[Hidden-tech] a question on recruiting

[Anthony Vlamis]

Robert Half is very well known as a recruiter in the executive field. Anyone 
who has picked up a NY Times or WS Journal in the past 50 years may have run 
across their ads if they were job or career hunting. they are also a public 
company, trading on the NYSE, so it's easy to find out a lot about them 
(symbol, RHI).  My experience with them has been minimal I knew folds who 
used them to find upper level executive jobs.  However, finding people for 
projects is a newer wrinkle though not unrelated to their client work across 
the board. They blend into consulting as well as head hunting so finding 
project for techies or upper echelon execs would be a natural outgrowth of 
what they do.  Frankly i have always thought if a person is a good networker 
plus organized and creative about their efforts they don't need a service 
like RHI.  But 50 plus years of existence and a steady advtg budget tells me 
they have done well at what they do.

recently i had a call from a management consulting firm looking for a 
writer -- immediately -- to go to the Middle East on a short but intensive 
assignment.  I know they got paid for the search by their client.  Half no 
doubt has many contacts at large firms and a lot of execs that they have 
placed who form a bank of contacts to mine for project work.

I haven't used them as a free ag ent but i can see   how they might be 
interested in the Hidden Tech Group as a well of IT, intellectual and high 
end corporate resources for hire.  Again i know them as recruiters of mid to 
upper and senior management/executive talent. That would include IT for sure 
since there is probably more turnover there.

I have neutral feelings about what they do.   However, they could not have 
survived 50 yrs without  being resourceful and benefitting enough people to 
produce long term business continuity for themselves and some clients. So IM 
opinion worth exploring to find out more about how they can benefit Hidden 
Tech and other free agents. If they had a board i'd be interested in 
participating so long as they were transparent about the fees etc.  getting 
them to be open about that might take some real negotiating. However, they 
are pros and i can see advantages to working with them rather than the 
amatuers using the Web boards to commoditize so many professional services.

be happy to discuss further with you on or off line.

warmly

Anthony Vlamis
Intellagent Communications
845-794-2930


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "A - Z International" <az at a-zinternational.com>
To: <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 9:17 AM
Subject: [Hidden-tech] a question on recruiting


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>
> Hi all,
>
> I've been conducting a running dialogue for a year with members of the 
> Robert Half recruiting agency's various departments about how they can 
> better serve virtual company owners like us who depend on project work --  
> preferably retainer-based clients. Ironically, they found me by showing up 
> to Hidden-Tech's 5th birthday party to scope us out.
>
> I'm curious how many of you knew that Robert Half offers recruiting 
> services for project work for both techies and those in the creative 
> sectors?
>
> I certainly did not. And to be honest, I'm not plugging them or working 
> for them. I don't even have a clear sense of what they do offer, which is 
> why I'm turning to the list with these questions:
>
> -- Have any of you heard of this agency?
>
> -- Have any of you ever utilized their services?
>
> -- If so, were your experiences positive? negative? in-between?
>
> -- Would any of you be willing to pay money for an agent or "head hunter" 
> who could get you project work, or even  retainer clients?
>
> Let me know. Could be I'll write about this. But I will certainly pass on 
> your thoughts to this organization and many others. As someone who has 
> never located an on-line job board I could stand, and would love a work 
> agent or head hunter to assist me when work is slow, I think it would be 
> great of the recruiting industry caught up to our needs. Curious if you 
> agree.
>
> best,
>
> Amy Zuckerman
> Hidden-Tech Founder
>
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