Oooh. I have some experience in this area. My wife became entangled with one of these outfits in the midst of a particularly frustrating career trough. Fortunately, we were able to back out before money changed hands.

I think it's a big misnomer to call them "job placement" or "headhunter" companies. That's emphatically not what they do. They offer what used to be called "career counseling," which basically consists of polishing up your resume and trying to boost your confidence through a series of "My Fair Lady" exercises.

(edit: The company my wife talked to also offered to send her resume out. I pressed them on whether they had some inside track and contacts. They admitted they didn't, and that they just send the resume to HR departments, like everyone else.)

I took a series of these sorts of counseling sessions once. The company that was laying me off due to an acquisition offered it to all of their surplused employees.

The classes were helpful, but I don't know that I'd have paid money to take them.

I still remember the trainer - Jim of Right Associates out of the Denver office. I wish I could get in touch with him so I could tell him that the career track he'd coached me on wound up being what I wound up doing. He was enthusiastic, effective, and I learned a lot during a particularly difficult time.

Anyhoooo... I've been in the IT/IS biz for 16 years or so now, and have used headhunting services a couple of times. If I was looking for job placement, I certainly wouldn't pony up any money unless the hunt was successful, and even then, I'd try to work it out so that the commission came out of the employer's pocket & not mine. Most reputable firms work on contingency. It makes them actually work on your behalf, and the better pay that you can negotiate, the better they get paid. Win-win-win. You get a good paying job, the employer gets a quality employee, and the HH gets a fat commission check.

____________________________

Ruining songs with my mitten handed, Magyar guitar play since 1990.

In my experience, networking is the #1 best way to get a good job. Most job seekers probably know that already.

That's why it's a good idea not to burn too many bridges along the way, and to keep a rolodex or contact database of every single person you ever have contact with in the business world.

You just never know who might be able to help you, and most are more than willing. As with many other things, it's sometimes not what you know, but who you know.

Most job seekers probably know that already.

Yes, indeedy. And that's how they reeled my wife in. She was young, inexperienced and had tough, working-class upbringing. She'd always believed there was an exclusive "club" that enjoyed the good life, and all you had to do was become a member. She hadn't had the opportunity to go to the "right" schools and get chummy with the "right" people, so she figured this was her in.

These companies are very good at playing upon that trope, leading you through a series of doors (sometimes quite literally) and promising that the "club" lies just beyond the next one.