Okay I'm 28 and I currently work as an accounting clerk for a medical billing company in Northern New Jersey. I'm near New York City by the way. Anyways, I have been working for this company for a little over three and half years now. I originally was their mail clerk where I pretty much put insurance claims into envelopes, stamped them and dropped them off at the local post office.
After a year, I asked for a promotion and I was granted it as I was given a position in data collections where I would try to find workers' comp and no fault injury reports in a couple of EMR systems and scan them into our system for various patients of clients of ours. I would also sometimes call patients looking for workers' comp and no-fault insurance information.
About ten months ago, I was promoted to an accounting clerk position where I basically would tally up checks we got in the mail each and every working day for clients in excel sheets. I would then scan the checks and EOBs in our system, so payments could be posted and then I would deposit checks for some clients in a chase scanners and other checks for other clients I would take to a local chase branch. I earn about $16.50 an hour currently and I'm thinking about getting a new job. I'm not sure where to look though.
I'm trying to get a job with more growth. As for an overall idea of what I want to do, I'm honestly not sure but I just want a job with more growth at the moment. There has been growth at my present job but I don't think there is enough left to expand upon. I have been thinking about getting a headhunter? Does anyone here have experience with a headhunter? By the way, I was an English Major with a writing concentration, so my accounting position is a bit away from what I studied. I'm also a public notary if that helps.
Tell your boss. You do good work for a reasonable wage. You have improved over time, and have executed well in several different roles. As someone who has employed a lot of people in my life, you are my dream employee so far! If you came to me and said you were looking for more challenge, more growth, more something, I would have a very good idea of what you are good at, and the kind of thing that could make you really a strong performer at this company. And that's my job, as a manager. Happy employees who enjoy their work are the kinds of people that other people want to work with. So if I make you happy, and you produce even better work, not just you and I win... the whole company does. Listen. Your boss has a LOT more experience in the industry than you do. They know if jobs and roles that you have never heard of before. You are 28. Talk to your boss and tell them you want to grow in the company, but you aren't sure what to target / what to learn / who to talk to / what fits your personality and skills. And you and your boss's relationship will be even better for it. Note: A headhunter doesn't care about you. You don't make enough money, and you have no power or influence or network. So you are basically useless to a headhunter, who works with people who CHANGE the companies they go to. Because headhunters get a finders fee between 50% and 100% of your annual salary. That means that they need to find someone who thinks you are so valuable that the company is going to pay DOUBLE your salary just to hire you. And honestly, at this point in your career, you just don't have that kind of value to anyone. Sorry. It's just numbers.
Caveat: I'm a stranger on the internet. Research everything I say before taking action and see if it works for you. The answer to the question you asked is that it depends on what you mean by headhunter. Here's what I would do. I'd set up a new email account that's different than the one you're using. If you do this right, it could get flooded with stuff. I'd go to Indeed.com (or another job search engine - there are a lot out there) and set the parameters to your area and the types of positions you're looking for. Based on your job descriptions, you've done some data collections, accounts payable, accounts receivable, worker's comp and insurance. You'll have to decide at some point which career path you want to go on, but at this point, you can just collect data on what's available. Put in general descriptions like accounting or insurance or data collections just to get a feel for the job titles, job descriptions and salaries. You can have job listings sent to the new email you just set up. Places like Glass Door (to get a feel for the employee side of things) and LinkedIn (some good group discussions here) might be helpful as well. Then ask yourself what career path you're interested in. The accounting path goes from where you are and can go to CFO or higher but you might need some education along the way, but maybe not until you're sure about the direction. The insurance path also has some growth but again you might need some education along the way. Indeed also has salary searches so you can see what people in the field in your area make. You'll also get a sense of the job titles and the duties and responsibilities of the person holding that job. Then I would set up a free google phone number. This is a number you can give out to people and link to your phone if you choose. I wouldn't answer this number when I was working. After you've gathered some information on some of the positions, then I'd look on a recruiter site like Robert Half. (roberthalf.com) Filter by your area and the positions you're looking for. Look at the recruiter who owns the lead. Look for the leads by that person. If that person has a lot of leads that look interesting to you, call the office that person works in and ask to speak to them. If you like them, then you might want to interview in person. They should be able to give you assessment tests if you're interested. If you see any jobs available from the site you like, call your recruiter and see if he/she can get that job for you. If some other recruiter owns the job lead, it might be harder to get so choose your recruiter carefully. You can go to several recruiters in your area. You can do a quick search for them based on your area, the field you're interested and the word 'recruiter' or 'temp. agency' or 'employment agency'. The downside is that some employers will drop you out of the list if more than one application comes in your name. You can try to make it clear that the agency may not apply without notifying you first, but that doesn't always work, so it's a risk. Here's what I would NOT do. I would not pay anyone to get me a job. Recruiters work on commission from the company. Ask them to make sure. Headhunters are paid a fee of your salary when you get a job. I would not pay a headhunter. I would make very sure that anyone I'm talking with won't be getting any compensation from me at any time. Good luck! I hope this helps.
I think (or at least hope) that you're misunderstanding the headhunter fees. I'm not aware of any case where a headhunter will charge the candidate a fee, if you run into one who does that's a massive black flag and I'd avoid them like the plague. While their commissions are generally based off of the candidate's starting salary, that's a fee paid by the company to the headhunter, and assuming no one's being shady, it will never come out of the salary itself. The way it's meant to work is that the commission is supposed to act as an incentive for the headhunter to negotiate for a higher starting salary for the candidate, and for the position to be filled faster for the hiring company. Of course, YMMV with how this applies in practice, as it depends on all of the parties involved. The rest of your advice is solid! I just wanted to vouch for headhunters since I've had good experiences.
It's just a bit of nomenclature. I'm differentiating recruiters from headhunters. Recruiters behave the way you describe, getting their commissions from the company. Headhunters charge a percentage of the candidate's salary. Headhunters work at the executive level where jobs are mostly word of mouth. Some candidates are willing to pay them because finding leads can be really difficult at that level. Most people don't have access to a headhunter because they're not at that level, so I probably didn't need to make the distinction. I just wanted to make sure that the OP didn't pay a fee to get a job since the word headhunter was mentioned.I think (or at least hope) that you're misunderstanding the headhunter fees. I'm not aware of any case where a headhunter will charge the candidate a fee, if you run into one who does that's a massive black flag and I'd avoid them like the plague.
I think I should have asked the question of whether or not to get a recruiter instead of a headhunter. I didn't realize that you needed to be at a certain level for a headhunter to be of great help.
Hey, there, you can try global job search sites, there basically virtual headhunters, less in expensive an d quick an d easy as jobs openings are submitted to these sites and your likely able to apply right then and there on those sites. A condensed lists of sites you ca check out is: CarrerBuilder Teamglide SimplyHired ZipRecruiter TG Careers
Looking at the posts, I do thank everyone that has chimed in. I will try to post some more thoughts later. I definitely won't go with a headhunter as it isn't going t help me right now.
My current company is about thirty employees with one location.
Excellent. Bigger would be better in this case but 30 people is enough for a little fluidity. How many people are above you? Like, how many levels between you and the top? Because the first move is to tell your immediate supervisor that you want something with more growth than your current position, and you're willing and eager to take on the additional education necessary to get that. This puts you in a position of being ambitious and it opens the door for you to interact outside of work. Small businesses get a tax break if they pay for some or all of your tuition so they have an incentive to help you with your retraining. It also likely increases your loyalty and improves their retention. Which is not to say you're going to work there forever but if you show that you want to stretch your wings, the impetus is suddenly on them to make YOU happy (assuming you do the work). Not having an idea of what else you want to do actually works to your advantage. That means that they can fit you in just about any position. Not only that, but many land grant schools have night masters programs; around me I can get an MBA, a JD, a masters in computer science and who knows what else all in 3-year programs that happen only on evenings and weekends. A headhunter is not going to help you. Your salary is not of the calibre that rewards a hiring professional to help you out because there are many candidates who can do your job. The trick is to become a better candidate and increase your value while also increasing your exposure. You've been there nearly four years, and they have promoted you. There's no reason not to work within the system first. Ask upstream and see what they say. I'm optimistic and curious.
Well in the accounting department, only the bookkeeper and the CFO who is my "boss" are above me. It's actually only me and the bookkeeper most days as the CFO works from home in Florida. Even when she's in Florida, her work is spaodic to say the least. The bookkeeper does a good deal of the CFO's work these days. Our CFO used to live in New York City and used to be in the office every day until she moved a couple of months ago. She will come once a month for two days or so as her family still has property in the area. Her father owns our company and a lot of my co-workers believe she is there as a result of nepotism. As the levels between me and the top, well the thing is there isn't much of a middle level to strive for. We used to have five middle managers with their own billing group but the middle managers have been reduced to two and the other middle manager positions haven't really been occupied recently. A lot of other people are pretty much just billing staff that report to the Vice President of Operations. In the past, some people would reported to their group manager but a year and half ago, we have received a Vice President and the some of the groups have dissolved and now just report to him. The thing about employee happiness is that a lot of people have come and gone throughout the time I have been there. A lot of employees have stated they aren't happy and a good number of people moved onto other positions with more pay and benefits. I could ask for a change in position but I'm not sure if they would be willing to move me out of the accounting department as the bookkeeper is pregnant and going to leave on maternity in the next couple of months. Accounting has been a revolving door in the past due to my CFO's bad temperament but with her kinda out of the way, it's been better for me as she rarely talks to me but she stills deals with the bookkeeper and the bookkeeper loathes her. I have been one of the few that has lasted almost a year in accounting. Everyday I hear how the owner and the CFO drive her crazy doing their personal crap or doing work that the CFO should be doing. I could possibly be doing some of the bookkeeper's work when she leaves for maternity but it's no guarantee that I will be given a permanent position as bookkeeper as despite her complaints, the bookkeeper has stuck around for over seven years. I mean it wouldn't hurt to ask to see what else is out there or maybe for a raise even though they gave me a $1,000 raise to my yearly salary a couple of months ago. The only times I have gotten a raise of a couple of grand is when I switched positions permanently.
Okay, got it. Hollowed-out middle, not a great company, not much above you. Yeah, that changes things. So here's a question - do you like bookkeeping? Because actuarial exams and CPAs and the like are definitely continuing ed stuff that helps the company out if you take it on. And they make you more valuable for the next place. And hey - if you step up and fill in while the bookkeeper is on maternity leave, that makes you a department head! W00t w00t! and if she comes back (maternity leave is a life-changer) you have an excuse to move on somewhere else. The raise issue isn't a good one to pursue - you aren't going to get more scratch without more responsibility and by taking on more responsibility you look more attractive to other employers. I'd get with the bookkeeper and say "I want to do your job while you're gone and if you come back, I want enough skills to do something else. What do you recommend?"
I would be open to learning bookkeeping. I'm not sure if I would love it though at my current company. I might not even like it in general as right now I have pretty much the same routine and I kinda would like to change my job for a change of pace. The current bookkeeper seems pretty miserable at working the job. She often complains about things being piled on. The problem seems to be that the owner and the CFO will ask favors at the last possible minutes or sometimes they will never respond to emails on approval for things to be done. The bookkeeper will sometimes send out an email on things that need to be paid out and sometimes they are ignored for a while. I'm surprised that she came back after the first pregnancy. I have told my company in the past that I'm willing to learn new programs and they said they will keep that in mind.