Using a Recruiter - does it work?

INTERVIEWS
21

Fashion companies based within the NYC area has ALWAYS had the luxury of being able to cherry pick their candidates. Yes, the majority of us have transferable skills (I’ve developed product for 5 categories)…but the problem is if I apply to product development job right now for a category I’ve never developed, there EASILY will be anywhere from 100 to 300 people applying who have actually have PD experience within that exact same category. Yet we can’t give up!

I’ve had recruiters tell me (pre-covid-19), most companies are not going to pay a recruiter big dollars to fill a roll for a candidate who either doesn’t have 90%- 100% of the skills for the same category…especially if the job is at Management/Director/VP. You are better off taking a chance and sending your resume independently (perhaps through connecting with people at that company on LinkedIn, or if you can get a hold of the HR person’s email…or even the owner of the company, if you have good amount of experience and if the company happens to be small to medium sized.

22

I agree with all. One problem I have run into is that I can’t find out who the companies are when they are using a recruiting agency. I would definitely prefer to submit my resume directly, but the agencies won’t disclose who the client is. I’ve even had occasions when an agency submitted my resume to a company, but would not disclose the company name unless they wanted to go forward with my candidacy.

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23

Alicia Fazio at Agency Works is great and will work hard for you, I worked with at a previous agency and she has a great team under her. Also good luck with Atrium, Marsha Delmas is great.

With all of that being said, I am seeing more and more postings that say NO AGENCIES. Its and interesting shift.

24

I agree with you…I think perhaps some companies either can’t or don’t want to pay recruiters that commission on top of a new employee’s salary since budgets are tight for many of them. Let’s get real…if a company either straight up posted a job (whether blind ad or one indicating the name of company)…they would get plenty of qualified candidates.

I’m not an HR person, but at a few companies where I was either manager or director of my dept, I was the one managing the interview process, from writing the job ad, choosing what sites to post it, screening resumes, conducting interviews and even choosing who was hired. Whoever is the head of the dept where there’s an opening, they should easily be able to do this…I actually enjoyed it, and have said I wouldn’t mind going into HR or recruiting down the road.

25

@Pinky

It actually isn’t uncommon for companies to post job ads (either anonymously or where you know who they are AND ask recruiters to help them look simultaneously). That’s why whenever a see an ad that’s from a recruiter, I always do an online search and I’ve often been able to cross-reference and figure out who it is. And if a recruiter reaches out to you about a job you didn’t apply to, ask them to email you a job description…also never tell a recruiter your desired salary range without seeing a job ad…you could be lowballing yourself without knowing all of the job’s responsibilities and requirements.

26

Thank you so much @KTMERCH!

27

I’m so frustrated when recruiters will be secretive about what company it is that they’re sending my (revised-by-them) resume to! So what if I were to find out the company name - it just provides me with the truth and facts that this is, in fact, a real job that they are genuinely trying to fill!! Sometimes I feel as though I’m applying to jobs that don’t even exist, never existed, and won’t ever exist.

I know somebody is going to argue with me about They need to keep it secret because that’s how they get their commission. My answer to that: it’s full of crap! Let me know this job is real. I’ve had my “resume sent out” to these jobs too many times to count where I never heard a word back.

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28

I encourage you to not permit them to send your resume without informing you who the company is first. I’ve heard some horror stories of friends who were unhappy in their roles applying to unknown jobs through a recruiter and come to find out they had applied for their own job, or a job at a company where their supervisor has close contacts.

Further, I’ve heard that recruiters contracts with companies often are so strict that if you’ve applied to the same job twice through two different recruiters without knowing, the company will actually throw your resume away to avoid a legal conflict with the recruiters both trying to claim they placed you.
Same with if you’ve applied directly and a recruiter also sent your resume.

You MUST know where recruiters are sending your resume.

I once got an enthusiastic email from recruiter for a role that sounded suspiciously like a job I had just left. They didn’t want to tell me the company and so I asked them, is it X company? because if so, you’re trying to fill the job I just left. It was.

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29

Another thing that has happened to me is that my resume was sent to a company I did not want to work for, due to what I knew was a toxic culture. I agree, it is imperative to know who the company is.

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30

@Fabricologist

About 12 years ago, recruiters would rarely tell me the names of the companies, unless I reached the point of getting an actual interview with the company. Now, I feel about 50% of the time, the recruiter will tell me upfront. These days, I think a recruiter will not name the company upfront because of one of these reasons:

-There really isn’t an open job currently…but because the recruiter either hopes or anticipates their regular clients will have openings within the next 1 to 2 months…they collect resumes to get a head start. It’s become “the norm” for companies to actually use more than one agency. While I “get it” from the recruiters standpoint, it sucks and is totally unfair to the jobseeker, who is often strung along for weeks…and then ghosted.

-There actually is an open role…but the company has asked the recruiter to keep it quiet unless you actually get invited in. The company could be trying to “clean house” and get rid of employees, even the majority of a dept (whether for a legitimate reason or even an unfair reason), and they don’t want the employee(s) who are about to get fired to catch on it’s going to happen within the near future. The company doesn’t want the employee to quit before they find a stronger candidate to fill the role.

  • The recruiter suspects the company would be crooked (despite being their account) and feels they will actually call the candidate independently and skip over them…I know a couple of jobseekers where that has actually happened. I’ve even seen disclaimers recently from recruiters that say something like “the jobseeker must let the recruiter know if the company with the job reaches out to them for an interview/offer.” Let’s not forget, our industry is often crooked from MULTIPLE angles! I’m guessing maybe the recruiting agency could try to sue the company for sourcing prospective employees and then getting jipped? That could get really messy. And the way many fashion companies are somehow connected, whether due to being within the community or being a parent company with multiple subsidiaries that have different sets of HR people…the end result could mean the agency loses multiple accounts.
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31

That is incredibly disturbing…I’m disgusted by this.
I value honesty and transparency, which doesn’t exist here.

I had a recruiter make me sign multiple waivers for them to sponsor me for a job. They agreed to pay me a specific salary, made me do 3 phone interviews, sent them my resume twice, did another phone interview, then they ghosted me.

I had another recruiter tell me the name of the company they were sending my resume to, but then I read the online reviews and then it said the hours are 8am to 6pm. Basically means you can’t interview during the day for another job if you accept a job like that. Also that’s a 10 hour work day. With my experience, employers assume you WILL stay late. Without pay. And assume you will be ok with that.

32

@fabricologist

All of my corporate fashion jobs have been salaried…you typically do not get extra money if you work extra hours, whether it be during market week, or even peak development time when working on Holiday/4th Qtr collections. Depending upon how nice my past employers were…I would get free dinner and car service home.

If I was a business owner and if my design and development staff was CONSTANTLY working late (I’m not talking about 1 or 2 hours more once or twice a week…I mean LATE as in being in the office until 9pm or 11pm on the regular)…I would either hire extra contract staff, or additional permanent people…or I didn’t hire extra people, I would at least give the employees who put in the extra hours AND worked productively a nice bonus at the end of the year.

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33

I have found the only way to get hired in this industry is thru a recruiter! I am on the wholesale side - agree with the comment on JBC - they never answer my emails even when I have direct contacts there which is frustrating as they post a lot. I have had recruiters ask me to come in and meet them, I don’t think that is unreasonable (pre covid) as they are selling you and their reputation so they need to know you as a full package if they are good. Those are the recruiters you build a relationship with and have connections with better companies. I am pretty experienced so it does take time to build the right network. I have found worth the effort in my earlier years. Good luck!

34

I wouldn’t turn down a job listing because the hours say 8 am- 6 pm. Often when posting employers have to check boxes for normal working hours, and usually they are not accurate. It’s best to proceed with the interview process, and when you’re sure they 100% love you and an offer is coming, that’s when you can ask about normal hours and work culture. Asking this stuff too early in the game makes it sound like you aren’t willing to work these hours.

And to be honest, most jobs in fashion are salaried and you are expected to work overtime as needed. Having a steady-eddy 8-6 is a dream for a lot of people. Most jobs I’ve had (I’m in design) have been 9-6, but that’s just business hours. Yes, many places I’ve worked through lunch; some places I worked til 9 every night, while other places putting in a late night was a once a month thing; some places expect you to work saturday, as needed; also keep in mind if you’re travelling then normal business hours don’t apply. (When I would work a trade show, I’d be there at 8 am for first meetings, work through lunch, be in appts until 6- then have just enough time to get back to my hotel, shower and change, and go out with clients for drinks and dinner. Those days were long- AND the Miami swim show takes place on Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues so I’d lose my weekend. BUT I’d also learn a lot about my clients, eat some great meals, and come back feeling excited about the sales we’d made!)

But you have to think about what you want, and what works for you and your lifestyle, and what’s a dealbreaker. Yes, it sucked working til 9 every night… but I was young, and the experience I got was amazing. Now that I’m older, and have a career and a life- I don’t want to be on a plane every week, and working late every night, so I look for jobs that align with what my work life balance needs are. Once you’re far enough along in the process, tread carefully to find out the company’s work culture and ethos.

35

hi. just an FYI, “gypped” or as you wrote it, “jipped” is a racial slur. Many Americans don’t know this and just think it means ripped off, so no anger to you, but Europeans definitely hear it as a very nasty prejudiced word.

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36

I’m about to hit 20 yrs in the industry and I’ve never had any luck with recruiters.
I know some of them from the very beginning of my career! I’ve gotten a couple of freelance roles thru recruiters back in the day, but that’s about the extent.
I’ll hear from a few every so often checking in to see where I’m at, but nothing ever comes of it. I agree with the fact that once you hit a certain level, the larger firms won’t be able to help you at all. This is from experience.
Oh, and ghosting Seems like is like a part of their job. It’s very unprofessional, but it’s a common trait.

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37

Hi - has anyone been approached by recruiters and then they either a) start ghosting you once you reply, and/or b) become downright rude and belligerent?

I have been looking for a new job as the current one I have is extremely low pay. About 75% of the workforce are remote but they justify paying so low because we are not commuting. They started hiring entry level fashion grads who are still living at home so they can pay the lowest possible salary as per the average in those states.

They have me training and teaching these new hires, along with our daily workload and most of us are working 10-12 hours a day. No extra pay and they claim that they can do this because we are salary.

We have been told if we don’t like it, leave.

I took the job when I got laid off as it pays more than unemployment, but just a smudge more. I thought it would be temporary.

I have been looking for work for over 18 months. Have had a couple interviews and I would come up runner up, do close yet so far. Very frustrating.

Several recruiters have reached out to me with great job leads and I checked the emails to make sure they were not scammers. Once I replied that yes I was interested in the jobs, nothing. No replies back, no further emails. When I would follow up, nothing. Crickets.

Then two other recruiters contacted me from another company, but both were as rude as could be.

One actually told me that I have been in the industry “too long” why don’t I retire?!? Then the other told me to move out of state as I have been in the CA industry too long, too.

Does anyone know of any legitimate headhunters who will actually work for you, the client?!? I need help as financially I am making less than I did five years ago.

I greatly appreciate your feedback.

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38

Sadly, I think you’re seeing a case of good old fashioned ageism and rudeness. I’m always nice to recruiters, reach out to them regularly, and stay on their good side. Still, while I’ve been sent on a number of interviews in the past 20 years, only 1 recruiter has ever gotten me a full time job. What’s worse, the job was not at all what I expected once I got there, and she refused to help me find another job, because she needed me to stay for the first 3 months so she could collect her full commission.
I don’t think the agencies work for you, the person looking for a job. They are like HR- they are providing a service to the companies, and their loyalties lie there. I’ve often had recruiters try to wheedle me down to a lower salary/rate- they are just looking to fill an empty slot, they are not trying to find you a “good fit”.
Update your resume, be sweet as pie to recruiters (because you never know!), and apply directly to companies as much as you can. That’s how I’ve landed all of my jobs (except that one!). And depending on what you do, you may need to plan to segue your experience into something that is (slightly) more ageism proof. I was a designer for years, but have “aged” out of that career and moved on to tech design. At least I’ve valued for that experience, and I know I can’t easily be replaced by a young design school whippersnapper. Good luck :slight_smile:

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39

Only 20 years or less of work history on your resume. No dates of college graduations.
The job market we are in right now is employer-driven. The hiring manager has 300+ people applying for every position. If a recruiter contacts you and then ghosts you that is very typical. If you are not a 100000% exact match for the job (experience level, salary level, software knowledge, cultural fit) they will just move on as so many people are applying. If the recruiter discloses to you the company they are recruiting for the best thing to do is try and find the internal company recruiter and hiring manager and try to connect with them on LinkedIn and let them know you applied for this role through recruiter XYZ. That way IF they like your background they can go back to the recruiter and tell them they want to meet you. No one in this job market will get hired just by leaving it to a recruiter. They don’t care, too many resumes coming in and on to the next. Sometimes the recruiter gets the job pulled by the employer or the employer has ended the search and that is why it goes cold. Work every lead from all sides. Good luck

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40

Which agencies are you having problems with? I bet I can guess but would like to know from you first.