Career coach reveals the question you should ALWAYS ask a recruiter

Career coach reveals the one question you should ALWAYS ask during salary negotiations with a recruitment firm to protect yourself

  • Kyyah Abdul, 29, is a digital creator and the founder of Career Savage
  • She shared the red flag you should watch out for when applying for contract jobs
  • Abdul said recruitment firms will sometimes take 50% of the company’s pay rate 

A career strategist has lifted the lid on the one question you should always ask when you’re applying for contract jobs through a recruitment firm. 

Kyyah Abdul, 29, is a digital creator and the founder of Career Savage, which aims to help college students and entry-level workers with their professional development.

The Nigerian-American businesswoman, who is based in Los Angeles, California, has more than 223,000 followers on TikTok, where she shares career advice. 

In a recent video, she revealed the one red flag to watch out for when you are negotiating your pay rate for a contract job via an external search firm. 

Kyyah Abdul, 29, from Los Angeles, California, has more than 223,000 followers on TikTok, where she shares career advice

In a recent video, she revealed the one red flag to watch out for when you are negotiating your pay rate for a contract job via an external search firm

‘When the recruiter calls you and asks, “What’s your hourly rate for this position?” And they say the max amount for this job is $60. The next question you must ask is “What is your margin for this role? What is the company’s takeaway margin for this role that I’m applying to right now?”‘ she explained. 

‘Because they’re going to tell you that the max amount they can pay you is $60, but that’s not true. The max amount allocated for that role that the company is willing to pay the recruiting company for you is probably $160.’

Abdul said the recruiter will tell you the most they can pay you is $60 an hour, when in reality, they are taking $100 of the $160 that is available. 

‘This is ON TOP of what they may have already charged the company for when searching for you,’ she noted in the caption. 

The career expert admitted she finds it irritating that recruiting companies ‘take away these ridiculous margins for doing absolutely nothing besides finding you.’

‘And I get it. Everybody has a job to do, but it’s frustrating,’ she continued. ‘You as the talent, you as the professional, need to protect yourself in the salary negotiation stage and ask that question.’

Abdul added that the recruiter will likely ‘be taken aback’ when you ask about the company’s margin because ‘no one ever asks that question.’ 

‘When you find out what their margin is, make sure that you’re comfortable with the margin that they’re taking,’ she concluded. 

This is ON TOP of what they may have already charged the company for when searching for you. #contractjobs #careeradvice #kyyahabdul


The career coach explained that you should always ask what the recruitment company’s takeaway margin is for the role you are applying to 

Abdul’s video has been viewed more than 50,000 times, and many recruiters confirmed that she was saying was true 

Abdul’s video has been viewed more than 50,000 times and has received nearly 150 comments since it was posted on September 29. 

‘Wait now I’m more annoyed with the fact that I know I’m not getting paid enough for this contract role I’m in,’ one person replied. 

‘Sometimes the difference in bill and pay rate is soooooo big it’s ridiculous,’ another agreed. 

‘RIGHT!! Some of them take 50%!!!’ Abdul responded. 

‘This is accurate! There is a bill rate = overall cost. They will always push out the minimum not the mid or max,’ someone else commented. 

Many recruiters also weighed in about the margin that external search firms take.   

‘As someone who worked in staffing for 5+ years you are speaking FACTS!!!’ one viewer wrote. ‘Depends on [the] client but contract business always has a larger range of pay.’

‘This is a hard one because I’ve been recruited but I also started a recruiting agency and I use the same math so I’mma stay quiet,’ someone else admitted. 

‘As a recruiter, I agree. Don’t tell them your salary expectations, ask them what their range is. They have to tell you,’ another added. 

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