How does TEKsystems get anyone to work for them?

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Bahlore@reddit

We've used them for temp to hire. My company's recruiting is abysmal. We use TEK Systems and Apex to get talent. They find the unicorns we are looking for, and stay with TEK or Apex for six months before switching over to us. Works real well for us

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machacker89@reddit

Apex Systems is STILL around. wow. they were my 1st employer

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No-Algae-7437@reddit

Sub-sub-contracting

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EmotionalVegetable48@reddit

Importation

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bionic_cmdo@reddit

They helped me break into the IT field with my first helpdedeak position. All I had prior to that was printer repair technician. Now you need a college degree and at least 6 months helpdedeak experience.

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Ekyou@reddit

You got insurance??? When I was forced to work as a contractor early in my career, there were zero benefits. Glad to hear things have improved?

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HWKII@reddit

I think there’s some room to debate whether being forced to pay insane benefit prices is an improvement over not having them.

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Ekyou@reddit

Fair, but at the time I was doing contract you had have insurance. Even the worst employer insurance was still typically a better value than ACA marketplace insurance.

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skidmark_zuckerberg@reddit

Just connected with them (albeit for a Software Engineering job) for a very large financial company based where I live. This company has no public job postings and I’ve wanted to try and get in with them for quite some time. It’s the only reason I entertained a call from one of their recruiters.

The pay discussed honestly was on par with my last job. It’s a 12 month contract to hire. Honestly, just having this company on my resume outweighs the contract to hire part for me. As far as benefits, luckily I’m on my spouses insurance anyway since hers is really good.

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skeetgw2@reddit

As mentioned the whole climate for IT is fucked right now and they know it. People have to feed their families and they’re likely getting people with 25+ years willing to work helpdesk again.

This is only going to get way worse.

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hankhillnsfw@reddit

10 years experience senior level here.

If I lost my job and couldn’t find a new one, yeah I would help desk again.

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HITACHIMAGICWANDS@reddit

I think I’d do something else, personally. The idea of moving around and using my body doesn’t sound so terrible. Plumber? Electrician?

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Miserable-Quail-1152@reddit

You think it’s easy to just get a job and start making good money in a trade? Most trades takes 1-2 years to get graduated and have a higher unemployment rate than IT lol

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HITACHIMAGICWANDS@reddit

Might not be the best baying job off the rip, but there’s a possibility it pays better than some shitty help desk job just to get downsized in 6 months.

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Miserable-Quail-1152@reddit

You have not done any research have you - trades have some of the highest unemployment. Trades are no some super special industry immune to market conditions.

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HITACHIMAGICWANDS@reddit

Depends on where you’re at I guess. Where I live there’s been non stop construction for like at least 10 years. Lots of work to be had here

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MotionAction@reddit

That is the key don't stay in help desk job for longer than 1-2 year unless you are in unique company and management "likes" you, or you got the gift of gab with powerful people.

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MemeMan64209@reddit

I thought trades might be easier to get a job as well at this point. Turns out I was wrong and getting your full Electrician Apprenticeship done takes a few years of your life, and your dignity. Then you might have the chance to get decent money.

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HITACHIMAGICWANDS@reddit

Sure, but you can also work for a non union shop, and do decent quicker.

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MemeMan64209@reddit

Isn’t that just throwing a dart at a board tho. Don’t get me wrong I’ve heard amazing stories of these smaller shops, but I’ve also heard horror stories with people being cheated out of hours and wages. In addition to way less oversight it just makes it risky imo.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I didn’t think taking the gamble and pivoting was worth it.

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HITACHIMAGICWANDS@reddit

We’re describing a situation where it’s work an awful help desk job or pivot, to put food on the table and keep the lights on. Gonna do what I have to do. I’m significantly more handy than the average bear so for me personally, a trade would make sense. Maybe not so much for you! Which would be good, because there’s only so many openings lol

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FrivolousMe@reddit

Union electrician apprentices make more than any help desk role. Most of the unions are competitive to get into though. IT needs a union, but forget trying to convince tech bros that.

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bbbbbthatsfivebees@reddit

I'm going back to my first job of working on a farm. At least there it was steady employment all year round. And no damn computers to worry about unless it was tax season.

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SpaceChimps98@reddit

I would love to be an electrician, but I think there's some kind of barrier to entry where you have to be an underpaid apprentice for quite some time before you're allowed to do real work.

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rdldr1@reddit

I am so sorry to hear that. Best of luck to you.

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PhilosophyBitter7875@reddit

I would set up an account on Field Nation and try my luck at freelance stuff.

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HITACHIMAGICWANDS@reddit

I used to rock FN for extra cash, if you throw yourself into it in a major area you can get by.

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PhilosophyBitter7875@reddit

I scroll around it for fun, I have a pretty busy area, but all of the work is regular business hours and I cant see myself using PTO to do a point of sale refresh at a Dollar General for $40/hr and 2 hours of work.

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HITACHIMAGICWANDS@reddit

Right? lol. It’s funny you mention that, during paternity leave I did a DG refresh lol

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PhilosophyBitter7875@reddit

Yea DG must have done a full enterprise POS refresh at their stores, and it all went to FN workers lol.

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badaccount99@reddit

30 years in IT, but never would be willing to work helpdesk again. 401k plus investments and savings I'm a millionaire on paper at least. Not enough to retire on, but enough to pivot to a different career maybe? Goat farm is the dream for all of us.

That said I see so many of the people on our dev team living paycheck to paycheck making 6 figures. It ain't good.

Yes, IT is fucked, but mostly for junior people for now at least. I'm a "Director" and in charge of hiring people. I've completely quit hiring people right out of college and only hire people with 10-20 years experience now. There is a huge gap in troubleshooting ability there and it's not worth the time to train them because 9 times out of 10 they leave for another job after we've skilled them up. We're a business not a college.

It's a problem I don't have an answer for.

But if you're in IT now with experience you're probably still getting paid decently. Stop buying expensive crap. Save all you can, because dark times are coming.

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Sweet_Mother_Russia@reddit

“We don’t hire anyone out of college, fuck those kids, man - not my job to train you - not anyone else’s either.”

Lol fuck you, man

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badaccount99@reddit

I hate it. Super hate it. I used to hire people out of college.

But it's reality and we can't escape it. Kids who went through Covid times where the teachers just gave up... It's not good. We're hurting. I've done so many video interviews where the kids are obviously looking at the second monitor for help.

So, maybe not fuck you man. But it is a serious problem man.

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Sweet_Mother_Russia@reddit

lol I’ve been in IT for like 15 years and I work with college kids everyday.

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badaccount99@reddit

Mon and Stepdad are PHD's who teach college kids. It doesn't matter what you think they're capable of when teaching them.

Reality is real. They aren't worth hiring. Microsoft, Apple, AWS, banks, etc, they've fired hundreds of thousands of people who have lots more experience in the last year. Ignore my hiring process.

When you've got 100k people applying would you hire the senior person or the junior person? Last opening we had we got 5k+ resumes.

As I said it's a mess. And no mid sized company's hiring practice is going to fix that soon.

Don't blame me for hiring the guy who had a Tandy 1000 behind him when doing an interview. Stuff is bad. Bad for IT people coming out of college. Not my company. All of them.

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Ssakaa@reddit

After Oracle's 30k, pretty sure it just did get way worse.

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TheMidlander@reddit

Having a pulse is an expensive hobby these days.

Their shitiness doesn't stop there. I got signed on to a project at MS. On the 6th week, we're told that management has decided this job is for FTE's only. TEKsystems seemed to take that personally. They challenged my unemployment all the way to court only to not show up to the hearing. That whole six month ordeal annihilated my savings. Fuck TEKsystems. Especially you, Kevin.

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PeePeeVonBungHole@reddit

Yeah Kevin you dick

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DiggyTroll@reddit

Yeah Kevin! Big weenie

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_Robert_Pulson@reddit

Kevin Can F Himself

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MotionAction@reddit

What did Kevin do to you personally?

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chocotaco1981@reddit

Yeah fuck kevin especially

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Disastrous_Meal_4982@reddit

Jumping board. Get experience that is needed and then bounce. Most contractors I’ve worked with stay about 6 months.

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Gryphtkai@reddit

OMG are they still around? I think they were one of the companies I did a short stint for back in 1999. Very short stint.

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Sweet_Mother_Russia@reddit

When I was fresh out of college and totally broke I worked some 2 day contract installer gig with them. It was fucking DOGSHIT 😆

Never took a call from their recruiter again.

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New_Assistance_6797@reddit

Did one seasonal contract to hire cause the usual worker had to take a break and I had a chance if he didn't come back.

Also did 5 to 6 contract to hire jobs for the same company that I was contracted to and it never worked even though I was told I was exactly what they needed. Also they never really gave me a chance to work for rate I was asking for. I accepted due to desperation and to get my foot through the door because I really liked the company.

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habitsofwaste@reddit

I worked for them twice. Once back when no one in Houston really hired IT. It’s always contracted out. I think I didn’t even choose any benefits because I was young and never had insurance before anyway or maybe I did and it was the 2010s and maybe not that bad back then? The second time was only for 8 months before I got hired by the company. Either time, I don’t remember it being a problem. But maybe it depends on the state?

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wyldeslash@reddit

I got an decent job through them tbh

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basikly@reddit

Same. Got placed at a decent company an about 11 years ago, but to be fair it was my first corporate job, so I fully expected an entry role.

Worked as a contractor for 2 years and liked my manager, team, and the people I worked through at TEK throughout that entire time. A FTE spot opened up at the same company which I then applied for and got.

I know this isn’t everyone’s experience though. I was thankful for my own experience with them.

Benefits weren’t great and were also expensive, but I also lived at home/didn’t have a family of my own yet, so that can also be very different for others.

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TopHat84@reddit

I think that's the thing. TEKsystems from 10 years or more is not the same as TEKsystems now.

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basikly@reddit

Very true, but even at that time there were others that I talked to who weren’t happy with TEK whereas I never really had a problem with them.

I fully acknowledge that my experience does not seem to match what many others have mentioned though. I think I was extremely lucky with my timing, situation, and placement. If I were to be with TEK today (and my wife did not have good health benefits from her employer) I would be unhappy with TEKs benefits.

I can’t speak to their current pay rate though. I feel like my hourly rate was more or less matching my skill set at that time. I think I started at $19/hr for a tier 2/walk up support tech at the time and ended at like $28-30/hr as a lead 2 years later before I got an FTE roll (I also had vacation time built into my contract which I found out later was not always the case for people).

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TopHat84@reddit

I mean I was never super happy with TEKsystems, but they were better than other alternatives I used.

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schnorreng@reddit

Can you share the details like pay / benefits / clients?

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VA_Network_Nerd@reddit

None of the "body shops" are excellent employers that people stick with for an entire career.

They use you to fill a role that wants qualified bodies in a hurry.
You use them to get employed, so you can gather work experiences while you search for a better opportunity.

This isn't even a full list of all the body shops:

https://www.teksystems.com/en/careers

https://www.randstadusa.com/jobs/

https://www.roberthalf.com/us/en/find-jobs

https://www.apexsystems.com/search-results-usa

https://www.adecco.com/find-a-job

https://www.diversant.com/job-search

https://epitec.com/search-jobs/

https://jobs.frontlinesourcegroup.com/

https://insightglobal.com/jobs/

https://www.thelasallenetwork.com/job-search/

https://jobs.rightstone.com/

https://sparksgroupinc.com/find-a-job/

https://www.monumentstaffing.net/job-seekers/

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bbbbbthatsfivebees@reddit

Adecco had me lined up with an interview and then ghosted me after nobody showed up for the interview. Then had the balls to reach out 6 months later asking if I'd be interested in a part-time datacenter job with a 2 hour commute.

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minus_minus@reddit

Bookmarking this comment.

I need to get off the schneid.

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Squeezer999@reddit

https://www.apexsystems.com/ is another body shop

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WallHalen@reddit

I’ve worked two contracts for TEK. Yeah, they promise raises and don’t follow through and their benefits are pretty bad, but both cases led to permanent spots at the companies. I also knew that the raise thing would be a can to be kicked down the road, so I demanded very high pay to start - instead of a lower pay. They met my demand.

This was 2010 and 2015. 2010 was with a shady-ass Telecommunications company. Ended up being brought on as an employee after 3-4 months.

2015 was with a large insurance company in my state. It took about 12 months to be brought on here.

Both situations were very much worth it - but for most of the time I was also a young single man that had no dependents… and I could put up with a little bullshit for better endgame.

It helped bridge the gap in the weird mid-stage of my career when I had 15-ish years of experience but no degree or major certs.

Now a CISO with a degree and CISSP, CISM.

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AstralVenture@reddit

$93.xx a week for a High Deductible plan and I have to pay $1,850 a year towards medical, dental and vision expenses.

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desxentrising@reddit

they were making 300%+ markup on my labor. glad to get my foot in the door but damn. they treated us like shit too

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There_Bike@reddit

They’re a temp agency. All temp places have horrid benefits. They kept finding me work an hour away making less than I was. Saying it would be good experience. Like fuck off. I’m old enough to know the “this is a great resume builder” line is nothing but hot air and bullshit.

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NoTime4YourBullshit@reddit

They’re a temp agency. The trade-off you make with a temp agency is that you get paid a lot, but benefits are a joke.

As a side note, I once had a person scoff at me for saying they paid a lot. It’s true that they will make you an initial offer that’s approximately in-line with what the position is worth if it were full time (which is a bad deal), but you have to haggle. I once got them to pay me $90/hr for a 6-month gig creating SCCM packages. That was almost $100k for something I can do with half my brain tied behind my back.

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Loan-Pickle@reddit

I’ve worked for TEKsystems twice before. I just upped my rate to cover for the lack of benefits. No different than any other contract job.

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AbandonedHope83@reddit

To get your foot in the door with a major tech company, which I have been with for coming up on 4 years, after 1 year with shitty teksystems.

Sometimes you gotta take it up the ass by some random middle manager so you can get the opportunity to take it up the ass by some middle manager that pays you well and has amazing benefits.

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bschmidt25@reddit

I worked for them back in the day. Yes - their insurance is expensive and not good because they don't subsidize it at all, unlike most companies. I had coverage through my spouse so no big deal there.

I was there after being laid off in 2009 at the near bottom of the Great Recession. I was just happy to have a job honestly.

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c0LdFir3@reddit

I don’t have anything to contribute here other than smiling and laughing. I turned them down for many of the same reasons… fifteen, maybe twenty years ago.

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GX_EN@reddit

When I first moved to Southern CA, I worked with a couple different companies including TekSystems and generally I don't really have anything bad to say. My goal was to keep at it till I could get hired full time somewhere. Which I did. In 2009 I got laid off and my next long term gig I got through TS after taking a short term one with a company I can't remember.
My outlook was to use these any of these guys as a way to either get as much money as possible while using my wife's ins and/or using them to get hired on full time.
I don't know if they have a 401k (at the time they didn't) which is the biggest downside at times for contracting. At the income level I was by 2010, I wanted to be able to max that out, which is a hell of a lot more money than just putting money in an IRA.
My 2 cents.

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Kikz__Derp@reddit

I recommend teksystems and similar shitty contract jobs to people trying to break into the field. Much less competitive and it’s much easier to get a good job once you have the experience on your resume.

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rxoper726@reddit

gif

$$$

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Kuipyr@reddit

Desperation

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peacefinder@reddit

And TekSystems can be pretty effective at becoming a temp-to-hire pipeline for major local employers… which funnels the desperate people right into their arms.

Source: was once desperate enough to take a teksystems temp-to-hire gig. They had all the big employers in the area locked up and the next city was 120 miles away.

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lunchbox1911@reddit

I just applied for this exact reason.

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minus_minus@reddit

Can I get a referral? /s

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darth8ball@reddit

Happens to all of us

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CharcoalGreyWolf@reddit

And the potential for contract to hire so you’re (hopefully) not working very long for them.

I did it once, 90 days contract to hire. And I was hired at the place, but they were using the contractor to hide how massively toxic a workplace they really were.

OP is correct though in that their benefits are bottom of the barrel.

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vaud@reddit

Yeah these agencies are just in it for whatever cut they get while you're employed and any conversion/buyout fees. That's where the real money's at.

I've had actual staff aug contracts and I've had '12 month' contracts where I'm told 3 months in I'm extended for another 3 with a potential further 6 months down the road. Just depends on the place you end up with.

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5panks@reddit

And the potential for contract to hire so you’re (hopefully) not working very long for them.

This has been my experience. I've always assumed they had shit benefits because they're goal was to get rid of you in 9-12 months.

There are other recruiters with much better benefits.

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srender07@reddit

Right on the nose. They helped me break into the field and get some experience on my resume.

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cakebythejake@reddit

They used to cold call me with roles and I rejected every one of them because of the offensive compensation rates. They stopped calling. 😂

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Switchback77@reddit

Temp companies never have good benefits. I’m one month into a contract to hire position through Insight global. Negotiate a higher rate to counteract the bad benefits, lack of 401k etc. the Benefits aren’t really /bad/, the reality is your benefits are NOT subsidized by the employer like they would be at a typical FTE role. It’s great if you have a partner with benefits or you’re younger as you can cut back a bit in exchange for a higher hourly rate. Are temp companies bad? Eh not really, they fit a niche “get manpower now” role. The companies also get to bypass Talent Acquisition at bigger firms which often times can get you pass the ridiculous AI bouncer that scans your resumes. Can they be predatory, absolutely but the same can be said about any employer. As with all jobs do your due diligence before accepting a role. It’s not just them interviewing to but also you interviewing them.

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Squeezer999@reddit

Terrible company. I guess they are hoping that you are on your spouses benefits. I'd never work for them unless I absolutely had to, and it was a temp-to-hire for a short period, and i prayed i didn't get sick and that i actually got hired full time.

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nme_@reddit

Teksystems has bought me lunch countless times. Only reason I take their call.

Never actually taken a contract with them.

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Narcoleptic_247@reddit

Gotta eat, gotta have insurance.

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mirrax@reddit

I literally got told that "no one takes our insurance" because it's so bad.

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Narcoleptic_247@reddit

Brutal, who is the provider?

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mirrax@reddit

I'll be honest, I don't remember. It was over a decade ago. I didn't end up take it because my partner's coverage was better for cheaper.

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Speeddymon@reddit

I worked for them 2 decades ago. For entry level positions, they were good but I didn't use their benefits because I needed the money and didn't have kids at the time.

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Hagey29@reddit

TEK, Randstand, Apex are all scumbags. If it was the 80s their sales people would be used car salesmen.

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DreamArez@reddit

As others said, desperation and/or trying to get work experience. Worked for Aveda (horrible company for IT btw) under them and it was a whole mess. Got let go the day before Thanksgiving along with the rest of the IT department.

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Margurite_Eye-catch@reddit

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and honestly there's no clear-cut answer. Both sides have valid points.

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natflingdull@reddit

Teksystems is just ok. Ive used them twice now once for FTE and for my current contract. Contract work is fine for me right now since I have to move to a different state in a handful of months anyway

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DavWanna@reddit

As nice as it would be to have multiple companies to choose from for the average r/sysadmin "$250k, 53 weeks PTO, company yacht" position, not everyone has those options but rent isn't free.

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natflingdull@reddit

Yeah lots of snarky people ITT…get laid off in this job market and you will be humbled real quick

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Financial-Garlic9834@reddit

Reading this as I just finished hiring them to find us an FTE. Rip.

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UpsetBar@reddit

I have no benefits. Contracting was the first offer I had and I had to take it. Not through Tek. I pay $535/month for the shittiest HMO plan through the ACA. No dental, no vision. No sick days, no PTO. I’d take whatever they offer over this tbh.

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Main-Implement1491@reddit

I worked for them straight out of (it) trade school on two contracts, in two different states. The hourly pay was good especially for entry level and remote work, however I didn’t require health insurance or other tangible benefits at the time. It really boils down to WHO the contract work is for, and getting picked up by them in 4-6 months as FTE. I was working on a Lumen contract and they wanted me to get picked up as FTE within 2 months.

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longlurcker@reddit

They were good for me high rates from the beginning were key for me

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bionic80@reddit

Every time I've done a search for a position Tek has come through for me for a CTH FTE position. A lot of it is that some markets just have crap recruiters. The point of TEK is to get hired on through them to an FTE, not to stay with them forever.

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paper_w0lf@reddit

When i first started my career it got my foot in the door someplace in 6-month contract to hire. All the things you said are true but it helped me get my career off the ground when my experience was almost nil but had a degree with certs.

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No_Resolution_9252@reddit

OP wouldn't be looking there if she or he could get a job independently. There's the sign.

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sableknight13@reddit

Shit they're trying to recruit me right now for a 3rd company in my city as a contract with a full time hire option. They offered ~$75/hour but didn't elaborate on the rest of their benefits etc. Any experiences with the I should look out for?

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Confident_Guide_3866@reddit

Big dogs gotta eat

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CeC-P@reddit

TS murdered the OP's account apparently. They sent the black helicopters to his house lol.

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NotSoSimpleGeek@reddit

1 week in to a TEK contract here. Benefits are the worst and most expensive I have ever had but better than no benefits. The communication was complete crap during the hiring process. Luckily I was utilizing my Plan B but it was uncomfortable. My start date was pushed 5 times. The Friday before a Monday start I got a laptop with no credentials and no start time or expectations. Sunday night at 5PM local I was asked to start at 6:30AM the next day. Oh also a good chunk of the job expectations told to me by the recruiter are not true. This could be a 'lets try out the new guy first' situation but still crappy.

Now the positive, I would not have been able to get into this role without it. Pay is good, so far the client team is great. 45% of this team were contractors and then flipped. I will stick with this for a year with a goal to get flipped. If it dosn't happen then I can shop around. Better to find a job while employed than not. If you can sit with ambiguity, you are self starter, and the pay covers the atrocious benefits cost, then make it happen.

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CeC-P@reddit

I worked for them on and off for 10+ years. I can tell you exactly who works tehre based on what team members they sent to various jobs.

They occasionally get me - contract veteran that's seen everything and nothing shakes me and I make 20k+ on side hustles so a few weeks between contracts doesn't bother me.

But more commonly they college grads that oversell themselves and have something to prove. They actually do alright.

Then usually they get 55+ people since companies won't hire them and they just want to cruise into retirement but they're insanely good workers.

They also get mentally ill people with a record who fake their drug tests and then get fired 2 weeks in for lying about having a valid drivers license.

They also get the "always unhappy and that's my thing" socially inept stereotypes who can't get through an interview but look good on paper. They annoy everyone on the team but do work at a moderate rate.

Then they get people too autistic to get through an interview without a hundred red flags about their social skills being obvious to HR, but can get sent blind to a basic contract that needs like 15 people tomorrow. They stick around if they don't cause issues with the staff, which they commonly do. In fact, one guy got fired on day 2 for "being too weird and saying unusual things to coworkers and staff." Oh and refusing to take lunch on time because "he doesn't eat lunch."

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dutok@reddit

At my company, we use them for temp to hire contracts. It's a great way to break into the industry. Going without insurance or PTO for 6 months can be worth it, especially for younger people.

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airinato@reddit

At you even hear yourself?

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dutok@reddit

A 20 year old does not give a fuck about not having health insurance for 6 months if it means they will be able to convert to full time employee with zero experience. Out of all the agencies my company deals with, TekSystems are one of the least evil.

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Helpjuice@reddit

If someone is desperate they will go work for one of these crazy companies. It does not benefit them to do it, but they do it anyway.

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taker25-2@reddit

It worked out for me. I had a 1 year contract, than that 1 year turned into 2 years and then the company finally brought me on full time. It can be good

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taker25-2@reddit

It's a way to get into the job field and isn't designed to be used for the long term. Many people take jobs in the hope that the company will bring them on full-time, and for some companies, that's the only way to get on.

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NorthReporter9936@reddit

I got one job through them that panned out but it was just blind luck. Desperation is definitely the #1 factor.

With headhunters, you have to accept a few truths: Headhunters don't give a crap about you, they just want to get paid. Because of this they will lie to you to your face. They will all say things like "this is an amazing opportunity with a great company with amazing benefits." Yea it could but this is just a blanket statement they say about all positions, they can't sell you on a role if it's dog shit. "I have a great relationship with the hiring manager". No, Teksystems or whoever is just one of many, possibly 100's of headhunters that are submitting resumes for the positon, they have no relationship with anyone at the company most of the time. "You are the perfect fit for this role" Yea you are, only because the hiring company hasn't turned you down.

I've gotten screwed a few times. One time I accepted a role via a similar headhunter. I had asked what the perm salary range was, they asked me what I was looking for, I told them and they said it was 100% doable. When my contract was running out, my manager wanted a range from me and he laughed when he heard it. "That's more than I make".

The best anyone can do is build their work network. Bust your ass and be friendly to everyone, build your reputation. It's hard as hell really, but this is what has gotten my wife and me the best roles. The last time I got laid off, I called a guy I had done consulting work for, asked if he was looking for anyone, he said no, but if I'm looking he'd do anything he could to get me. He came through and I was unemployed for about 48 hours.

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comcastsupport800@reddit

Coming out of college they helped get me a few contract jobs while I was still on my parents insurance. That eventually led to a long term contract which gave me the experience I needed to land a full time role

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dalonehunter@reddit

Similar story except I switched careers to IT during the COVID boom. They let me get my foot in the door with an internal IT contract job. It didn't pay well but I got hired full time after doing a good job and got a nice pay raise.

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mcdowellster@reddit

100% in the same boat. I did several contracts with them in various locations across the greater Toronto area. Without them I never would have landed my first real full-time gig. I also would not have gained the experience required to run a business. They seemed supportive back then so I'm not sure what current experience is like. My last contract with them ended in 2008.

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TheCudder@reddit

TekSytems led me to my first IT job (Help Desk, contract to hire) back in 2006. In my case, I was 21 and still living with my parents and didn't need insurance, but at least it was offered. Other companies hiring into the same group didn't even offer insurance or paid time off.

I hung around for 14 months and got a new job for a different company in Tier 2 Desktop Support. The people I dealt with at TekSystems were great and regularly communicated/checked in with me.

YMMV I guess.

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airinato@reddit

That's not ymmv, that's an entire world that doesn't exist anymore.

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hevvypiano@reddit

Ha! They placed me with a company which at least got my foot in the door after I had moved states and switched careers. Wasn't a great job but at least it was experience. So yeah, desperation I guess.

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bingle-cowabungle@reddit

TEKsystems must have showed up at this dude's house, buddy posted this and instantly deleted his account.

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5thlevelmagicuser@reddit

They were my first job out of college in the late 90's

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s_schadenfreude@reddit

My first "real" IT job when I moved to Pgh in 2001 was a temp gig for them. Moved PCs from one floor to another in some building downtown. Thankfully, I moved on to better things pretty soon after.

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5thlevelmagicuser@reddit

Ha! My experience was eerily similar. I was swapping out Windows 3.1 PCs, and in some cases DOS PCs, for Windows 95 ones.

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s_schadenfreude@reddit

They still exist? Wow.

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Hotshot55@reddit

First time seeing a contract company?

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KStieers@reddit

We had a really good recruiter in the early 2000s, brought in 10 or 12 people into our helpdeak, several are still with us in Director or management roles.

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paishocajun@reddit

On the one hand, crap benefits. Still better than the "not even an option" I had several years ago with Kelly Services though. Worse benefits than I had with HCL.

On the other hand, they haven't converted me from hourly to salary back to hourly, alternating each year, like HCL did. Where I'm at is also a much better corporate culture than HCL or where I worked at for Kelly/HCL.

Honestly, if I had a choice, I'd work for NES since not only are the pay and benefits better for them, I actually see their rep in my building at least once a month checking on her people who work in my hallway.

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finke11@reddit

They did get me upgraded from Secret to Top Secret clearance when I worked for them. The recruiter I worked with was actually brilliant like one of the best probably any of us have ever seen. Yeah the benefits trash but I stuck it out for my 9 month contract and I am now getting 30%+ higher total comp from being hired by the prime company. My experience is probably the exception not the norm though.

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Swampdonkey801@reddit

Absolute bottom of the barrel for tech recruiting.

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skotman01@reddit

I used to work for a staffing firm in corporate not as a consultant, let me tell you the benefits even for corp suck balls.

They “matched” up to 50% of 4% of your contributions, so 2%, as long as it didn’t go over $250/year. But they give you 5k for a long term incentive, which you’ll never see bc you won’t last.

I’d add Insight Global to the list of staffing firms to stay away from unless you’re really desperate. They are all about bringing in off shore people to fill seats, and it’s all about EBITA, so they will cut people to make that number look better.

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TheEvilAdmin@reddit

TEKsystems is garbage. They can take their assessment test and shove it. I rather work at Subway then work for/with them.

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lowvibrationcorpse@reddit

I got my 2nd tech job through them 20 years ago, it went pretty well, I was underpaid but that was the hiring company converting me from temp, not a TEK issue. Since then, they've been pretty dogshit. I did have a good recruiter for a while (maybe 8-ish years ago) that really seemed to want to fight for his candidates but he moved on, seemed like he often had his hands tied and wanted to be able to do more.

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Zolty@reddit

I’ve used them to get placed in the past, never actually worked for them though. Most headhunters have absolutely shit benefits. They don’t want you on their payroll. Ideally they want you to job hop every 1.5 years so they just keep getting paid.

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Pale-Price-7156@reddit

Whatever you are making, multiply that times 4x and that's what they are charging the client.

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robvas@reddit

If your spouse has a job with benefits, it's not a big deal.

Also Tek does temp to hire jobs for companies like Paychex

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macdude22@reddit

Teksystems does a lot of contract to hire. If you don’t have a spouse with insurance it’s rough but if you do they will have some unique opportunities. Many companies will straight up have tek recruit for them before publicly posting a role.

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ElderberryTrick9697@reddit

Not a good company been with them for two years. They don't give pay increases. I have applied for new jobs but no luck as of yet.

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thegame850@reddit

They have never had good benefits. I just applied with them when I did for experience on my resume and to get my foot in the door. Once that happened I moved on in about 7 months.

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matt95110@reddit

I did one contract with them a few years ago. Absolute biggest group of assholes I have ever worked with. The client was garbage, my account manager was garbage and when I declined to extend the contract I had some senior manager call me and yell at me for a few minutes because I was “inconveniencing” them.

Every few months I’ll get a call from them and I just try to waste their time.

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lakorai@reddit

Those who are desperate. When it's either you have to take a shitty job or be homeless you choose the shitty job.

There are so many laid off Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota etc employees working for these garbage contractors like Tek, HCL, WiPro, DXC Technologies, Kelly Services.

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RaNdomMSPPro@reddit

Thank Congress and publicly traded companies and every other company who puts profits before people, usually by a wide margin. These layoffs usually aren’t to “save the company” they are to save the stock price and profits. It’s so short sighted but it continues to work for c suite and stockholders (ironically many of you via 401k’s.)

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baltimoresports@reddit

At least twice in my career TekSystem helped me when I really needed a new job. Use them as a steppingstone to get a Temp to Perm. The other people I saw who really like them were those who had benefits from a spouse or VA. You can make pretty decent money going from short gig to short gig.

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