RE: What do you think about Resume Preparation Services and Recruiter s - was Applying for a position, really...

["Justin Cascio" <justin-paul -dot- geo -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

Ed Manley asked:

> What do you think about using a recruiter to find, introduce you to
> decision-makers and negotiate benefits for you?

I've never used a resume service, so I can't answer you on that one.
However, I find it odd, in my ignorance, that a technical writer would use
such a service. Don't our skill sets include being able to lay out documents
for easy use?

> I had great luck hiring recruiters to represent (read
> sell) me, but finding an honest one is tough and expensive.

You're paying recruiters?? I've only ever encountered one recruiter that
required job hunters to pay, and I didn't use them. There are, at last
count, about a bazillion shops that will represent you for free, and IME
it's considered unreputable for a recruiter to charge the people they're
placing. The employers pay to get you, not the other way around.

It's true that it's hard to find a good one, but I haven't had a lot of
trouble with honesty on their parts. The only way I've gotten myself in a
jam using recruiters is when I've unwittingly submitted myself to the same
job twice, through two different agencies. Often neither will want to work
with me if I do that, and the potential employer throws out my resume. So
avoid doing that.

> It took almost three months to wade through the chaff and find the first
> decent offer (I am stunned that so many companies pay $25 an hour for TWs
> and expect professional results, but that's another rant...STC -
> wake up!)

Agreed... and particularly when they're advertising for a
tester/programmer/documentation specialist for that rate. Who are they
hiring??

Based on your experience, you might try going with one of the higher level
head hunting firms, vs. a technology body shop. There are companies that
specialize in placing management and highly paid specialists.

> So, I don't know if the paradigm for applying for this type of job is
> different, or if the problem is that Birmingham is not a very
> high tech (or
> high-paying) town, or that the approach to applying to a
> middle-management-level person is different (it is), or what.

The whole country's in a recession. I've never looked in your market, but I
left the Tampa market a year ago because it was terrible, even in good
times. Now I'm in New Jersey, where there's tons of high tech, but right now
there's about 100 unemployed people like me for every job.

> I know that I am currently at about double what anyone else charges as a
> tech writer in Birmingham, so maybe that has something to do with
> it - this
> time I was applying to a whole different set of people than
> before as far as
> the decision-makers place in the organization, and I was applying to do
> multiple cross-departmental roles.

That could be part of the reason you're having a tough time finding work.
Are you open to other markets? Try using a head hunter agency that is used
to placing higher-end types like yourself.

Good luck, Ed.

Justin



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