Serious question for job seekers here

I have a funny question for you all who are looking for a job. And, before I go any further, I want to disclose that I am a recruiter but I don't want to spam this board so I will not give out my contact info or company name. Please be honest in your answer but please do not be abusive. I am just a small, one-man shop but I believe that I am a very careful/honest recruiter who really takes care of both my candidates and my clients.

So my question is, say you are unemployed for a month or two and you have just been losing money because you are not getting a salary and all the expenses are coming out of your savings. Would you be interested in a service which says something like, "I am very good at what I do; try me for a month at half my normal salary. I am confident that you will love my work. If you love me, hire me permanent. And if you don't, send me back to the street"? It seems to me that this service would be attractive to you if you have been unemployed for a while because you have nothing to lose by an employer trying you out for a month at half price. And it would give you a huge advantage over other applicants. Basically this is contract-to-hire, except at a temporary discount. Discounts work in other industries so they might work here.

One thing I am afraid of is that the employer might think that you will work for a lower salary when hired perm, but we would put that in the initial contract with the employer. And generally speaking, I work with very good hiring managers who I trust a lot.

Now, let me clarify that in order to keep things simple, this service will only focus on permanent employees who are authorised to work in the USA -- because for the trial period, you will be my employee and I don't have the resources to handle H1B's/green cards and stuff.

So in summary, you offer yourself for a contract-to-hire trial at a half price for month, leading to a full time position if you perform excellently. And you should be authorized to work in the USA.

Would you be interested? If not, tell me why not? What am I missing? I have tentatively spoken to a few hiring managers and they seem to like the idea -- basically saying that something like this will put you in the front of the interview list.

And, I hope you won't mind a bit of self-promo at the end: if you are interested feel free to contact me and I will do the best to find you a position quickly -- but only if you are very, very good.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ak757

"I am very good at what I do; try me for a month at half my normal salary.

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No. I wouldn't accept that. Try me for a month at full salary and if you don't like my work, fire me. If anyone wants to "try me" at half salary, I expect half the work.

Anyways, this is the wrong forum. There's a Projects and Job Recruitment forum for these type of things. But don't post there now. I've reported this post, so a moderator will hopefully soon move it soon enough. You'll get more attention there.

Well I had a call in the morning from a recruiter like you, with the same set of offer. I kind of don’t like this; I’m clearly making a favour to an employer but not to myself. What if I was good, but they still couldn't offer me permanent position after one and half months later, due to many reasons. I think it might be good idea for few people especially for starts and contracts but don’t think does any good for someone who looking for permanent position and experienced. May be it does, but i couldn't see it. Doing this way, you don’t have give an opportunity for a non local resident, where you might be missing out a huge skill set.

ssharish

It's not about working for half price. It's about differentiating yourself in a very crowded marketplace of jobless people. I personally know of hundreds of people who have not had a single interview in 6 months. Software industry is brutal right now, and, this is in the San Francisco Bay Area!!!

I'm not of age yet...but I think I'd like this offer only when I'm desperate enough.

As long as I would get full salary at the end of the month, I'd go for something like that. Getting half salary for a month is a drop in the bucket.

However, I think most recruiters/hiring agencies are bloodsucking middlemen. The one time I was hired through a temp agency I found I was getting half of what the company paid the temp agency.

That's an interesting thought/twist to my idea. Would you find it more attractive if you got paid at the end of the month, say 50%-125% of your normal salary, depending on how well you did?

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Originally Posted by Epy

As long as I would get full salary at the end of the month, I'd go for something like that. Getting half salary for a month is a drop in the bucket.

However, I think most recruiters/hiring agencies are bloodsucking middlemen. The one time I was hired through a temp agency I found I was getting half of what the company paid the temp agency.

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To cut a long story short, you are basically asking if job seekers would be willing to offer to accept half their normal wages in the first month in order to appear more attractive to potential employers. After all, even a worker hired immediately as permanent staff would likely be on probation for at least a month.

Thanks. You have put it exactly right. You bring yourself to the front of the interview line. I know it seems brutal, but I say better to have a shot at a job in one month than to not even have any interviews at all for 6 months.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by laserlight

To cut a long story short, you are basically asking if job seekers would be willing to offer to accept half their normal wages in the first month in order to appear more attractive to potential employers. After all, even a worker hired immediately as permanent staff would likely be on probation for at least a month.

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It's a false assumption. As an employer ahead of a small startup here, and with just enough to go by, I can tell you right here and now that paying half the salary to someone for the first month is not going to have an impact on my finances. 0, nada, zilch. If it does that is a sure sign I am not financially ready to hire. In which case I shouldn't. Not for half, not for 1/4, not for no pay for the first month. I go as far as saying that an employer that makes these kind of offers has all the characteristics of someone good dedicated professionals will always want to avoid.

I totally disagree with such a strategy coming into place. Well lets thing about it, you get employed and work for an employer and to be very best to secure the job you need to show up and perform well. Well, it will take any starter at least a month to understand the existing system and really contribute to the company. Think about started fresh from university. How long will he/she take to show up their performance? These are the tack ticks that agencies will have to show up to their clients that they will bring in the best to their organisation. I don’t think this is really good idea. It’s not like use and throw, it’s about and an individual, it’s about his career, it’s about his life, family and friends. He or she has worked hard to get there and they deserve something better than this.

ssharish

Actually, I was agreeing with your original idea (I think). Get paid half for the 1st month, then normal after that.