Talener

In a city of 8.4 million people, it’s tough to stand out from the crowd. That goes double when you’re searching for a new gig in the high-​tech industry, and haven’t spent significant time in NYC’s gig market since ²⁰⁰⁶⁄₀₇ — a.k.a. the epoch when Apple’s mobile devices were best known not as game-​changers, but by their none-​too-​flattering «Eat up, Martha» cameo on The Simpsons. Needless to say, the industry has changed since, in a BIG way, and so I spent the first 4 months of my new life in NYC networking with tech recruiting firms. I’m sad to say that 95% of them were non-​starters or, in (thankfully) just a few cases, staffed by kids right out of college who could not figure out resumes with more than one job or 3 years’ experience.
Talener Group was one of VERY few staffing agencies that didn’t pass on me as «too experienced» or give me the run-​around during my initial period of putting out feelers. When I called to inquire, I was introduced to 2 recruiters who specialize in my technology focus, and was urged to interview ASAP. When I arrived, I was promptly assigned a private conference room and introduced to 4 more specialists whose contacts ranged from top-​tier global networks to some of the most interesting tech companies in the NYC metro. After a slow start, I was brought in for some interviews with promising companies, and then, landed a temp-​to-​perm gig later that year that enabled me to leave a rough-​and-​tumble, early stage startup.
There were a couple of downsides to the experience. I’m not sure if they were because of Talener’s organizational structure — it was a bit chaotic, and there was some unexpected recruiter turnover, so I guessed the NYC office was fairly new — or because the company I was placed in was an old-​school behemoth among a sea of young, nimble startups, and Talener specializes in the latter. We had a personnel issue early on in my new gig; an even newer temp from a different agency claimed to be our department head, and continued to pose as such despite being told «Yeah, not gonna happen, Bub.» This strange situation threw us all for a loop, and gave me pause about my long-​term prospects with the company where I’d been placed. I want to be clear, however, I do NOT blame Talener for this.
I also received an alert that I was going perm early, which ultimately turned out to be false, although I wasn’t disappointed, since we were in the throes of tackling the «self-​appointed department head» issue. The biggest gripe I had with my experience was the payment method. Despite being told initially that they wanted W-​2 rate quotes from all candidates, I was later told I must accept 1099 pay during my temping term. That said, I’m not sure whose decision it was. Could’ve been the company where I was placed for all I know. I didn’t have any contact with their HR until I went perm. The good news: I’ve been told since that 1099s aren’t allowed at Talener Group, but it’s smart to double-​check anyway. Chalk this up to a lesson learned.
Happily, before I reached my 6^th month with my new employer, all wrinkles had been ironed out, and I negotiated my full-​time package directly with my boss to the tune of a salary that was 8K below industry average, but on target for the company, and in the six figures, plus full benefits and 5 weeks PTO. And when I was ready to move on, I returned to Talener Group for a handful of interviews with mature-​stage small tech companies seeking new senior-​level talent. Unfortunately, none made it past the second-​round interview stage, and now that I was approaching 15 years in, I worried that I’d aged out of this recruiting firm.
No matter. They landed me that prior, key job with a global company, and thus, the experience I needed, to become competitive in a far larger and more diverse market than my previous one. If you are diligent about being paid what you’re worth in the manner you expect, and are between, say, 5 and 10 years into your career (especially if you specialize in front– or back-​end dev), this recruiting firm might be right up your alley. Give them a call if you’re curious. At worst, you’ll have a conversation and learn more about what companies in your field are looking for.
If you’re less than 5 years in, you will likely need more guidance than Talener Group offers, so give yourself a couple years to rack up experience, and give them another shot. And once you’re more than 10 years in, you’ll be looking in a more «hidden» market, which will only increase with your experience. While Talener does handle recruiting at the managerial and executive levels sometimes, their sweet spot’s mid-​level line candidates, so experienced folks should pair Talener with some executive search firms for best results.
4 out of 5 stars for mid-​level, non-​managerial tech professionals, including full-​stack devs, front-​end developers, UI devs and designers, and sometimes, even creative designer or art director types.

Just received a call from one of their recruiters attempting to lure away one of our lead developers. The recruiter made up a fake issue with our «system» in order to get in touch with the individual. Not surprisingly, they couldn’t describe the system they were using, or anything beyond a simple generic issue they were having.
I do not appreciate the deceptive and dishonest tactics of this company and would not ever trust them as a candidate or to utilize their services in recruiting new talent for my firm. I’d urge everyone to stay away. Work with someone honest and ethical.

I have mixed feelings about this company. I would give it a 3.5. The employees/​recruiters are all very nice people and all very young. I like them.
On the plus side, they do like to bring people into the office for a face to face. For me, this is the crucial difference between good and bad recruiters. Unfortunately, you must speak to someone with every single group that might have a position for you. Afterwards, I assume that the boss is supposed to speak to you. In my case, it was Friday at 5:00. He flew by, handed me his card and said he would call me on Monday. He didn’t. I didn’t need to speak with him, but this should give you a feel for how this company works.
Everything about this place seems frantic and rushed and super competitive. They rush the hiring companies, they rush the candidates, then they rush on to the next thing.
There isn’t a lot of feedback or follow-​up after interviews which is on the list of things that causes me to cross recruiters off of my list.

I’ve been dealing with this company for a little over a year now. To be honest I’m not a huge supporter of staffing agencies for tech companies, simply because or ending up in jobs I’m either under or over qualified for. I went on one interview from talener, and I’m still at this place a year later. They negotiated two (small but definitely appreciated) raises.
My only real negative was dealing with their Office Manager or Secretary (not sure which one). She was once (and only once) pretty rude to me when I was trying to get my hours approved through the archaic tracking system they have. But I’m not sure if she’s there anymore, and dealing with her once a ¼ is fine with me!

This agency is a breeding ground for everything WRONG with technical head hunting. The staff is clearly new to the industry with little or knowledgeable at all about technology. The office is buzzing like a zoo. People talking loudly, phones ringing, and no privacy. When I went in to meet them, they lady sat me down (right in the middle of it, despite several empty conference rooms!) and began asking me questions about my history. She clearly hadn’t looked at my resume at all before having me in. Furthermore, being an experienced developer and enterprise architect (10 years), it was clear she had no idea what I did and was asking me questions verbatim off a script all of which basically amounted to «Percentage wise, how much time have you done so-​and-​so on a daily basis.» She was friendly enough, but when I explained that the thing she was asking didn’t really pertain to day-​to-​day duties of an enterprise architect, she would respond, «Ok, but can you give me a percentage anyway?» Dealing with them was a huge waste of time. If you are just out of college, this place may work for you. But for someone with more than 5 years experience, steer clear of it. Now that I’m a manager, I will never work with them when looking to hire.

Very friendly staffing agency. They have A LOT of tech jobs, fast turnaround time. And that is probably underestimating the amount of positions they have.
They found me a job within a week of initiating contact with them. Whats not to like?