask them what they specialize in, how many positions they have, the salary range they deal with (let's be real, are you going to waste your time on 35k/year positions?), what you need to bring, if there is any testing and how long you should expect to be at their offices.



5) Look up their REVIEWS and FEEDBACK online. The internet is such a GREAT resource nowadays. I easily crossed out a few agencies/recruiters on my list with horrible feedback. By horrible, I mean anything lower than 2 or 2.5 stars on YELP or other places. There will ALWAYS be people complaining about places because SOMETIMES they just were not good enough to be hired. You have to learn how to sift through those reviews. If there are 3 people saying the place is decent for everyone 1 that is complaining, it's could still be borderline worth your time. If there are 3 complaints for every one great review, I would say to run the other way.



6) WRITE REVIEWS . Let's help each other out you guys! I have already started doing this on Yelp and Citysearch and have detailed my interviews. I had one idiot who called me in and made me wait nearly an hour and came in with an effing ditzy intern who was starting THAT day...for the position that I was interviewing for! WARN others if you had a bad experience. Employers and recruiters better get their crap straight because we are no longer in the days of a telephone book and it is VERY easy for all of us to Google things. Make a private account and start writing Yelp reviews for places. There are all kinds of places you can leave reviews with, but Yelp shows up #1 in search engines from my experience. Make sure you read the rules so your feedback stays put and you aren't shut down.



7) Let them know, OFF THE BAT, that you are ONLY interested in PERMANENT DIRECT-HIRE positions that are FULL-TIME. Of the dozen places that contacted me in the last 24 hours, ALL of them offer direct-hire and permanent positions. You do NOT have to settle for TEMP to PERM or TEMPORARY. Agencies will LIE to you, so PLEASE do your research and stand FIRM if they try to tell you how temp-perm is a great opportunity. It's NOT. It's a great opportunity for their pockets (think commission) and another opportunity for the company to get rid of you before they have to start treating you like a reasonable human being and offering benefits.



8) UP YOUR MINIMUM SALARY REQUIREMENTS. Do you really want to be contacted by 10 recruiters a day for 30-40k/year jobs? Who can honestly make a living off of that? I feel like 30-40k/year is the new minimum wage. These are SALARIED jobs PEOPLE. If your employer wants to keep you late, your pay is NOT going up. Set the bar reasonably. I'm receiving way too many calls, so I now have my minimum requirement as $50,000/year....and I'm STILL receiving calls. It will NOT kill me to hold off another 2-3 weeks for a position that pays reasonably. I'm experienced in office support...doesn't take a brain scientist to do it, so if you have more skills/experience than me, you better be asking for more. Employers like to use the line "It's about quality, not quantity"..and I find myself using that line now too.



**************PLEASE ADD*********************************************** *** *******WORTH THE LONG READ**********Since there has been a very obvious and recent spike in jobs and calls for interviews, it's now time we get a little bit choosier ourselves. I'm not telling anyone to turn down jobs, but I'm telling them that it's OK to FINALLY raise their standards.....just a *pinch*. I have a strong feeling that NYC is FINALLY turning the corner and I would be shocked if the job market did not continue to improve.1) Stick with recruiters that SPECIFICALLY staff for your specialty or you're going to be wasting your time..or rather, have your time wasted. If they don't staff for your specialty, then you're going to be a number somewhere in a stack of paper. You'll also find out that they will attempt to send you on interviews outside of your specialty. What a headache!2) If they cannot reply to you within 24 hours, mark them as unprofessional. A good recruiter has very strong communication skills and follows up. If they take longer than a day to reply to you, check them off your list. What they're basically telling you is that you're not a priority for them. Don't listen to their "sweet talk" later. It's like having a cheating boyfriend. Don't take them back just because they're telling you great things later. Actions speak louder than words and to take more than 24 business hours to follow up is beyond unprofessional.3) Don't allow them to bully you, because they WILL try. They will tell you that their positions are "moving quickly" and that if you don't get in there that the positions will be gone. I'm sure there is some truth to this, but the fact of the matter is, if they're good at what they do, they will have more positions on a week to week basis. This will not be the last position they have available. In order not to overwhelm yourself, I would say to stick to a maximum of 3 interviews a day...preferably even 2. Lay out your calendar and block off a 2-3 hour slot for each one and figure in travel. If you can fit them in, let them know. Don't let them give you times--YOU give them the nearest time and date that you're available. A good recruiter will work around that if they really want to see you.4) MAKE SURE TO SPEAK TO THEM OVER THE PHONE BEFORE GOING IN. Phone etiquette speaks MULTITUDES about a person. Have a small list of questions on hand to see how they answer. They generally won't expect them. Ask them what they specialize in, how many positions they have, the salary range they deal with (let's be real, are you going to waste your time on 35k/year positions?), what you need to bring, if there is any testing and how long you should expect to be at their offices.5) Look up their REVIEWS and FEEDBACK online. The internet is such a GREAT resource nowadays. I easily crossed out a few agencies/recruiters on my list with horrible feedback. By horrible, I mean anything lower than 2 or 2.5 stars on YELP or other places. There will ALWAYS be people complaining about places because SOMETIMES they just were not good enough to be hired. You have to learn how to sift through those reviews. If there are 3 people saying the place is decent for everyone 1 that is complaining, it's could still be borderline worth your time. If there are 3 complaints for every one great review, I would say to run the other way.6). Let's help each other out you guys! I have already started doing this on Yelp and Citysearch and have detailed my interviews. I had one idiot who called me in and made me wait nearly an hour and came in with an effing ditzy intern who was starting THAT day...for the position that I was interviewing for! WARN others if you had a bad experience. Employers and recruiters better get their crap straight because we are no longer in the days of a telephone book and it is VERY easy for all of us to Google things. Make a private account and start writing Yelp reviews for places. There are all kinds of places you can leave reviews with, but Yelp shows up #1 in search engines from my experience. Make sure you read the rules so your feedback stays put and you aren't shut down.7) Let them know, OFF THE BAT, that you are ONLY interested in PERMANENT DIRECT-HIRE positions that are FULL-TIME. Of the dozen places that contacted me in the last 24 hours, ALL of them offer direct-hire and permanent positions. You do NOT have to settle for TEMP to PERM or TEMPORARY. Agencies will LIE to you, so PLEASE do your research and stand FIRM if they try to tell you how temp-perm is a great opportunity. It's NOT. It's a great opportunity for their pockets (think commission) and another opportunity for the company to get rid of you before they have to start treating you like a reasonable human being and offering benefits.8)Do you really want to be contacted by 10 recruiters a day for 30-40k/year jobs? Who can honestly make a living off of that? I feel like 30-40k/year is the new minimum wage. These are SALARIED jobs PEOPLE. If your employer wants to keep you late, your pay is NOT going up. Set the bar reasonably. I'm receiving way too many calls, so I now have my minimum requirement as $50,000/year....and I'm STILL receiving calls. It will NOT kill me to hold off another 2-3 weeks for a position that pays reasonably. I'm experienced in office support...doesn't take a brain scientist to do it, so if you have more skills/experience than me, you better be asking for more.Employers like to use the line "It's about quality, not quantity"..and I find myself using that line now too.**************PLEASE ADD*********************************************** *** Last edited by BingCherry; 05-20-2011 at 08:22 AM ..

05-20-2011, 07:53 AM PorkFriedRice 176 posts, read 441,936 times Reputation: 94 What are some of your tips 05-20-2011, 08:15 AM BingCherry 1,090 posts, read 2,951,673 times Reputation: 729 Quote: PorkFriedRice Originally Posted by What are some of your tips

Please feel free to add. I just updated it. I hope you find it useful!Please feel free to add. 05-20-2011, 09:12 AM BingCherry 1,090 posts, read 2,951,673 times Reputation: 729 Just had THREE more recruiters contact me. I went to reschedule an interview with a recruiter who has POOR follow-up skills and all of a sudden they were singing to the tune of "I was ALL ready for you to come in today. Are you sure there's no possible way to meet today???"..and yes, they used THAT many question marks.



I keep a nice steno pad at my desk and prioritize recruiters in order. Next to that, I keep a print out weekly calendar with time slots and highlight a 2-3 hour block for each interview. Top priority recruiters pass all my tip requirements listed above lol. They get the earliest slots.



I still cannot believe I just started to drink my cup of coffee and had that many people contact me this morning. If it keeps up, I may need to raise my salary requirements another $10,000/year. I'm all about weeding out quantity for quality and if I'm able to ask for $50,000/year++ in office support positions, those of you who are in specialized industries shouldn't feel ashamed to ask for $65,000/year+++, especially if you have more than 2 years of work experience. 05-20-2011, 09:41 AM PorkFriedRice 176 posts, read 441,936 times Reputation: 94 I don't really deal with recruiters but you have very good advice. I will def. forward this to my friends who deal with them. I have a lot of experience interviewing. In the past like 3 years I have 7 jobs, I skip a lot lol but I'm very happy with the one I'm at now and plan to stay for years. I'm also 3 years out of college. For interviews, the obvious would be to dress nice n what not. And I know this also sounds obvious but you have to do your research, from their website to the industry they're in. Ask good questions about the company, the industry, and what the company can do for you. Also whenever someone ask you what do you like to do in your spare time, always say, spend time with family. 05-20-2011, 09:45 AM BingCherry 1,090 posts, read 2,951,673 times Reputation: 729



I would have never thought of the family thing! You mean we shouldn't tell them we like playing with recreational drugs and having random men take jello shots off our chests at the club?I would have never thought of the family thing! 05-20-2011, 09:53 AM BingCherry 1,090 posts, read 2,951,673 times Reputation: 729 Quote: PorkFriedRice Originally Posted by I don't really deal with recruiters but you have very good advice. I will def. forward this to my friends who deal with them. I have a lot of experience interviewing. In the past like 3 years I have 7 jobs, I skip a lot lol but I'm very happy with the one I'm at now and plan to stay for years. I'm also 3 years out of college. For interviews, the obvious would be to dress nice n what not. And I know this also sounds obvious but you have to do your research, from their website to the industry they're in. Ask good questions about the company, the industry, and what the company can do for you. Also whenever someone ask you what do you like to do in your spare time, always say, spend time with family. Email them the link to this page. 05-20-2011, 10:14 AM twist07 Location: Crown Heights 965 posts, read 2,254,535 times Reputation: 519 Quote: pinkybumpkin Originally Posted by



Since there has been a very obvious and recent spike in jobs and calls for interviews, it's now time we get a little bit choosier ourselves. I'm not telling anyone to turn down jobs, but I'm telling them that it's OK to FINALLY raise their standards.....just a *pinch*. I have a strong feeling that NYC is FINALLY turning the corner and I would be shocked if the job market did not continue to improve.



1) Stick with recruiters that SPECIFICALLY staff for your specialty or you're going to be wasting your time..or rather, have your time wasted. If they don't staff for your specialty, then you're going to be a number somewhere in a stack of paper. You'll also find out that they will attempt to send you on interviews outside of your specialty. What a headache!



2) If they cannot reply to you within 24 hours, mark them as unprofessional. A good recruiter has very strong communication skills and follows up. If they take longer than a day to reply to you, check them off your list. What they're basically telling you is that you're not a priority for them. Don't listen to their "sweet talk" later. It's like having a cheating boyfriend. Don't take them back just because they're telling you great things later. Actions speak louder than words and to take more than 24 business hours to follow up is beyond unprofessional.



3) Don't allow them to bully you, because they WILL try. They will tell you that their positions are "moving quickly" and that if you don't get in there that the positions will be gone. I'm sure there is some truth to this, but the fact of the matter is, if they're good at what they do, they will have more positions on a week to week basis. This will not be the last position they have available. In order not to overwhelm yourself, I would say to stick to a maximum of 3 interviews a day...preferably even 2. Lay out your calendar and block off a 2-3 hour slot for each one and figure in travel. If you can fit them in, let them know. Don't let them give you times--YOU give them the nearest time and date that you're available. A good recruiter will work around that if they really want to see you.



4) MAKE SURE TO SPEAK TO THEM OVER THE PHONE BEFORE GOING IN. Phone etiquette speaks MULTITUDES about a person. Have a small list of questions on hand to see how they answer. They generally won't expect them. Ask them what they specialize in, how many positions they have, the salary range they deal with (let's be real, are you going to waste your time on 35k/year positions?), what you need to bring, if there is any testing and how long you should expect to be at their offices.



5) Look up their REVIEWS and FEEDBACK online. The internet is such a GREAT resource nowadays. I easily crossed out a few agencies/recruiters on my list with horrible feedback. By horrible, I mean anything lower than 2 or 2.5 stars on YELP or other places. There will ALWAYS be people complaining about places because SOMETIMES they just were not good enough to be hired. You have to learn how to sift through those reviews. If there are 3 people saying the place is decent for everyone 1 that is complaining, it's could still be borderline worth your time. If there are 3 complaints for every one great review, I would say to run the other way.



6) WRITE REVIEWS . Let's help each other out you guys! I have already started doing this on Yelp and Citysearch and have detailed my interviews. I had one idiot who called me in and made me wait nearly an hour and came in with an effing ditzy intern who was starting THAT day...for the position that I was interviewing for! WARN others if you had a bad experience. Employers and recruiters better get their crap straight because we are no longer in the days of a telephone book and it is VERY easy for all of us to Google things. Make a private account and start writing Yelp reviews for places. There are all kinds of places you can leave reviews with, but Yelp shows up #1 in search engines from my experience. Make sure you read the rules so your feedback stays put and you aren't shut down.



7) Let them know, OFF THE BAT, that you are ONLY interested in PERMANENT DIRECT-HIRE positions that are FULL-TIME. Of the dozen places that contacted me in the last 24 hours, ALL of them offer direct-hire and permanent positions. You do NOT have to settle for TEMP to PERM or TEMPORARY. Agencies will LIE to you, so PLEASE do your research and stand FIRM if they try to tell you how temp-perm is a great opportunity. It's NOT. It's a great opportunity for their pockets (think commission) and another opportunity for the company to get rid of you before they have to start treating you like a reasonable human being and offering benefits.



8) UP YOUR MINIMUM SALARY REQUIREMENTS. Do you really want to be contacted by 10 recruiters a day for 30-40k/year jobs? Who can honestly make a living off of that? I feel like 30-40k/year is the new minimum wage. These are SALARIED jobs PEOPLE. If your employer wants to keep you late, your pay is NOT going up. Set the bar reasonably. I'm receiving way too many calls, so I now have my minimum requirement as $50,000/year....and I'm STILL receiving calls. It will NOT kill me to hold off another 2-3 weeks for a position that pays reasonably. I'm experienced in office support...doesn't take a brain scientist to do it, so if you have more skills/experience than me, you better be asking for more. Employers like to use the line "It's about quality, not quantity"..and I find myself using that line now too.



**************PLEASE ADD*********************************************** *** *******WORTH THE LONG READ**********Since there has been a very obvious and recent spike in jobs and calls for interviews, it's now time we get a little bit choosier ourselves. I'm not telling anyone to turn down jobs, but I'm telling them that it's OK to FINALLY raise their standards.....just a *pinch*. I have a strong feeling that NYC is FINALLY turning the corner and I would be shocked if the job market did not continue to improve.1) Stick with recruiters that SPECIFICALLY staff for your specialty or you're going to be wasting your time..or rather, have your time wasted. If they don't staff for your specialty, then you're going to be a number somewhere in a stack of paper. You'll also find out that they will attempt to send you on interviews outside of your specialty. What a headache!2) If they cannot reply to you within 24 hours, mark them as unprofessional. A good recruiter has very strong communication skills and follows up. If they take longer than a day to reply to you, check them off your list. What they're basically telling you is that you're not a priority for them. Don't listen to their "sweet talk" later. It's like having a cheating boyfriend. Don't take them back just because they're telling you great things later. Actions speak louder than words and to take more than 24 business hours to follow up is beyond unprofessional.3) Don't allow them to bully you, because they WILL try. They will tell you that their positions are "moving quickly" and that if you don't get in there that the positions will be gone. I'm sure there is some truth to this, but the fact of the matter is, if they're good at what they do, they will have more positions on a week to week basis. This will not be the last position they have available. In order not to overwhelm yourself, I would say to stick to a maximum of 3 interviews a day...preferably even 2. Lay out your calendar and block off a 2-3 hour slot for each one and figure in travel. If you can fit them in, let them know. Don't let them give you times--YOU give them the nearest time and date that you're available. A good recruiter will work around that if they really want to see you.4) MAKE SURE TO SPEAK TO THEM OVER THE PHONE BEFORE GOING IN. Phone etiquette speaks MULTITUDES about a person. Have a small list of questions on hand to see how they answer. They generally won't expect them. Ask them what they specialize in, how many positions they have, the salary range they deal with (let's be real, are you going to waste your time on 35k/year positions?), what you need to bring, if there is any testing and how long you should expect to be at their offices.5) Look up their REVIEWS and FEEDBACK online. The internet is such a GREAT resource nowadays. I easily crossed out a few agencies/recruiters on my list with horrible feedback. By horrible, I mean anything lower than 2 or 2.5 stars on YELP or other places. There will ALWAYS be people complaining about places because SOMETIMES they just were not good enough to be hired. You have to learn how to sift through those reviews. If there are 3 people saying the place is decent for everyone 1 that is complaining, it's could still be borderline worth your time. If there are 3 complaints for every one great review, I would say to run the other way.6). Let's help each other out you guys! I have already started doing this on Yelp and Citysearch and have detailed my interviews. I had one idiot who called me in and made me wait nearly an hour and came in with an effing ditzy intern who was starting THAT day...for the position that I was interviewing for! WARN others if you had a bad experience. Employers and recruiters better get their crap straight because we are no longer in the days of a telephone book and it is VERY easy for all of us to Google things. Make a private account and start writing Yelp reviews for places. There are all kinds of places you can leave reviews with, but Yelp shows up #1 in search engines from my experience. Make sure you read the rules so your feedback stays put and you aren't shut down.7) Let them know, OFF THE BAT, that you are ONLY interested in PERMANENT DIRECT-HIRE positions that are FULL-TIME. Of the dozen places that contacted me in the last 24 hours, ALL of them offer direct-hire and permanent positions. You do NOT have to settle for TEMP to PERM or TEMPORARY. Agencies will LIE to you, so PLEASE do your research and stand FIRM if they try to tell you how temp-perm is a great opportunity. It's NOT. It's a great opportunity for their pockets (think commission) and another opportunity for the company to get rid of you before they have to start treating you like a reasonable human being and offering benefits.8)Do you really want to be contacted by 10 recruiters a day for 30-40k/year jobs? Who can honestly make a living off of that? I feel like 30-40k/year is the new minimum wage. These are SALARIED jobs PEOPLE. If your employer wants to keep you late, your pay is NOT going up. Set the bar reasonably. I'm receiving way too many calls, so I now have my minimum requirement as $50,000/year....and I'm STILL receiving calls. It will NOT kill me to hold off another 2-3 weeks for a position that pays reasonably. I'm experienced in office support...doesn't take a brain scientist to do it, so if you have more skills/experience than me, you better be asking for more.Employers like to use the line "It's about quality, not quantity"..and I find myself using that line now too.**************PLEASE ADD*********************************************** *** I like this, definately will be put to use. 05-20-2011, 10:43 AM BingCherry 1,090 posts, read 2,951,673 times Reputation: 729 I'm glad you do! Please, copy the link and post it on your FB wall...email it..let your friends know. The more all of us NYC-peeps get into gear and join together, the BETTER for ALL of us. 05-20-2011, 11:13 AM BingCherry 1,090 posts, read 2,951,673 times Reputation: 729



Give me a break recruiters! Stop giving yourself positive feedback. We need to make sure their ratings aren't artificially skewed. Get on there and start giving reviews of companies/recruiters you have interviewed with you guys! LET'S MAKE THIS AN EMPLOYEES MARKET. It takes 2 seconds to sign up and you can remain COMPLETELY anonymous. I'm doing my part..are you doing yours? PS. BE AWARE!!! I just noticed a BUNCH of new reviews on YELP and of course they are ALL 4 and 5 star reviews from Yelp users that either A) Haven't been on more than a few months or B) Have only 1-2 reviews!Give me a break recruiters! Stop giving yourself positive feedback. We need to make sure their ratings aren't artificially skewed. Get on there and start giving reviews of companies/recruiters you have interviewed with you guys! LET'S MAKE THIS AN EMPLOYEES MARKET. It takes 2 seconds to sign up and you can remain COMPLETELY anonymous. I'm doing my part..are you doing yours? Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.



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