Since making the career switch to recruiting, I was forever searching for a full-time recruiting role. My roles at RBC Capital Markets and Bloomberg LP were both as a contractor. What sucks about being a contractor is no benefits! I don’t get shit besides an hourly rate pay. I’m definitely not ungrateful for these roles since I was exposed to so much that helped me land my latest role at Bank of America.
The job search process was a huge pain in the ass. Here’s why:
My Eyes Open
It wasn’t until February that I got a message from an agency recruiter telling me what kind of opportunities were out there.
This agency recruiter, who I’ll call Tracy, messaged me on LinkedIn regarding a recruiter role at an investment management firm. Being the dumbass that I am, I got on a phone call immediately before asking questions about salary and the type of position it was.
During our call, she explained the role and asked me about my salary requirements. Before I could answer, she told me a number that I was shocked I could potentially get. Money talks and it was telling me to chase the bag with this job. I told her I’d be interested in interviewing and she set up a meeting.
The interview with this firm was eh. I didn’t like what I heard and I honestly felt disrespected by the hiring manager. He criticized my lack of experience and sounded very condescending. To be clear, he saw my resume before meeting with me and agreed to interview me. He also told me that I’d be starting as a coordinator and then working my way up to be a Recruiter. Tracy specifically mentioned that I wasn’t doing any coordinator-type work, so I was confused as fuck.
Also, I didn’t want to be a coordinator. I was adamant about my next role being a Recruiter or Campus Recruiter role.
After the interview wrapped, I texted Tracy right away and told her I wasn’t interested in moving forward in the process due to the hiring manager’s attitude. Was this a waste of time? No, it was not! I got to see that there are some real nasty firms that I will be sure to stay away from going forward. God forbid that weirdo hiring manager ended up being a co-worker. Funny enough – they wanted me to move on to the next round.
Tracy later contacted me regarding two more roles with the same level of pay. She asked to get on a call and I spent a little over 30 minutes with her. She told me she’d send me the job descriptions for both roles once she received them. A week passed and I didn’t get anything.
I followed up with Tracy, who told me she was still waiting. Well, that was in February and I guess she’s still waiting cause my ass hasn’t gotten shit.
Sticking to my Guns
My salary requirement for a job was high, according to the recruiters I spoke with. Personally, I didn’t care what they had to say. Their asses just wanted to close a req and move on, so they couldn’t give two shits what I was paid.
I remember speaking with this one accounting firm (non-Big 4), and they had reached out for a phone screening. Again, I didn’t ask them for a salary range because I had yet to learn the importance of doing so.
During the call, she asked me the typical questions and finally got to the salary. I told her the number that I wanted. It was easy to tell she didn’t like what she heard because she proceeded to quickly end the call. A week after, she emailed me that they wouldn’t move forward due to my lack of experience.
Translation: You’re too expensive for your lack of experience.
Did she think I was going to lowball myself? Fuck that. Her reasoning was also flawed because why the fuck would they bother contacting me if they wanted someone with more experience?
Honestly, do these recruiters think recruiting is some sort of rocket science? I see a lot of recruiting roles requiring 3-5 years of recruiting experience for a Campus Recruiter role. Whatever those hiring managers are smoking must be really good.
I eventually met this one agency recruiter, who I’ll call Wendy, that contacted me through LinkedIn. Once again, my ass didn’t ask questions before I agreed to get on a 30-minute call.
Same shit as last time with the usual questions and then getting to my salary. Wendy seemed eager to push my resume. She shared my resume with three different firms, and I waited for her to get back to me.
Wendy calls me up one day and tells me that my salary request was too high. She claimed that the firms weren’t interested in moving forward with the salary I wanted. I told her that I’m not budging on the salary and with a condescending tone, she said “Okay”. Wendy wished me luck and that was the last time I spoke with her.
I was just confused about how Wendy didn’t know what the hiring manager was willing to spend on someone. As a recruiter, you should know what your hiring manager is looking for and at what price. Well, let me stop – a GOOD recruiter should know what a hiring manager wants.
Agency recruiters do not give a fuck about you. These guys want to close a req and move on.
Weird Bulge Bracket Bank
While interviewing for Bank of America, I was actively interviewing with another bulge bracket bank. There were negative things I heard about this bulge bracket firm, but the role was a Campus Recruiter role and the salary was relatively higher than Bank of America’s.
The recruiter, who I’ll call Katara, reached out to me on LinkedIn, and I knew better after Tracy and Wendy so I asked about the salary range upfront. The salary was great, and I set up an intro call.
Katara later confirmed the team was interested in meeting with me, so I got set up for a Zoom interview with the Head of Something-Something at the firm. This was the shortest interview I ever had – lasted less than 15 minutes. He barely asked any real questions and seemed very casual.
Thankfully, I got moved on to the next round with another Head of Something-Something who I’ll call Toph, and an Analyst in their Human Capital division. (Side note: Whoever invented the term “Human Capital” should jump off a bridge – just call it recruiting.)
I met with the Analyst and it seemed to have gone well. Then, I met with Toph and it was not a good interview. I did not vibe well with her for some reason. There was also a question I want to highlight.
During the interview, Toph asked me, “What’s something you’d improve about our image from a recruiting perspective?” I told her that the firm needed to improve on the communication with candidates since candidates will often get ghosted. I even shared with her that I had applied to a few internships as an undergrad with the firm and never heard back. She told me that she appreciated the honest feedback.
AND GUESS WHAT HAPPENED? THEY GHOSTED MY ASS AFTER THE INTERVIEW! Bless their hearts for staying consistent throughout the years!
These firms yo – I swear they are something special.
Bank of America
Thankfully, Bank of America came in with an offer as a Campus Recruiter. It’s been the best job I’ve ever had! Everything happens for a reason.
Final Thoughts
Through my experiences with Tracy, Wendy, and the Bulge Bracket firm, I learned several things.
- Before getting on a call with any type of recruiter, ask them questions that you want answers to. This prevents you from wasting your time with them. Personally, I don’t get on any calls unless I know the salary. I love my job and I will put all my effort into it, but I need to be compensated for that. ASAP Rocky said it best here.
- Have a mindset of abundance when it comes to jobs. Don’t be afraid to walk away if you hear something you don’t like such as a bad salary or a weirdo hiring manager. Don’t force yourself to be in a situation you may end up regretting simply to find an opportunity as quickly as possible. I turned down that first firm despite them liking me because the hiring manager was acting like a fucking weirdo.
- These firms will ghost you, so don’t stress about it. Come to an interview expecting to be ghosted so that you’re never disappointed when they do. It takes a good recruiter to not ghost you. Tracy, Wendy, and the Bulge Bracket firm all ended up being like Casper the Ghost.
All views are my own – I do not represent any organizations mentioned in this post.