Headhunters/Recruiting Agencies (Seattle: fit in, for sale, rental)

[YankeeRacersFounder]

Hello Seattle!

My wife and I will be relocating to the area in a month and will need jobs. Since we have a limited knowledge of the area and the resources that people typically use for employment searches/assistance in Seattle, I thought it might be wise to reach out to the City-Data community. Here's a little bit of information about us and where we are...

She has grown a start up e-commerce business In Kansas City from a little mom and pop company out of the owner's basement into a multi-million dollar business. She's had several phone interviews with companies like Zulily and Amazon, but has yet to receive an offer. She's not on the IT side, but rather is in charge of strategic planning, buying, marketing, shipping, etc. She literally did everything there except IT stuff. I have a work history centered in case management and I am currently working as a Probation and Parole Officer. I'm not so concerned about myself because I've got some solid job leads that will likely pan out, it will just be a matter of me getting into town and meeting with some people. We are both college graduates with excellent credit and no debt, other than her monthly car payment. We have enough of a nest egg to find a rental and live without jobs for about six months before totally beginning to freak out. I also bartended and managed restaurants for 15 years before deciding to 'grow up' so I can always fall back on that to get some money coming in. Essentially, we'd really like to hit the ground running and not burn through our savings so that we will have a more substantial down payment for a house in a year, once we find a neighborhood we like. Does anyone have any recommendations regarding recruiting services or good headhunters in Seattle? A lot of the online search results are returning temp agencies and IT related jobs. Any suggestions and advice will be most welcome. Thanks in advance!

[Blondebaerde]

Six months to find work might work out, bad pun intended. Dunno anymore, and it's a function of your (very specific) skills. Some succeed, others burn out and fail. A few fit in perfectly to the model and tend to go far as they're able based on Peter Principle. Large tech giants with names starting M, G, and A respectively have specific needs for (very) special skillsets. They will sleuth out talent wherever in the darkest corner of the world it may be found; one of my closest friends comes from some God-forsaken city 200 miles from Sydney AUS out into the brush. He's just that freakishly good at what he does, and I'm continually impressed. The found him, though. My story is not nearly as interesting, though they tracked me down as-well even after I'd told them to sod off (politely!) a few times prior.

Yes, there must be hundreds of "temp" agencies for IT roles. Most of those companies are ghetto, but also many are just the opposite: what I call "boutique" consultancies (an en vogue term around here, to be sure). The smart ones specialize, best they can, but many have to take work where they can find it, too because it's very hard for sales to turn down revenue, aka offers to fill roles. Those that don't specialize tend to get randomized, and re-invent the wheel in terms of business (behaving like startups). One of my favorites is several hundred people specializing in product management and PMO. They know what they do well and focus like lasers, and seem to be doing well year over year.

The way I see it, use LinkedIn to survey the landscape for management and strategic consultancies. If the resume is in order, those are valuable skills: change management at startups and etc. Really, really closely. Research what some of these firms do, where they play specifically. Most are upfront about that on their websites. When you find a few you like, reach out and be simultaneously to-the-point and friendly: I have (this) skillset, you need (this). My experience is (that). Let's talk.

The Amazon thing doesn't surprise me, they and the others hire who they want and no one else. Period, end of story. Nothing personal, it's a numbers and timing game.

I've played "connector" introducing and coaching others how to deal with boutique consultancies past five years or so, and I work closely with a half-dozen of these firms (from gargantuan managed services firms to local boutiques) and understand both business models in high detail. If you have what they need, in terms of skills, they will listen. From there, it is like any other negotiation in terms of leverage. The minute you're not needed, you're a liability and some consultants can't deal with that on an emotional level. I let an otherwise extremely-sharp guy (consultant) go the other month (with a bit of notice: rolled him off gradually) who could not reconcile the fact that he was a useful asset, but not part of "the team" per se thus it was time for him move on. He'll be fine, btw, if he smartens up. Case in point.

[YankeeRacersFounder]

Interesting reply, thank you. I think part of my wife's problem is that she's been working with the same company practically since college and hasn't had to go through the struggles of finding another position. She reached out to Centerstone today because they claim to work with ecommerce retailers. Fingers crossed they can offer some assistance/guidance/direction and Nordstrom (a great company to work for ) is one of their bigger clients. Can anyone share their experience working with Centerstone or other headhunters? Or perhaps what has worked for you in your job searches. We plan on joining some social groups when we arrive to meet folks and do some professional networking. Any suggestions?

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by YankeeRacersFounder

We plan on joining some social groups when we arrive to meet folks and do some professional networking. Any suggestions?

You might try the links at the top of Geekwire. GeekWire - Breaking News in Technology & Business