Job Recruiter nightmare! -A warning!

[nexcar]

I hate to bring up something like this on this forum but I feel that you guys are my peers in the field. I've recently been screwed by my recuiter. I've been working under contract (read: no benefits) for 2 months now for a recruiting company. I've been doing work for a major company in the steel industry with an option to be hired on after the 2 month contract evaluation. Well, the time has come to get the offer from the company and it was NOT what the recuiter told me it would be. By about 7k less! Now here I am, having moved 400+ miles away from my previous address with this pitiful excuse for a job offer! It gets worse: While on contract I've been making more money to make up for the missing benefits. The offer from the parent company was 11k less than what I'm making under contract! I know that many in our field deal with recruiters and that some of us have our current jobs thanks to recruiters, but have any of you been THIS screwed over by one of them? I now have to go home and explain to my wife that her husband was a raving idiot for dragging her all this way from home.

 

[sleipnir214]

Did the recruiter tell you what the offer would be, or show you in writing what the offer would be?

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[nexcar]

See there, this is why I'm mentally challenged. He told me over the phone, the only salary in writing was what they paid me while contract working. I'm currently scouring my email logs for any mention in an email message. This was my first job change in 5 1/2 years! I didn't go through one of these agencies for my old job. Ignorance is NOT bliss, its expensive!

RUN FunnySignatureMessage

 

[carp]

Having gone through the same drill, I can sympathize. While I was a contractor, I was always being told by my host company how much they had to pay for me to be there because not only was there my salary but all of that overhead for the contracting company (which included my benefits package). Then when they offered me permanent status, they dropped my salary by about 10%. Their reasoning was that well, sure - they were losing all of that overhead they'd been crying about, but now they had the overhead of all of my benefits (which are about the same as I had as a contractor), so obviously my salary had to be cut!
You're not alone, and you are welcome to use my mantra -
"It's great to have a job - it could be worse!".

 

[sleipnir214]

I think the more important mantra to take away from this discussion is, "Get it in writing."

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[nexcar]

From now own, I'm gonna have somebody to write down every thing that is said at all times! -lol


"I'm not Barky the Dog, kid. I'm just a man whose made a lot of mistakes."

 

[Kjonnnn]

Are the benefits great?

Sometimes a great salary and pitiful benefits are just as bad or worse than a bad salary.

 

[nexcar]

From what I've read, the benefits seem pretty good, but I don't think they are work 7k a year!

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[carp]

I doubt if anybody is going to put your future salary with a different employer in writing. To begin with, it's not likely the contracting agency has the authority to make a committment like that for the host company. Secondly, if they knew how much they were going to pay you, there probably would be no need for an "evaluation period".
The first two months are when the host is evaluating you (hence the name) - to see IF they want to hire you and how much they are willing to pay you.

So your personal mantra might be
"It's great to have a job - it could be worse! Next time I'll get it in writing. Trust but verify."

 

[Kjonnnn]

If you've got a wife and kids (medical life ins) and how many off days you get...over time. How's their vested policy... how much do they contribute... Ya never know.

My previous job gave me.. unlimited sick days, 6 weeks vacation, was 100% vested, matched all my contributions, Credit Union, Flex Time.... wish i had it back.

 

[carp]

Wish I had it now!

 

[BJCooperIT]

My previous consulting company calculated that benefits were worth 25% of your salary. That way if you signed on as an employee with benefits you got, for example, $40,000. But, if you signed on as a contractor without benefits you received $50,000. Give me the benefits anytime. I was a contractor and I paid over $850/month for medical benefits for my family. I did get a tax deduction for those payments though. But it meant that I did not get paid vacation, sick time, or holidays. When bench time rolled around the company worked harder to place the employees than the contractors. $7,000 sounds like a bargain to me if the benefits are decent.

[sup]Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.[/sup][sup] ~George Bernard Shaw[/sup]
Consultant/Custom Forms & PL/SQL - Oracle 8.1.7 - Windows 2000

 

[MDXer]

Under my contract my Family medical is costing Approx 6k per year. Like BJCooper that is with no sick time, vacation time, I get paid only for the hours I bill. I am also responible for my expenses. Fortunately I set my bill rate high enough to cover those and am able to write a large portion of them off. I'll gladly take a 40% cut if it means I get to be home with my family and a decent Beni package.

"Shoot Me! Shoot Me NOW!!!"
- Daffy Duck

 

[iks]

Usfull piece of advice someone once told me ...
while on the phone jot down the conversation as you go then keep the files in dated folders.....

 

[flapeyre]

while on the phone jot down the conversation as you go then keep the files in dated folders

If your state law permits, tape the telephone conversation. My state will allow that (only one party, in this case, you, has to know the conversation is being recorded). Some jurisdictions require everybody in the conversation be informed, so check the law first.

(Not a lawyer, and I don't play one on TV, either)


"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for here you have been, and there you will always long to return."

--Leonardo da Vinci