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Lee Warrick for Tech Jr

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Is talking with a recruiter as a junior dev worth it?

This week on Tech Jr we spoke with recruiter-turned-dev Mike Torres about dealing with recruiters during the job search.

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We didn't have much luck with recruiters as junior developers, but what about you?

Let us know in the comments if you've had good/bad luck talking to recruiters.

Top comments (4)

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adelpreore profile image
adelpreore

To be honest...I can personally count the number of 'good' recruiters (in my 30 years) on the left hand fingers of a high school shop teacher. It has become a nasty spammy business. You may want to check in to explore what skills are being sought after, but don't expect more than that. I've landed 1 9 mo. contract in 30 years from a recruiter. Align your skills and goals with a company that can benefit. #changemymind

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akshay1dhingra profile image
Akshay Dhingra • Edited

When I began looking for a job after I graduated from a coding bootcamp, I did in fact contact and met with a tech recruiter. We talked on the phone a handful of times, sent several emails back and forth, and met in person for coffee once. They were unable to help me find a job from their network simply because they work with larger companies and usually want at least 1 year of experience. They usually also have devs take a competency assessment to grade your skill level in your area of focus/expertise, and they want to see an above average score in order for you to be considered for a role if you have less than 1 year experience. The recruiter did not help me land my first engineering job.

I would recommend going through your own network and reaching out to them to see if their company is hiring. I had already landed my first engineering job that I had gotten the old fashion way (linkedin applications and coding challenges) when one of my friends reached back out to me to say they had an opening at double the salary. I got the new job and could not be any happier with how everything turned out.

tl;dr

Reach out to friends and acquaintances!

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colinrhys profile image
Colin Rhys

First job I got as a developer after transitioning from working in finance (commodity broker) was from a 3rd party recruiter. Job lasted one week b/c the company that hired me could not pay me past a week (was suppose to be a year).

Second job was also from a 3rd party recruiter (tried to avoid them but just happened). I work for a firm a truly would have never been able get an interview for on my own. (They don't have resources to find people on their own). I am coming up on a year and make over 2X's what my prior job paid.

There are pros and cons to working with a recruiter but for me the pros out weigh the cons.

That being said you should always remember a recruiter is going to make money off of you one way or another.

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dinsmoredesign profile image
Derek D

Personally, I haven't much luck with 3rd party recruiters at all over the years. In fact, my last experience was enough for me to not want to deal with recruiters for a very long time.