I’m a tech lead developer. But the past couple of years I’ve been looking high and low for sustainable work. The most I’ve gotten is projects people pulled from their back pocket because they felt sorry for me.
I’ve been at this opportunity search for years now…not just months. I can’t pay for my health insurance anymore and my diet is 90% peanut butter sandwiches.
What hasn’t worked: following the “formula” everyone tells you to follow. Reach out to the recruiter, talk to the hiring manager, get a take-home assessment (I always decline these), then maybe get hired. Perhaps it’s because my mind tends to work more like a business owner–the closer I can get to taking ownership of projects the happier I am.
For the longest time I didn’t talk to recruiters. They’d be the first step in a company wasting my time. I realized this is because the employer is paying for the recruiter. The recruiter is getting paid by the employer and could be completely blind to how much of a jerk the employer is.
So I decided, you know what? Tech pays a boat load of money. Even if half my paycheck were spent on someone I’d still have a heck of a lot left for savings. What if I worked with a reverse recruiter.
Better yet, several!
So I’ve started the rounds. I am hiring recruiters to work for me. I was very transparent with the fact that I’m talking with others, and said whoever gets me a position first wins and gets the royalty.
I’ll even generate more competition further down the line. Once I’m financially stable I’ll continue to work with the recruiters and offer to pay them again for yet another position. Generate competition with my current employer.
I’m sick of being looked over. It’s about time I took the reigns.
That’s… That’s exactly what recruiters are without your harebrained scheme to pay them out of your own pocket. There’s a chance you’re stuck looking because you’re struggling to really grok the business side.
It all boils down to this.
Money = value.
The more money you pour into something the greater ROI (return on investment) you’ll get.
In an employer/opportunity-seeker relationship if the employer is the one paying they’re getting a better ROI.
Whether you give a recruiter a bonus or not, the employer is going to pay them, probably a lot more that you. Typically when a recruiter gets someone hired they’ll get somewhere in the ballpark of 10% of the yearly salary. There might be clawback provisions, eg term in the first six months means refund or free hire. Companies also allow recruiters, actively engage them, or completely prevent them. In other words, there is no scenario where a recruiter submits you to something the company won’t pay them for.
I train my engineers to do what you’re doing only I don’t have them throw money away. The more people you know who are actively considering you for things, the better. That can certainly be hard with neurodivergence. Another important thing I train is carefully consider feedback instead of being defensive. If you want to waste your money, that’s on you. I just don’t think it’s wise and I think you’re going to get taken advantage of.
Yup, I realize that’s the way it’s typically done. That’s why I’m not playing that game.
I’ve already been screwed over. I’ve already had companies galore get really excited about hiring me, drag me through 4 hours of interviews, only to say I “wasn’t a good fit.” Not just once, not just twice, but hundreds of times.
Ideally the employer wouldn’t be paying for the transaction. That’s why I’m specifically having reverse recruiters compete against each other.
I’ve dealt with enough crap over the past decade I’m tired of being overlooked. It’s time people took me seriously. How else can I out-build unethical tech if I’m not making money?
