When negotiating offers, what role does the recruiter play?

Magic Leap / Eng
jsidkfie87

Go to company page Magic Leap Eng

jsidkfie87
Jul 22, 2019 9 Comments

I don’t know how in-house recruiters work.

Do recruiters try to lowball you so that they get rewarded by the company (because he/she helped in cost saving), but at the same they want you to accept the offer so that they get their commission?

i.e. Are recruiters our enemy?

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TOP 9 Comments
  • Pivotal / Eng
    PearlMilkT

    Go to company page Pivotal Eng

    PearlMilkT
    My in-house recruiter tried to lowball me on every front, while maintaining that “I’m your pleasant friend” front.

    So yeah... their job is to hire tons of quality people for cheap.
    Jul 22, 2019 3
    • PayPal / Eng
      v3nm0

      Go to company page PayPal Eng

      v3nm0
      The sole reason I'm at PayPal is because the recruiter was a frenemy to me three years ago.

      They low-balled me
      They made the offer an exploding one
      They didn't even give me time to think till the evening of the last day of the deadline
      They were arrogant in their tone as if I was joking when I presented avg numbers from Glassdoor and other sources - they literally said "excuse me, oh sorry, what was the number again? You're kidding right? *Cough*" (FYI the numbers weren't absurdly high.
      The presented me with an initial offer that was below my current comp. And I'm not on the top of the band here either)

      Worst negotiating experience ever. :(
      Jul 23, 2019
    • Bloomberg / Eng
      offByOme

      Go to company page Bloomberg Eng

      PRE
      Bloomberg LP
      offByOme
      So why did you accept??
      Jul 26, 2019
  • In house recruiters generally try to get you the best offer they can on their end because they want to close the deal just as much as you do. They don’t get commission but it’s apart of their metrics/performance. If they say something like “this is best offer we can do”, that’s probably the most the hiring team/hiring manager can budge as far as budget goes for that particular level. Sometimes a low ball offer looks like a low ball because the interview performance wasn’t up to par but they were willing to commit to an offer at x level at least.
    Jul 22, 2019 0
  • Pinterest / Eng
    yodisbjoco

    Go to company page Pinterest Eng

    PRE
    Facebook
    yodisbjoco
    They’re shady AF. Never ever trust what they say
    Jul 23, 2019 0
  • New / Eng
    royalt

    New Eng

    PRE
    Google
    royalt
    It’s not lowballing, it’s anchoring.

    In-house recruiters only care about quota. They have metrics to hit and most of those are super lax compared to agency recruiters, as they have inflated salaries. Agency recruiters get paid commission contingent on a portion of your onboarded base salary, so it’s in theirs and your best interest to get the highest cash offer possible.

    There is a ton of ignorance about the recruiting process, and i assure you you’d be interested in revolutionizing the multibillion dollar industry as it’s ducking terrifyingly broken.
    Jul 23, 2019 0
  • New / Eng
    Xigs84

    New Eng

    PRE
    Microsoft, TD Ameritrade, Citibank, Sony Pictures Entertainment
    Xigs84
    For Microsoft, the recruiter lowballed me first go. Unless you have a competing offer recruiters will lowball and pressurize you to sign the offer.

    They can be helpful at times but they are there to get the candidate for cheap as possible.
    Jul 23, 2019 0