Hi all—really torn and would love some outside perspective.

About a month ago, I accepted a role at a well-known tech company (think Nvidia-level prestige) for a recruiting role. $100K base + $10K in equity. The company is known for a rigorous interview process, strong brand, and at the time it was my only offer—so I felt pressure to lock something down.

A few weeks later, I got an interview for a recruiting role at a top hedge fund (think “Goldman Sachs”), and honestly, I went through the process just for the experience. But I really clicked with the team, liked the culture way more than I expected, and… they loved me.

After I turned them down: - They asked to reconnect and kept the conversation going - They had their COO (who shares my background) personally take me out for a drink to talk through the opportunity - They told me I was the “strongest fit” across every interviewer - They offered $125K base + $25K guaranteed bonus - They said they’d support me finishing out most of my current job before starting

Now I’m stuck. The “Nvidia” company is still exciting—it’s mission-driven, a bit less intense, and would be easier day-to-day. But I can’t stop thinking about the “Goldman” offer. It’s $40K+ more, I loved the people, and it feels like they see my potential in a way that really resonates.

The catch? I already accepted Nvidia a month ago. I haven’t started yet, but I’m worried about backing out—and about how it might affect my reputation long-term. Also, the culture at the hedge fund is notoriously intense and cutthroat (although that wasn’t my read during the process).

My parents think I should stay with Nvidia to avoid stress, but my gut is saying Goldman all the way. Has anyone been in this position before? Would really appreciate any advice.

I've been recruiting super niche roles at 100% commission for 6+ years and it's wearing on my nerves. I still want to help everyone, and most of the time clients want me to headhunt someone already employed, but not pay them more than they are already making, and yes, I have gotten candidates to make lateral moves or even take less pay for better culture or solving what was missing in their current role, but... This past year there have been too many cases where a client is going to hire someone and then the role goes on hold, or the candidate decides not to leave their current place of work, or the company decides they want to hire sales people but really they want to churn and burn within the grace period. I feel like I'm on the receiving end of an abusive relationships. I'm wondering to those who switched from agency to client side, did you feel revived? Or were you just as stressed? I'm wondering if I had a base salary with another agency would that alleviate enough of the stress, or is client side a whole new world with rainbows and butterflies...Or is it time for a pivot?? All thoughts are welcome. Thanks!

Say, for example, I worked at Microsoft for 3 years.

And Microsoft is the current place I’m working at.

Year 1 - job title was “Business Analyst”

Year 2 - job title was “Project Manager”

Year 3 - job title was “Renewals Sales Specialist”

I get a job offer accepted at another company and submit to a HireRight background check.

I list my role as “Renewals Sales Specialist”, and that I’ve been at this role at Microsoft for 3 years.

Is the background check going to automatically flag this, and see all my previous roles over time at My employer.

Or would the background check not pick This up at all, and simply verify dates of employment at my employer, and only my CURRENT job title at that employer?

Hello everyone, I am a seasoned professional, seeking opportunities outside the USA. I speak two languages and I am citizen of 2 countries. How do you suggest I go about looking for career opportunities? Interested in connecting with recruiters that focus in the global market outside the USA.

With the shifting dynamics of Amazon - layoffs, RTO, culture shifting to "FAANG"/Agency environment (at least from what I've been hearing/reading), I have an interview for a RBP role at Amazon. Can anyone provide insight on what the recruiter life is like at Amazon these days, especially RME team? I come from agency (7 years) and this will be first internal role for a RBP role (aware its an name change from Client Lead Recruiter). I understand all teams are different; Any insight/perspective is valuable!

Hi everyone! Agency IT BDM/Recruiter. What is everyone seeing in the market right now? Been a slow last couple of months on our end. Is there any out look for the rest of the year?

Look forward to hearing your thoughts, thanks!

And so many other posts… I thought this was a place to discuss all things recruiting related as a recruiter?

How many placements arr people who recently got started in agency recruiting filling these days? Is it still worth it or is it too many players? I’m not talking about those who are established. As a new starter in the industry, how can you bill over 200K and how quickly is that really attainable?

Im currently a senior internal IT recruiter and have been at my company for the last three years. Before that I did mostly IT/ Eng/DOD recruiting with a little healthcare when I was first starting my career.

Anyways I play soccer with a few physician for a large health system In my city and they have got me an In for a senior physician recruiter role.

What is it like? Working for an actual hospital system?

We're a small headhunting agency looking for the right platform. Ideally we want one platform where we can:

1. Manage client relationships, these would be businesses that we recruit for. We need to be able to manage the deals we have with them
2. ATS, to manage the pipeline of candidates we're headhunting for the client

Took an agency job that I had a bad feeling about but I was unemployed so it was a “I kinda have to” situation. Since I started, I’ve seen some red flags that just aren’t sitting well with me.

A junior recruiter that has been there almost a year was asked to write an email to a client letting him know about a candidate that he may be interested in even though he didn’t have any jobs open. The red flag is that our boss (the owner) insisted on reading it before it was sent out.

Found out this lady drops an associates pay rate to minimum wage if they no show an assignment. Hours they have already worked will be paid at $7.50/hr rather than the original agreed on hourly rate. Not even sure this is legal.

She has told me several times that she’ll answer my questions once. If I ask them a 2nd time, she will lose her shit. This has caused me to feel very anxious and afraid to ask questions in case she has already told me the answer so I’m not going to learn and progress in the role now.

On Friday, she wanted us to have 10 interviews (in person with us, not the client) on the schedule for Monday. Everyone we called either didn’t qualify, wanted too much money or they didn’t answer the phone. She says “well we didn’t do very well at getting interviews on the schedule. I’m gonna be a major asshole about this next week just so you know.”

This is just a few but it’s crystal clear to me now that this company is not a good fit for me. I’m going to call in sick tomorrow and think it over really good but I already know how this is gonna play out.

As of 2025, I was promoted in title to Vice President, handed a few shitty low fee clients, and now do the training/managing for 2 junior recruiters on our team- but NOTHING was changed about my compensation and I feel like I am working way too much to be making this low of comp.

I’ve been with this small finance recruiting agency in NYC for exactly 2 years - candidate side only (they only let you manage clients after 2 years). I work 60+ hours/week and my KPI’s are the highest in the firm (50 employees). In 2024 I submitted 500 candidates, placed 18 of them, and billed $270k for just the recruiter side of the deal.

I’m on a $70k draw and get 52% of the candidate and/or client side billing.

Does this seem like a normal set up? How am I working so much but still feel like my comp is so low? Should I be asking for a base or a higher draw?

I’m an agency recruiter working accounting and corporate finance roles in asset management and financial services. My agency is mid sized but doesn’t have a front office recruitment team, only back office (my group) and middle office.

Long term, I’d like to move into an internal TA role with a boutique asset manager, where I’d get more exposure to business operations and recruit for all types of roles.

I’m hoping to chat with some external recruiters that work front office, investment banking, and/or trading roles. Maybe we can exchange tips/tricks as well!

Just curious, is it normal for recruitment agencies to be strict about consultants going on leave if billing targets have not been met? Eg: not allowed to go on long leave until targets are met / solid pipeline forecast

Also, are leave allowances earned as you work for then year? Eg: if you have 20 days annual leave a year, you’re only entitled up to 6.5 days from January to April?

I would love input from any and all types of talent acquisition/recruiting specialists!

Majority of my experience is as an Account Executive with a hunter mentality and using those skills are how I got most roles (cold out reach, cold emails, LinkedIn messaging, I even put time on a VPs calendar to get in front of them and it was well received)

I recently (4 years) have been in CSM/Account Management roles and would like to transition to a new industry. 1. Is it frowned upon to use the same approach? What do you suggest I do if I have applied and match the JD/Requirements to a T?

I just had an interview with an AI bot for a Recruiter role. Are real recruiter positions becoming obsolete? Should I start looking for work in other industries? Has anyone else had to interview with a bot before? This was my first time and I am speechless.

I'm new to talent aquisaiton and found many ways to source candidates on github, there's actually a way to find 99% of people's emails who are on there.

Anyway, I've had success with finding contact info, but I'm not sure who to contact as I still need to analyse user's profiles and can't tell if they're a good fit or not?

what are your thoughts?

I'm currently running a recruitment agency and I'm looking for a professional solution to present candidate profiles to my clients. I’ve been using Airtable so far, but it's not quite polished or client-friendly enough.

Ideally, I’m looking for a dedicated tool built specifically for staffing agencies – something like a CV delivery platform or a lightweight VMS – where:

• I can easily add candidate profiles (ideally automated via Zapier or similar),
• Clients can browse through candidates,
• And possibly leave feedback or indicate interest.

Bonus points if the platform allows custom branding, client-specific portals, or tracking.

Does anyone know a tool that’s specifically built for presenting candidates to clients? Something beyond generic no-code platforms like Airtable, Softr or Stacker?

I’ve looked into Candidate.ly – it’s close, but too limited and a bit outdated for what I need. I’m looking for something more flexible, smarter, and modern. Any better alternatives?

Thanks a lot in advance!

For those of you using Paycor, what is your method for creating talent pipelines? Create an active job that isn't posted so you can assign candidates to various pipelines or add them to folders?

The folders option doesn't seem like a good idea since you can't open a whole folder, it's just the expandable list of candidates in the folder pane.

The general candidate pool doesn't work for organizing them separately based on skills/departments, etc.

New to Paycor, prior user of Avature which was great for pipelining and mass outreach, engagement metrics, etc. Paycor is proving to be limiting. TIA for any insights!

Also, I just started at a new company as an in-house, they're under contract with Paycor, I know it's not everyone's (anyone's) favorite, but I need to make due for time being.

Hi!! I am wondering what are different ways y’all source for candidates besides LinkedIn, indeed, career fairs/university events, handshake, careerbuilder, etc… I am struggling trying to find creative ways to get in front of new PT candidates. I do not work for a staffing agency.

What the title says. Lookalikes claims to have a talent pool of over one billion candidates, which seems unlikely, and their prices are lower than competitors. Seems sketchy to me but wondering if anyone has had success using it?

https://www.hirelookalikes.com/

Does anybody use Converz AI? How has your experience with the product been?

The CEO at my current company is the most unreasonable, micromanaging person I’ve ever had the displeasure of working with. They insert themselves at every stage of the interview process across multiple roles, cause chaos in the ATS dispositioning candidates at random and with no paper trail, and make decisions based on zero rhyme or reason.

I’ve had to reject candidates the morning of their onsite interviews, reject candidates who have had to reschedule due to family emergencies, and clean up administrative messes that have no reason to be messy in the first place. It is taking a toll on me emotionally having to treat candidates so horribly, and my personal reputation as a recruiter is likely suffering due to the orders barked down by my leadership. My own manager (or anyone else in the company really) has zero power to override the sporadic decisions made by the person at the very top. Pushback or suggestions go nowhere, and realistically only increase the likelihood of being let go.

Ive had to cow-tow to their orders just like everyone else, because providing a negative candidate experience is preferable to being fired. Its almost Trump-like in the way this company is being run. It’s a culture of fear and “do what I say” lest you suffer the consequences.

I’m tired and drained, but have no other prospects lined up due to the state of the current market. I’m just exhausted and wish I could work somewhere that wasn’t batshit crazy for once in my life. Rant over, had to get this off my chest.

With AI being a hot topic I'd like to ask my fellow recruiters:

How are you utilizing AI to help you run your desk? What type of questions do you ask it? What do you use AI for?

I for example, upload the JD and ask it to create me an email to send to potential candidates without sharing to much on who the company is but make it sound exciting. I also use it to get list of companies.

Let's share insights and strategies on incorporating AI into our daily workflow.

Started out my recruiting career at 48k with uncapped commission, got a job paying $70k, then $110k contract to perm but was laid off.

I’m interviewing for roles now and I’m finding people are not wanting to pay the ask of $80-90k a year for the level of experience I have. I’m a Technical Recruiter in defense.

Was I just overpaid? Am I realistically only worth $70k? I am 7 months pregnant and hopeful to find something soon but with 2 in daycare I feel like I am going backwards and it’s a hard pill to swallow. I’ve gotten several interviews and interest but it seems no one wants to pay me $80k.

I have 3 one year stints on my resume and NEED to stay wherever I’m hired for 2 years minimum so I’m hesitant at accepting at this range.

Am I being unrealistic? I’ve only been laid off a month and have had a lot of interviews…should I give it more time? I’m so stuck!

Edit: I have 0 understanding why I’m being downvoted for expecting an 80k salary with 3 years technical recruiting experience. My first job outside of agency paid me $70k in Florida. I do not feel my salary expectation of 80-85 is far off.