Do you have a career?

[kuromusha]

right now is really tough man. I came out of school (well dropped out of school) into the best job market in the history of mankind (Clinton had just got elected) -and I chose drugs and music instead lulz -so i had to play serious catchup after 10 years of that insanity.

My advice is go demand a job from someone in the sense that you don't make it about the pay or working conditions etc etc -go in and say I WANT TO GET MY FOOT IN THE DOOR and I will take your lowest paid position and in one year show you what Im worth I will will revisit my salary etc.

Not that this is you, but I interview college newbies all of the time and they mostly have this bullshit idea that they deserve and need all of these things and that employers are here to serve them. I say just get a paying position and make some sacrifices to prove yourself and make connections. However after 3 internships and a degree I would think that is an indication of how truely awful the climate is out there right now because you would think you know enough people now to leverage the experience. really sucks now.

I had this kid who came to me in 2003 after dropping out of highschool and said I'm motivated and a self starter -you need to hire me and I will prove this -so I hired him for next to nothing -he's now been working with me 10 years and makes about 7 times the money that I hired him for has an awesome job -all from just demanding that if I gave him a paying job he would deliver. Best hire I ever made.

by the way, a year after i hired him i forced him to go back and get his high school degree -so i changed his schedule around so he could do the study classes for a GED. I just figured he'd never get it unless he was still young and told him I would fire him if he didn't do it. Needless to say his mom really like me.

Youre just a cool guy all around.

 

[redjako]

How would someone go about getting into this field?

Google "recruiter" in your area. Call and follow-up, and be happy/sales'y. Its kind of a shit job. If your a third-party recruiter though, you can pull down some good money. Base + commission:

1) Contract, you make a commission on the "spread" between what you bill a company (like a financial services firm for a Sr Developer) of $60-$80 / hr. Your firm handles all the taxes and finding the person (need to setup about 10 interviews (sometimes less) and talk to at least 50 people sometimes to get a "hire." Then you pay them as little as possible but enough to keep em around (it can be a scuzzy business, I always made more money on volume and paid people more if I could): like $35-$45 / hr. So your spread is the difference between taxes and shit.

So you pull in $10,000 per month for the company and make 5-15% on that.


2) Permanent/salary staffing. You pull in 15-25% (average is 18-20% in technical, 25%+ in engineering, lower in other shit like sales or whatever, 15%) of the salary booked. So $70k is at 20% a fee for the company of $14,000.

Typically average books at permanent level is ~$80,000, upwards of $120,000 and sometimes $180,000 in high-cost markets (NYC, etc.) for Senior positions.

You SHOULD be making at Least 10%, but uwpards of 15% with a salary.

You book 2 permanent roles for $32,000 in fee's for your company, you make $3,200 - $5,000 ish in a month (2 books a month is a good average).


My own experience: at permanent level I was a good booker, I booked about 280,000 and made dick (bad company). Went to a more contract role, and pulled in ~1-2k per month after getting up to 15,000 / month contract work, with little permanent staffing (salary) bumps getting my total comp to like 70k as a 1-2 year experienced gradudate/recruiter.


You call and annoy people a lot (in this market in tech, their are more jobs then developers), and make 50-150 calls a day.

You also dissapoint and get to see a lot of sad candidates who may really need work.

Thats not your job. Your job is to work for the company with the job, and deal with crappy HR, hiring managers, etc.

But its not a bad "sales" type job for people who can't get another job.


Your salary is normaly 35-40k to start, and most companies CHURN through recruiters, because its kind of a shit job.

You should work up to 50-60k base+commission.

If you can get into staffing Sr positions, like Directors and shit, thats better money and more fun liaisoning with Sr VP's and Partners, whatever.

It can be rewarding, but if you haveany tech background you shoudl just sell B2B tech products, and make a 45-60k (or 80k with 2-3 years of quota experience) and pull down 90-200k in commission.

/no longer a tech recruiter. In a down market (2009) it was much easier money, because their was more talent then jobs.

 

[redjako]

I came out of college about 2 years ago now. I am a young man, and have done 3 UNPAID internships in writing/marketing. I still can't get an entry level job, even with a degree from a respected university and 1.5 years office experience under my belt.

Try the freelance route.

 

[mikecello]

Can one have a career in slacking?

 

[Prime Shane Douglas]

I currently work as a Radiation Exposure Manager. My job is to estimate, track, control, record and manage the amount of radiation exposure employees receive. Im like an accountant but not with money.

My professional training involved a four year apprenticeship in the sheet metal trade that gave me a Federal, State, Dept of Labor and Dept. Navy journeyman certification. I moved on to supervision, then got promoted to my current position. I coupled this with a few years of college, but I only got a Associate's Degree.

I do alright irt salary. My base is 75K a year. Im content in what I do and it pays the bills. Cant ask for more than that.

 

[Randy Marsh]

I run the biggest fucking MMA promotion in the world. We are currently neck and neck with soccer, on an international scale. Gonna take over the world in the next 5 years. You better fucking believe it. Fuckers.