Bounty Jobs

Has anyone heard of the site bountyjobs.com? I was doing some calling and had a potential client refer me to bounty jobs. I'm pretty new to the industry so I'm trying not to be quick about forming my own opinions until I know all the facts about anything to do with the industry but, everything about this site annoyed me. I felt like the client was pointing me to bounty jobs for several reasons, none of them good.

1. They were too lazy to establish a relationship with a specific recruiting firm - with bounty jobs they wouldn't have to talk to a recruiter to get their position filled.

2. They didn't value what a good recruiter could bring to the table.

3. Most of the time they aren't willing to pay a full fee (there are companies that are paying a $10k flat fee for a DOP in Texas?) meaning that they don't really care about quality service.

I spoke to another recruiter in my office who uses bountyjobs from time to time and she likes it, even though they take 25% of the fee. Three months into the business and I'm already annoyed that I only have "other recruiters" job orders to work off of, and I'm eager to establish my own accounts in the business. Having sites like bountyjobs doesn't make my job easier, needless to say, just wondering if I've got the wrong idea about bountyjobs. Is it a haven for recruiters? Does anyone else thinks it's a bad thing?

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Permalink Reply by Mike Hard on February 3, 2010 at 9:48am

Hi Daniel

I'd love to offer my two cents. Hope this helps (and note that I lead BountyJobs so I'm of course biased).

You'll find strong feelings in the community about our biz model: very good in the past few months since we re-directed the company vision, but mixed especially 12-18 months ago. A typical search firm uses us when they have great candidates, but would like the power of a marketplace to open doors to employers with jobs that match. We don't replace biz dev and building relationships, but we help extend reach. We use a combo of the marketplace, some pretty cool software and service people that help. This wasn't always the case. I think we grew too fast in 2008 and some search firms had problems as a result, but that has improved alot and I hope we keep improving as people give us feedback.

To answer your Q's about employer motivation, they use us when three things happen: 1) they have a job that's hard or critical to fill; 2) they like using headhunters; but 3) they've had some challenges in managing the process and getting a good fill quickly. Usually they have a good relationship with one recruiter but think adding 2-3 more will increase their ability to find better candidates faster. Adding too many is a bad thing - a balance we constantly work on - but we think choice is good as long as we can help match people with the same focus. I don't think employers use us to cut thier fees - in fact we see employers set very healthy fees in order to attract the attention of the best search firms.

Hope this isn't too long - and that it helps. Would love to chat if you'd like more, or connect you with other search firms that have used us.

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Permalink Reply by Rithesh Nair on February 3, 2010 at 4:43pm

Good and Bad. I wrote about bounty jobs close to 3 yrs now- Its worth reading the comments,.
http://researchersecrets.com/2007/01/05/bounty-jobs.aspx

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Patrick Chuna on February 3, 2010 at 6:33pm

Bountyjobs is like recruiting in real life..if you hook up with a hiring authority that thinks giving feedback quickly to recruiters is helpful to all parties, it's all good...but if you get one that can't or won't communicate for whatever reason, then it becomes a huge time suck.

Since you are new, just get engaged on something you like, and give it a try..if anything, the resumes you collect in the effort can be used to open the doors to companies that may take you seriously, if you merit being taken seriously.

everything takes effort, and there are no shortcuts.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Fisher on February 4, 2010 at 12:32pm

thanks for the advice Thomas. I'll definately keep that in mind and give it a go.

Thomas Patrick Chuna said:

Bountyjobs is like recruiting in real life..if you hook up with a hiring authority that thinks giving feedback quickly to recruiters is helpful to all parties, it's all good...but if you get one that can't or won't communicate for whatever reason, then it becomes a huge time suck.

Since you are new, just get engaged on something you like, and give it a try..if anything, the resumes you collect in the effort can be used to open the doors to companies that may take you seriously, if you merit being taken seriously.

everything takes effort, and there are no shortcuts.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Fisher on February 4, 2010 at 12:53pm

Rithesh, thanks for sharing that. I'm taking my time and trying to get all the facts before I decide on whether or not I like an idea. Recently was marketing in TN to a potential client who uses Bounty Jobs exclusively, their positions have been open for OVER a year and by simple cold-calling I found the candidates they need. I simply mailed the Director of Recruiting a letter informing her we don't use Bounty Jobs however, if your willing to reconsider here are some candidates we can put you in touch with. Attached the blind resumes of candidates we had to offer. Here's hoping it works!

Rithesh Nair said:

Good and Bad. I wrote about bounty jobs close to 3 yrs now- Its worth reading the comments,.
http://researchersecrets.com/2007/01/05/bounty-jobs.aspx

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Permalink Reply by Robin Eads on February 4, 2010 at 3:03pm

Waste of time. You are better off soliciting your own clients, for all of the reasons stated and then some. Trust your instincts, even as a newbie to the industry - it sounds like your business acumen is spot on.

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Permalink Reply by Dominic Joseph LaRocca on March 12, 2010 at 1:27pm

I have provided the same feedback to bounty jobs customer service multiple times. That being - employers must use bounty jobs to fill their positions. Otherwise, it fails. Bounty jobs needs to better qualify the employers, rather than post their pseudo openings out of pure desperation. It's an absolute joke when 15+ recruiters are engaged on an opening with over 50 resumes submitted, but low and behold - the onsite recruiter filled the job. Those scenarios are just job security justification for internal hr people to show their management they are more capable than agencies.