The Inbetweener: why recruitment fees can wreck your chances of finding work
Our popular columnist returns with another controversial article. Be sure to leave your comments below.
I was recently in the final stage of an interview process and the subject of money came up. At first I followed the key recommendation in all the interview manuals: never give a price and always let the potential employer start negotiations about what it thinks you are worth.
However, after three back-and-forth conversations I was told to just give the firm a salary figure. So I caved in and I did. I haven't heard back since.
Before that, I had to make the agonising decision about what I thought my annual income should be, so I did some research. I asked people in the industry what the going rate was, and I also checked online to see what the necessary-evil-known-as-recruiters were advertising for similar roles.
The later proved to be the biggest waste of my time. The base rate for standard roles, similar to the one I interviewed for, has a variation of over $40k. The job is not that senior so the big pay gap is bizarre. I deduced this could only mean one thing: there must be a massive gulf between the recruiters' fees.
This is a huge problem for me because it takes me back to my original article of being told that I am too expensive for the position. But perhaps I wouldn't be so costly to the emloyer if the recruiter wasn't taking such a large cut.
Show me the fee
When transactions occur in the financial services sector, clients need to be informed of the fees incurred prior to agreeing to the transaction. So why is it that recruiters don't need to tell you what their cut is for the position YOU are going for?
Since the global financial crisis hit, salaries have dropped, regulations have toughened up for most in the industry, and there is an increased transparency in all transactions, so why don't these rules apply to headhunters? When signing an agreement with a recruiter, I am always told what my obligations are, but I am never informed about the fees.
If we are to learn from the mistakes of the past few years, and want the right people, in the right jobs, at the right salary, then is it time that those salaries are made completely transparent - including the fees for those that put us into our roles in the first place.
to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
