These last few weeks have been a rollercoaster – as a Head Huntress and as an American. Wall Street is in shambles, our bailout didn’t really do any bailing out, unemployment is going up, our Presidential candidates are debating but not necessarily answering any questions, people are scrambling to maintain standards of living, our greatest joy is the return of Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are more popular than ever, and I can’t seem to understand the hiring patterns of our clients.

For example: Client knows they need a Senior Network Design Engineer – but only want to pay $65k for fear of running out of budget. However, they know that this person needs to have the skills of a $95k Network Design Engineer. But they hire a less qualified candidate to save the cash while simultaneously putting themselves at risk of a crippled Network – which is MORE expensive in the long run. Yeah – it’s a head scratcher.

Case in point: A couple of years ago, a certain retailer who shall remain nameless but has fabulous name brand products at discount prices – had a HUGE security breach. HUGE. Not little. MILLIONS of dollars huge. I was tasked with finding said client a Security Engineer who was well versed in ethical hacking. The budget - $75k. Now riddle me this – your entire company is compromised, you have lost the confidence of your customers, your name is synonymous with security breach, and you want to hire a SENIOR SECURITY EXPERT to fix the problem in a short period of time for fear that your company will tank, and this miracle worker who shall be the salvation of a multi-million dollar company is worth $75k? Again – another head scratcher.

If I buy a pair of $10 jeans – Should I be shocked that they don’t wash and wear well? If I purchase low premium insurance, should I be shocked that the medical coverage is lackluster? If I buy a $1 hamburger versus the $10 model at an upscale restaurant – should I expect them to taste the same?

If our current economic situation has taught us anything, it is that we truly get what we pay for and that we have to be realistic. Now I know the 1969 Rolling Stone’s song as well as any other that “You can’t always get what you want,” but isn’t it about time that we as Recruiters and Staffing experts helped our clients to realize what they need.