Hey Devs, question.

When job hunting, what would be your preferred option(s).

1. Contacted directly by the hiring company's HR
2. Applying via recruiting agents
3. Applying directly on companies job site
4. Referrals

@rutee07 #rutee4president

Applying directly is *usually* best, but going via a recruiter (a good one) can have some advantages if you work it in their favour.

The main advantage that I generally "use" a recruiter for is if the job doesn't have a salary bracket advertised. The recruiter will generally know it however, and with some careful wording you can essentially ask them what the high end of the salary bracket is, and apply at that level. (It works well for them as well as their commission is percentage based, so won't take much persuasion.)

This is ideal as if it's too low, you can pass there and then, and if it's higher than you expected, you can bump up your stated salary expectation with a very good chance you'll land it.

The latter was the approach I took in my latest job move, and it worked very well for me.

@rutee07 you need the moustache to pull that off. #tradeSecrets

@Zer0day if I'm going alone, finding their website has jobs would work.

Otherwise going through a recruiter is like throwing shit off a cliff and hoping it hits something on the way down.

Referrals work best aslong as you get alone well "professionally" with the person referring you.

Definitely not #2.

Those dumb fuckers are all about "getting good candidates", so they don't hurt their reputation.

They can give you some random questions and make you fill some random forms.

Basically waste of time from my experience.

@rutee07 fuck you rutee

Referrals are easiest. Suck dick of the employees online via linkedin and you will have fast track to dmployment.

@WildOrangutan I had an awesome experience with a recruiting agent. I know I'm possibly in the minority but.. I was up on a job site and he told me he had a job for me, that I wasn't what they thought they wanted but I was what they really wanted. Boy was he right.

@alexbrooklyn Brings me back to Back to the Future 2. No offence @rutee07 :D

Recruiting agents steal a part of your money

1) Works when you have a very attractive profile, either a top college/university or having worked in some big company known for high quality of engineers.
2) Same as one, to a lesser degree.
3) Same as 2, to a lesser degree.
4) Works almost always, unless the profile doesn't match.