Fee-charging Headhunters Legit?

[Pyrotex]

I have been contacted by a company in Houston called TCMI. They find new jobs or new careers for executives and manager types. The guy's office was on the 9th floor in a tony part of the Galleria part of Houston--the office itself was to die for. Homework was assigned and background checks begun.

 

However, I have always heard that headhunters who charge the job seeker are generally scams. Is this necessarily true? Any experience out there with this sort of thing?

 

I haven't paid yet. That comes on the second or third meeting. They have no major complaints at Better Business Bureau.

[Boerseun]

I don't know whether they're legit over in Texas, but over here (in SA), standard practice is for the headhunters to be paid by the company they're supplying staff for. It shouldn't cost you a dime.

[InfiniteNow]

I concur with Boerseun's points. You will sometimes pay a consultant who can help with prepping your resume and asking the right questions and responding with the right answers, but head hunters (if that's what this is) are paid by the company.

[TheFaithfulStone]

I too call shenanigans.

 

TFS

[InfiniteNow]

Maybe more information would help Pyro... I don't want you to unecessarily be turned off or steered away, as there exists the chance that this is totall legit. We are basing our comments on your short synopsis above.

 

I've met with consultants such as those I mentioned above (however, did decide I could spend my resources elsewhere)... Head hunters in the normal sense are hired by a company to fill a need with the right resource. The resource doesn't generally pay them to put them in contact with the company.

[Pyrotex]

Maybe more information would help Pyro... I don't want you to unecessarily be turned off or steered away, as there exists the chance that this is totall legit. ....

Thanks, guys. It is hard to provide more info than I have. It is clear that *I* am to be the client, not a company seeking a "head". But the company generally does pay a fee, so in his words, "I won't be out any money after I land the job." Hmmm. Right now, I cannot afford the $20K or $30K that companies would generally pay to find a mid-level manager in engineering.

 

My research on the web agrees with all of your insights. This is not "normal" headhunting procedure. And I am going to be very very careful.

[TheFaithfulStone]

"I won't be out any money after I land the job."

 

Cap'n my weasel meter she jus' wenna through the roof!

 

TFS

[Buffy]

I'll be more emphatic: If they ask you for money, IT IS A SCUMMY SCAMMER! There is absolutely no legitimate headhunt--er, recruiter who will charge you. I've spent time on both sides of the equation, and all of my friends who do it for a living will tell you that the guy you describe is below earthworms on the totem pole. If he was really any good, he would not have to charge you...

 

Danger Will Robinson!!!!

Buffy

[Pyrotex]

I'll be more emphatic: ...Danger Will Robinson!!!!

We have target acquisition and tracking...

Thanks for your perspective.

I know that times have changed and that the job-hunting market has evolved greatly since I last used a headhunter in 1985. Well, HE was a position-hunter, technically speaking. I know that resumes are worthless now, and even the Internet is becoming useless. I know that professional recruiters have had to evolve their profession.

 

But STILL... it doesn't make sense that they should be charging the individual, unless of course, they're looking for suckers.

[Pyrotex]

Had my second interview with TCMI. Now they tell me. Their fee is $6000 up front and an additional $4000 if I land a job through them within 18 months.

 

I have decided to pass on this opportunity. The guy said I wouldn't last 5 minutes in a corporate boardroom and I asked him why. He said I was too open and honest. That conversation has obsessed me for days until I realized that openness and honesty are the only real assets I have.

[Boerseun]

They're definitely conning you. They're basically charging you six grand to simply have your cv in a stack of other cv's. There are plenty of placement agencies offering this service for free.

 

And the "won't last ten minutes in a corporate boardroom"-speak is simply a fear-inducing technique to make you sign up.

 

These people are full of bullshit, by the sound of things, and if I was you, I'd stay far away from them...

 

Besides - reputable companies won't go knocking on guys like these' doors for staff is this is how they operate. Dodgy placement agencies normally only offer dodgy positions...

[CraigD]

Had my second interview with TCMI. Now they tell me. Their fee is $6000 up front and an additional $4000 if I land a job through them within 18 months.

 

I have decided to pass on this opportunity. The guy said I wouldn't last 5 minutes in a corporate boardroom and I asked him why. He said I was too open and honest. That conversation has obsessed me for days until I realized that openness and honesty are the only real assets I have.

 

I would not only pass on the opportunity, but pass on any information you have on TCMI to the police. The behavior you describe – an impressive office, asking for an exorbitant (but affordable to an ordinary person) up-front fee, a fee to be paid later to give the impression that there will be a later, impolite behavior when rebuffed, contempt for honesty – is consistent with, as Buffy put it, A SCUMMY SCAMMER. Once they have collected several of these fees, I expect they will vacate the office space and become impossible for their client/victims to contact. I doubt that they are using their real names.

 

If these suspicions are correct, these people are serious criminals.

[TheFaithfulStone]

The guy said I wouldn't last 5 minutes in a corporate boardroom and I asked him why. He said I was too open and honest.

 

Five minutes in any corporate boardroom, and this guy would find himself leaving in handcuffs. Corporations may not be particularly ethical institutions, but they REALLY hate to be conned.

 

He's a crook - turn him in.

 

TFS