Many moons ago, searching for my first job out of college, I remember one of the recruiting agencies that I got mixed up with (that sent me out on a bunch of pointless interviews that barely matched my degree), had as one of their stipulations that it was the employee who would pay their fee, upon getting hired - not the hiring company.
Nowadays, that concept seems totally foreign to me, but I’m wondering if that sort of operation / ‘policy’ still exists?
They’re out there, but none of them are legitimate. It’s a common scam. Real headhunters work for the hiring company.
They still exist, but the only ones that aren’t a scam are the ones placing high level executives.
However, the $5K or $10K fee isn’t so much when the annual is a megabuck.
Illegal in New York state if the fee is required in advance.
There used to be employment agencies that would find jobs and send you out. You’d pay a percentage of your salary for a couple of months once you were hired. But it was hit-or-miss for employers and no better than placing an ad (a few these jobs were paid for by employers, so you didn’t owe the agency). From the employer’s point-of-view, it became better to hire through a temp agency, though.
Not just high level executives. In my field (embedded SW developer) they’re somewhat common. We call them “recruiting agencies.” I have a friend who works through several of them. He likes to contract, and thus is potentially looking for a new job every 6-12 months. He gets calls from these places saying they have something he may be interested in, checking if he is available.
They also can place full time employees.
-D/a