Beware: NET-A-PORTER

[Uri Guttman]

On 12/09/2011 02:58 AM, Rudolf Lippan wrote:
>  On Friday, December 09, 2011 at 02:23:22 AM, Avleen Vig wrote:

>  My understanding is that NAP had a very hard time finding people in the
>  US---I know I passed their posts by before. I had serious concerns after
>  talking to them, and the recruiter kept me from jumping 3 or 4 times
>  during the process explaining, "They don't understand the US market".
>
>  I estimate that commission for my position alone would have probably
>  be around 54K, but I think it was probably worth it from what I saw of
>  NAP recruitment.

where did you get that figure? given the standard rate of 20% (and i
know since i recruit) or even less, that would mean a salary of over
250k which is ridiculous but for a handful of perl hackers i know about
(merlyn!).

i don't have a deal with NaP so i can't say anything about this
blowup. but i wouldn't ever keep someone from taking the bird in the
hand. it is unprofessional and #^#^@&ed up.

> > At least here in the US, bypassing recruiters is the much preferred
> > method. I don't know why they're still so heavily relied on in the
> > UK.

preferred by some but not all. again, depends on the agent.

>  I suspect that is because it adds about 30% to the cost of hiring
>  someone; however, if you can't attract people....

it is usually less cost than that. no one pays 30% or charges it. and if
30% is your figure then the 54k commission above means a $180k salary
which is still on the high side. and using an agency can mean more work
for the employer. if an agency just blasts you with dozens of resumes
found by buzzword matching, the employer has to screen the resumes, then
do a large number of phone screen, then more interviews, etc. so the
time spent doing all that must be factored in to the total cost. on the
other side if you find the right hacker in a reasonable time, you can
use them to get the project done in a reasonable time frame and earn
revenue from that. even advertising on the perl jobs list will get you a
pile of resumes and all the work needed to filter/screen them. it is
'free' advertising but costly recruiting.

this is why picking your agency is just as important as picking your
employer. call this a shameless plug for perlhunter.com.

uri