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IT Staffing Firms

TalonStrike

TalonStrike

Senior member
Do any of you have any experience with the following IT staffing firms:

TEK Systems
Robert Half Technology
KForce
Apex Systems

Did you find them to be helpful? Otherwise, what is your opinion on IT staffing firms in general?
 
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I think that a staffing firm is a great way to get your foot in the door and show that you are worth taking on full time as an employee.
 
Not a fan, but sometimes they are best/only option.

Worked with RH and GlobalInsight. Your recruiter will make a lot of difference IME.

I'd do short contract work and try to find a company you like to buy you out. I'd avoid long term contracts, 1yr+, with the hiring agencies.

Read fine print of contract and/or discuss options to leave the hiring agency and what strings are attached and how deep the hooks on those strings are. If a company wants to hire you they will owe a fee to the hiring agency and that fee may be a direct 1 for 1 substraction for your first years salary offer whether either side admits it or not.
 
I met with TEK Systems before, they will go full force to recruit you and they are like sales people. They will tell you that being a on a contract job is good because you get paid a lot but when you do the math, it's not because of all the benefits that they do not offer.

For example, they'll offer you a contract job straight up at say $100k and if you want vacation days, sick days/personal, health insurance, dental, etc. you will need to buy it from them...in the end you might become $75k which is still good depending on your level and expectation.

I assume you are in the DC/MD/VA area? A lot of contract jobs from IT staffing firms. If contracts are you thing, go for it.
 
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It seems like I worked with Robert Half before, and thought they were pretty good. In general, I hate headhunters and will avoid working with them unless there are no other options. But like someone else said, they are great for getting your foot in the door.
 
I've had each of those companies call me, sometimes once every month. It's annoying. They're always 3-6 month contracts, sometimes contract to hire. It's very rare you will actually get called about a real job from these companies...
 
I got my current job through Robert Half. They were great actually... I did an in person interview and the guy discussed potential openings with me. I told him which one I liked and that company called me before I even got back into my car after the Robert Half interview.

Of course they take a lot of 'your' pay (I got $16/hour while the company paid them $29) while you are with them, but the company gave me a full time position 6 months later and Robert Half didn't try to block it or anything.
 
I think a lot of it depends on your local contacts. TekSystems got me my current job. I was never actually a contractor for them; the job was direct hire and I had a friend who was working with TekSystems to get himself a job and he passed my name to them and they submitted me to the company.

Robert Half has tried to recruit me for a few positions, but each time, I've declined. They seemed to be nice and very professional, but I have no direct experience working in jobs they placed me at.

I have not been impressed with Kforce. I applied for a couple of positions they advertised years ago and didn't hear anything back, even though I met or exceeded all of their posted qualifications.

Pinnacle Partners is another firm (are they national?) and I have mixed feelings about them. When I spoke to them a few years ago, they seemed to really low-ball the pay rate.

Others that have tried to recruit me are CyberCoders (job would've required a move, so I declined) and Nigel Frank, who for whatever reason, seems to think I'm a Microsoft Dynamics guru.

I met with TEK Systems before, they will go full force to recruit you and they are like sales people. They will tell you that being a on a contract job is good because you get paid a lot but when you do the math, it's not because of all the benefits that they do not offer.

For example, they'll offer you a contract job straight up at say $100k and if you want vacation days, sick days/personal, health insurance, dental, etc. you will need to buy it from them...in the end you might become $75k which is still good depending on your level and expectation.
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That's why I haven't gone the contracting route. With my total compensation package here, I would have a tough time matching it as a contractor plus I have more stability and generally only work 40 hours per week.
 
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Geekish Thoughts said:
I've had each of those companies call me, sometimes once every month. It's annoying. They're always 3-6 month contracts, sometimes contract to hire. It's very rare you will actually get called about a real job from these companies...
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^^ Same here. It's almost all contract work (at least from what I've personally seen). If you don't mind working as a contractor in short term positions, go for it.
 
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I'm currently working with Robert Half Technologies and like someone else mentioned, the actual recruiter individual you're working with makes a big difference. Some are straight-up salesmen and sound like they're trying to sell you a used car. Others at least somewhat seem like they care about your career and what's best for you. 8 times out of 10 though its most likely lip-service since they earn hefty commissions for each successful placement (like 20% of your annual salary....so for a candidate they place for 90k salary they get 18k!!! well, the Staffing company does, not sure what the individual cut of the recruiter is). And do read the fine print in the contract. I think most IT staffing firms, the fee they make gets paid for by the prospective employer in additional to you salary, it doesn't get taken out of your salary (that would suck!).

In the end though, despite what I said they make a pretty big difference for getting your foot in the door for interviews etc.
 
TEK Systems sounds familiar I think I worked with them before.

But that was years ago and I still get calls from the recruiters. I guess its good they keep checking to see if I want a new position but it also can get annoying
 
I worked with Snelling staffing services and they were great. I specified I wanted a temp to hire position, and they delivered. I was put into a position quickly making what I asked for and was permanent within 6 months.

According to my employer Snelling charged about 10% of my pay, so when I was hired permanent the company just transferred that amount to me, so it was basically a 10% raise as well as being hired.
 
And to add to what I mentioned earlier OP, many companies are using these kinds of firms as their recruiting departments especially if IT is not a core competency for their company. My company is in the sports industry, so the HR people here aren't necessarily qualified to judge an IT candidate's qualifications. So, our IT management uses these firms to screen candidates and get the number of resumes submitted down to a reasonable level. Also, many companies (now including mine) will do contract-to-hire to make sure that the selected candidate is a fit. We brought a Sharepoint contractor on board in January in a contract-to-hire scenario and I think we'll eventually hire her, as she rocks.
 
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Have used the first three plus half dozen others.

All are just intermediaries into the actual client and you are paid through them.

Some offer benefit options as if you are a true employee, others do not.

Some are part of a national chain; others will work with companies across the country.
Some will force you to use W2 others will allow a 1099.
For those using W2, some will allow per diem others do not (claim that it is client requirements)

Indy - Pinnacle Partners is a local firm.

Those that are part of a national chain operate in their own territories to locate potential clients but advertise for contractors nation wide both through the job sides and their own internal sites.

All will low ball you initially - it is up to you to force a higher rate. Some will come up, others will seek another fish.

If the rate is close, you can state you may/might consider ##. After talking to the client and the client is interested in you then you can push for a couple of $$ more if you were low balling yourself at ##.

Make sure the you have the may/might documented so you are not going back on your word if you push for more. A good waffle job can work.

Once you develop some relationship with an agency; they better understand your skills and rates. They will not waste your time with bad fits or rates that you will not even consider.

Example
I would like $100
Depending on where location is, I will work between 90-95
Recruiters that I have worked with (may not have worked for) know to not even waste time if they can not get 85.
 
I have dealt with 3 out of 4 of those. I have nothing negative to say about them, other than that, for myself, I'd prefer full-time positions over doing contract work for them. So I can't imagine a situation where I'd leave a full-time position for whatever they're posting, if I were simply job searching while employed full-time. Some of their positions will lead to full-time positions eventually, some won't.

Robert Half seemed like the nicest, but I suspect it depends on the individuals you deal with. Some are nice. Some are sleazy. Treat them as you'd treat any other vendor. Call them back if you need them, don't return their calls if you don't.

I wouldn't expect them to do you any favors. If they place you somewhere it's because their customer picked you, and not because the firm pushed you over other candidates.

I do think, though, that often times the only way to get to the jobs they're posting is through them(and possibly other firms competing to fill the same position for that particular client) because their client doesn't want an FTE or only wants to do contract-to-hire, so dealing with these guys is the quickest/only way to get your foot in the door with that company, or this industry in general.
 
These firms have both temporary/contract staffing and full-time/recruiting sides. I know Robert Half and KForce do at least.

In the past when I was contacted about contract positions, I told them I was only interested in full-time work and I was then forwarded to another person and group.

At my current company, we have separate recruiters for full-time and contract workers.
 
I had a contracting position through TEK Systems for a couple years. Nothing bad to say about them. You can negotiate with them to get paid time off, they have basic health benefits, and the recruiters I worked with were always friendly and willing to help.
 
I have dealt with them on both ends and the majority are purely salesmen and don't care or even understand what they are recruiting for or the person the are recruiting. The biggest annoyance right now are the guys with thick accents that call about a position not closely related to my resume. I've had experiences with all the ones in the OP as well as GlobalInsight, Matrix and a few others and not a single one stood out as an exceptional company.l
 
KentState said:
I have dealt with them on both ends and the majority are purely salesmen and don't care or even understand what they are recruiting for or the person the are recruiting. The biggest annoyance right now are the guys with thick accents that call about a position not closely related to my resume. I've had experiences with all the ones in the OP as well as GlobalInsight, Matrix and a few others and not a single one stood out as an exceptional company.l
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I know! I've experienced the same thing!
 
KentState said:
I have dealt with them on both ends and the majority are purely salesmen and don't care or even understand what they are recruiting for or the person the are recruiting. The biggest annoyance right now are the guys with thick accents that call about a position not closely related to my resume. I've had experiences with all the ones in the OP as well as GlobalInsight, Matrix and a few others and not a single one stood out as an exceptional company.l
Click to expand...

Many look only for key words and do not read your resume and/or understand the requirements.

Interesting that the majority that call me on the no-match slots have the accent. At times, it is hard to understand.

Just like the Indian community seems to have taken over the gas station and 7/11 type business, they have expanded to the headhunter shops.


KentState said:
I've had experiences with all the ones in the OP as well as GlobalInsight, Matrix and a few others and not a single one stood out as an exceptional company.l
Click to expand...

The better ones are those that are not part of a chain.

Those are the ones that I notify a month before I start looking. Special email group
 
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