What’s Your Essential Tool for Work?
We all rely on that one indispensable tool that boosts our productivity, sparks creativity, or helps us maintain our sanity during hectic days. Personally, I can’t live without [insert your favorite tool/platform]. It has saved me a ton of time and simplified my life.
What about you? What tool can you not do without, and why? Extra credit for sharing a hidden gem! Let’s compile a list of must-have resources.
Why would someone consider a position that seems like a step back?
I’m currently a staff engineer at a mid-sized company (600+ employees) with over 8 years of experience. Recently, I was approached for a principal engineer role at an AI startup that piqued my interest. After the initial screening call, they came back with an offer to proceed, but for a senior position instead.
Given the current market landscape, I understand that times are tough, but I already have a stable job, and my salary as a staff engineer is likely higher than what they would offer for a senior role. Frankly, I find it a bit disrespectful to receive such an offer, especially since they reached out to me rather than me applying. If they believe I’m not a suitable fit, I’d prefer a straightforward response.
So, I’d like to hear from recruiters: why make such an offer? And to fellow engineers: what would motivate you to accept a perceived downgrade in your career? Thankfully, I wasn’t laid off, so I’m not in a rush to make a move.
Seeking Guidance on Recruitment Focus Areas for TradeOps, Quantitative, and Software Positions
Hello everyone,
I’m an external recruiter with a technical background in trading support, and I’m reaching out for some guidance. Here’s a brief overview of my experience and current situation:
Background:
– Two years of experience in external recruitment.
– Developed a network of trading support engineers, primarily placing them in buy-side trading firms, which is the exclusive focus of my company.
– My specialization is in TradeOps roles, but I’ve been advised to steer clear of infrastructure (DevOps, networking, cloud), Windows, and desktop positions.
The Challenge:
I find myself uncertain about which area to target next in recruitment.
I’m contemplating:
– Quantitative roles: Research, development, trading?
– Software Engineering roles: Data, AI, algorithm development, FPGAs?
Are there significant overlaps between quantitative and software positions that I should consider?
Other Areas of Interest:
– Trading-related positions such as trading analysts, traders (in volatility, macro, equity, FX, credit), business analysts, exchange connectivity, as well as middle and back office roles.
– With the growing interest in crypto, should I direct my focus towards roles in that sector?
Should I prioritize software or quantitative roles moving forward, or is there a more advantageous path?
My Objectives:
I’m currently billing approximately £200K annually but aim to double that next year. Commission ranges from 17.5% to 22.5% based on quarterly performance, with a target of £50K each quarter.
Concerns:
Is the market for quantitative and software roles becoming overcrowded?
I appreciate any insights or advice you can provide. Thank you!
[Rant/Question] Temporary Recruitment is Taking a Toll on My Mental Health
Location: UK, England
I’ve been working at a temporary recruitment agency for the past 1.5 years, and I genuinely feel like this job is wreaking havoc on my mental health and personal life.
A bit of background: I’m a recent graduate, having completed my degree in 2023, and this is my first role in recruitment. Prior to this, I held various jobs in hospitality, healthcare, and admin, and none of them came close to being as overwhelmingly stressful as this one.
The agency primarily handles temporary staffing for seasonal or short-term positions, mainly in warehouses.
Here are some of the key issues that frustrate me:
Candidates are expected to perform as if they have permanent contracts, despite the fact that many will never receive one. Meanwhile, the agency treats them on a day-to-day basis, often sending them home with little notice if there’s no work available.
The warehouse management team is incredibly selective about the staff we send them. They often don’t allow sufficient time for new hires to acclimate, quickly terminating them for perceived poor performance. They frequently request specific individuals, disregarding those who are actually available.
There’s a troubling undercurrent of racism and sexism within the warehouse management. I’ve overheard comments like “they need a man” for certain roles, which is frankly discriminatory and disheartening as a woman. Additionally, shift leaders have disproportionately canceled Black and Indian candidates after just one shift for alleged poor performance.
Regarding holidays, during peak periods and specifically in June, we’re limited to taking time off for only one day at a time (if that). This means I have to cram all my holiday time into eight months rather than a full year. With only six of us in the office, it’s a challenge to get approval for even short vacations.
The workload is relentless. My hours are 8:00-17:00 with a one-hour paid lunch, yet most of my colleagues don’t take their breaks due to the high volume of work. There’s no designated break time, and the manager doesn’t ensure we take breaks—it’s up to us to step away, even when things are hectic.
Additionally, we have an on-call rota, which means I’m responsible for answering emergency calls day or night. Warehouse management and job seekers frequently misuse this line, and I’m required to respond to them at any hour. This on-call responsibility is stated in my contract, not as a bonus feature.
Management isn’t supportive either; they seem deeply entrenched in a toxic workaholic culture. Any issues that arise are usually brushed off. I had to fight for a new laptop that had been malfunctioning for six months, and only after someone else left did I finally receive one. Often, I wish my colleagues would hold their opinions back instead of sharing their relentless work-first mentality.
Honestly, this is all becoming too much for me.
I’m contemplating whether I should seek out another recruitment position, as this one has been a thoroughly negative experience.
So, I’m curious—does your experience in recruitment resonate with this? Or am I just exceptionally unlucky?
Legal Recruitment Agencies in London – What’s the Earning Potential?
As an IT recruiter in London with nine years of experience, I came across a LinkedIn post a couple of weeks ago from a recruiter-to-recruiter (R2R) agency. They were discussing a legal recruitment client in London who focuses on placing “private practice” lawyers, presumably in the finance and banking sectors. The post claimed that a top biller at one of their client firms had generated an astonishing £10 million in billings over the course of a year.
Honestly, this seems hard to believe. To break it down, a net fee income (NFI) of £10 million would translate to roughly £833,000 per month—a figure far beyond what most recruitment professionals typically bill in an entire year.
While I recognize that compensation packages for senior lawyers at London-based firms—especially U.S. firms—can be exceptionally high, I can’t help but question the accuracy of that figure. It seems unlikely that even well-established, privately-owned recruitment firms with over 30 staff would reach those kinds of billing numbers in a year. Am I missing something, or is this just an exaggeration?
What’s going wrong with IT recruitment?!
I’m noticing a growing trend where recruiters rely heavily on AI to pre-screen candidates. It’s astonishing to think that focusing solely on experience is the best way to identify top talent.
When searching for a great developer, it’s crucial to prioritize their ability to write tests, understand syntax, and maintain clean code structure—all while being eager to learn. Am I the only one who feels that recruitment practices have become increasingly odd lately?
Insights for Freelance Recruiters
Do you have any tips for those working as freelance recruiters? How can they effectively find job opportunities and connect with candidates?
Top Recruiting Platform
Which recruiting platform do you typically use? What do you consider the best one available?
Seeking Recommendations for Recruitment Software for Our Small Sales Ops Agency
Hello everyone!
We’re a small, women-owned and operated sales ops agency (www.grooveconsulting.io) and typically hire 2-5 sales representatives per month for our clients. We’re on the lookout for an affordable recruitment system that meets the following criteria:
Indeed Integration: Pulling candidates from Indeed is currently quite challenging, so we need a platform that simplifies this.
LinkedIn Integration: We don’t have LinkedIn Recruiter but do sponsor job postings, so integration here would be beneficial.
Cost-Effective: As a small agency, we don’t require extensive features—just the essentials.
Candidate Filtering: We receive hundreds of applications for each role, and it would be helpful to ask specific questions (e.g., “Do you have supply chain experience?”) to filter candidates more effectively and reject those who don’t meet the criteria.
Client Access: Ideally, there should be a way to provide clients with a view of the candidates in various stages without disclosing all details, allowing them to see resumes and candidate status.
Resume Scanning: Currently, we are using AirTable, which can feel a bit tedious, so we’re looking for a more efficient way to review resumes.
Communication Templates: Templates for rejection notices, next steps, etc., would be very useful, and if we could organize them by client name, that would be even better.
Interview Scorecards: This feature would be a nice addition, though it’s optional.
SMS Interview Outreach: An additional feature for reaching candidates via SMS for interviews would also be helpful.
If you have any recommendations and could provide estimated costs, it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Is it appropriate to reach out to a company’s HR or recruiters for more information about their job vacancies?
I’ve been considering contacting companies directly regarding the job postings they have. I’m curious to know if the postings are legitimate, what qualifications they are looking for in a candidate, and any additional details about the positions. Is this a common practice? Would they be likely to respond to my inquiries?
![[Rant/question] Temporary recruitment is ruining my mental health](https://www.recruitmentcompanies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/pexels-photo-31024772-scaled.jpeg)
