I currently live in Portland, OR. Due to the presence of Nike, Adidas, Intel, W+K, Columbia, Amazon, and the army of smaller agencies that support these companies, recruiters and placement agencies are the only viable option regarding successful job placement.
A brief (and possibly incorrect) history is several years back many designers had worked as 1099 contractors. Many of the companies were somewhat exploitative, requiring the contractor to work on site, supply their own computers and (often verified) programs with no paid vacation and overtime. A series of laws were implemented to crack down on these worker violations and recruiters filled the vacuum to manage placement. They offered W2/competitive pay trends, insurance and vacation to the employees while minimizing a VERY saturated market for the employers.
My experience with recruiters has been good overall, and have used them to both hire and get work. However as a potential employee, it is near-impossible to reach out to a company directly, and you have to plan for your resume, portfolio and education to be filtered heavily by the recruiter. Often there is a disconnect between the employer and the potential candidate, particularly regarding work experience. I have even heard that other fields such as health and construction are beginning to operate in the same fashion in the pacific northwest.
I am happily employed now, but have struggled with both of these scenarios of recruiter misrepresentation and exploited "freelance" opportunities. I don't think there is a right answer, but would really like to start a conversation about this trend that has deeply impacted our industry. Is this common in most other major cities now? How do you present yourself knowing these filters may possibly be in place?
Edit: Formatting
Great design resource
100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People (Voices That Matter)
Submitted October 31, 2017 at 10:04PM by Unanimous_Seps http://ift.tt/2iR4HPX
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