Pay 4,000$ for help finding a job in Charleston. Need advice. (Walterboro: construction, contractors)

[eureka1]

Mailing in a resume never got anyone a job. You have to follow up, follow up, follow up. Remember that the only difference between "persistence" and "pest" is a few letters. Focus on where YOU want to work. Good luck. It IS a tough market. Don't forget USAJOBs. The Navy does a lot of environmental studies.

[klysik]

Originally Posted by canudigit

It wasn't clear, because, unless I'm mistaken, don't you call the headhunter and they tell you what their fee is? The OP is talking about approaching someone and telling them how much he is wiling to pay. That sounded unusual to me, like maybe he wasn't specifically looking to use a professional headhunter, just anyone who can help him get his foot in the door. If I go on Craigslist, for example, and offer to pay $4,000 for someone to assist me in getting a job, I could get a response from anyone; the brother of someone who owns a company and has some inside connections, etc. That person could and possibly would tell the employer that they were paid to help someone get a job in their company.

I don't know, just a thought, I guess. I know how tough it is out there.

I used to be a headhunter. The company (not the person looking for the job) pays the recruiter. Frankly, in this day of hard knocks, I wouldn't bother too much with one unless it was an extremely high end position (COO) or specified head hunter (lathe workers, etc). Companies don't want to pay headhunters the typical 62% they used to pay..they don't need to when so many people are knocking on their own human resources doorstep.

[TealDreamer]

Maybe combined with your job search, you could find a place to do a little volunteer work so that you aren't going "stir-crazy" the entire time. It will make you feel good AND get you out of the house to do something that helps people. Just a thought...............

I'm going stir-crazy not working.

[Robynn]

Originally Posted by TealDreamer

Maybe combined with your job search, you could find a place to do a little volunteer work so that you aren't going "stir-crazy" the entire time. It will make you feel good AND get you out of the house to do something that helps people. Just a thought...............

I'm going stir-crazy not working.

Good idea... or even something part time for fun like working at Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace or something having to do with a hobby you like - Barnes & Noble, etc... just to get out of the house and be around others.. and start making connections in town

[ObserverNY]

Originally Posted by Capt Rick Hiott

There is no way in HELL I would ever pay ANYBODY 4,000 dollars to find a job!,,,,not even 100.00 dollars.

Well that's cuz you can get by on your looks, Capt.

[BrickAndMortar]

Wow! There are a lot of great suggestions here. I really appreciate all of the responses.

To clear things up, my idea would go something like this:

Joe the plumber has a friend, Amy, that owns an engineering firm. Joe knows that Amy is looking for someone with my skill-set/experience, so he introduces us. Amy agrees that I'm a good fit for the company and hires me. I pay Joe for helping me connect with Amy.

* I would not pay the company or anyone working for that company.
* I don't think that Joe should influence or make an agreement with Amy - just put us in contact.

What I've found through the 2nd-3rd tier contacts that we have is that people find that my skill-set and work history is appropriate, they agree to contact friends/family in engineering, but in the midst of their busy lives, this doesn't happen. My thinking is that offering 4k for 15 minutes of their time would motivate them to pick up the phone, or go ahead and write the email that would lead me to a job.

That said, in the meantime I'm still applying through job boards networking through linked-in and will be contacting some of the companies that you guys have suggested so far. I'll also look into volunteering, which is another good idea.

It's unlikely that my wife can transfer again in less than a year, so I really need to focus on the Charleston area for now. Hopefully I can find a job in my field even if it's not my dream job.

Thanks again for sympathy and advice

[klysik]

BrickandMortar,
If you have the $4k (which sure you do or you wouldn't be "offering" it) then why not take a leap of faith and do something extreme like a clever billboard? A sign flying over the beach? Some of you may laugh, but it gets the attention of many many people in a short amount of time and it will make you stand out from the rest, that is for sure. Companies want someone to stand out..be effective. Look at Harvard. They get 35,000 applicants per year and only accept 2,000. There are books written that tell how these students get in and many many times it has little to do with their grades but more how the person was unique and stood out from the rest. A billboard is pretty inexpensive considering!

[Sprouts]

Originally Posted by klysik

BrickandMortar,
If you have the $4k (which sure you do or you wouldn't be "offering" it) then why not take a leap of faith and do something extreme like a clever billboard? A sign flying over the beach? Some of you may laugh, but it gets the attention of many many people in a short amount of time and it will make you stand out from the rest, that is for sure. Companies want someone to stand out..be effective. Look at Harvard. They get 35,000 applicants per year and only accept 2,000. There are books written that tell how these students get in and many many times it has little to do with their grades but more how the person was unique and stood out from the rest. A billboard is pretty inexpensive considering!

I thought he should open a headhunters firm for engineers....

[klysik]

Originally Posted by Sprouts

I thought he should open a headhunters firm for engineers....

Not a bad idea for a way in the door at all the companies he may want to work for

[BrickAndMortar]

Originally Posted by klysik

BrickandMortar,
why not take a leap of faith and do something extreme like a clever billboard? A sign flying over the beach? Some of you may laugh, but it gets the attention of many many people in a short amount of time and it will make you stand out from the rest, that is for sure. Companies want someone to stand out..be effective.

Ok, that sounds like an interesting idea, maybe not exactly a plane or billboard, but I feel like well thought out non-conventional self advertisement could work.
I'll look into this, and if in a month or so nobody has taken me up on the 4k, then I can put that money towards advertisement.

Originally Posted by Sprouts

I thought he should open a headhunters firm for engineers....

hmm, I'm not sure about becoming a headhunter, but perhaps reading up on headhunter techniques could give me an edge.

Thanks guys. I'm really impressed with the quality of ideas and suggestions on this board. Honestly, I was expecting for about 90% of the responses to the post be flames; that only few posts would provide useful feedback. Luckily pretty much all of the feedback has been insightful