Rich Workers Are Now Paying $1500 A Month To Get 'Reverse Recruited' For A New Job
Dragon Images | Shutterstock It's no secret that we're in what may be the most cutthroat job market we've ever seen, and a new trend underscores just how difficult it has become: "Reverse recruiting." Yes, workers are now paying exorbitant fees to hire recruiters themselves to find them a job.
It's exactly what it sounds like. Instead of recruiters being paid by employers to find candidates, candidates are now paying recruiters to find employers in a bizarre through-the-looking-glass version of the typical job search.
Wealthy workers are now paying $1500 a month or more to get 'reverse recruited' for jobs.
If you've ever wondered if you could just throw money at the problem of finding a job, good news: Job searching has become pay-to-play. Or, at least it CAN be if you want it to be, with the new trend of "reverse recruiting."
rich-workers-paying-reverse-recruited
On one hand, of course, this is another eyeroll-inducing chapter in how absolutely nothing is safe from being turned into a haves-and-have-nots dystopia. But of course, there's an uncomfortable truth at play: Getting a job has now become so hard, even for higher career levels and people with plenty of disposable income, that paying for one has become a solution.
Workers pay monthly fees and a commission on their first year's salary.
The cost of these services is frankly exorbitant. One reverse recruitment agency that spoke to CBS News charges candidates $1500 a month for its services. Another charges as much as $2500. But on top of that, once a client lands a job, they must also fork over a 10% commission on the first year's salary.
So if the service works as intended and lands you a nice six-figure job, you're not only out an average of three months of fees, or between $4,500 and $7,500, but a $10,000+ commission before you even start.
BartekSzewczyk | Getty Images Pro | Canva Pro
That said, it's hard to argue that it isn't worth it if you can afford it. The average time it takes to land a full-time position, according to federal labor statistics, is currently 24 weeks, or six months, which is up from 22 weeks a year ago. For many, it takes much, much longer.
But the owner of Reverse Recruiting Agency, Alex Shinkarovsky, said he and his team can usually cut that average time in half to 12.5 weeks. If you're in a hurry and can afford it, the money might be worth every penny to cut the process in half.
But many feel it's an unfair advantage. Some experts even call the trend a scam.
One CEO of a reverse recruiting firm who spoke to CBS said that, on average, a candidate applying for a job online has just a 1-2% chance of actually getting an interview. And as AI both eliminates positions and makes applying and harvesting resumes even easier, recruiters are getting bombarded with candidates. Reverse recruiting helps cut through the noise and keep candidates from getting lost in the mix.
But of course, the elephant in the room is that this presents yet another wildly unfair advantage in the job search process. Most people cannot remotely afford this service, but will potentially be pushed out by those who can.
But even worse, some experts say the services often don't work as promised. Veteran recruiting expert JT O'Donnell has even likened them to a scam. "It never works out," she said, noting that these services only ever pop up in bad economies. "You will not get the results you are looking for."
Legit or not, it's yet another chapter in our dystopian economy: A job market so broken that if you can't afford tens of thousands of dollars in help, you might get left behind. Soon, services like this will start taking Klarna, and people will be going into debt just to find a job.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
