Beware of the scumbag headhunters

[Mike Bolinger]

I saw a job post by Seaport Marine on the gcaptain job listings which disappoints me.
I think that head hunters should be banned from posting so called "jobs" on this and any other legitimate job sites.
Head hunters charge you to find you a fly by night job and then give untraceable cash kickbacks to the personel men of these companies.

Most of the companies that use head hunters are so cut throat that they need someone yesterday because they just fired some poor schmuck without notice or good reason and therefore they call a head hunter to fill in a spot with a warm body and in the mean time find out that hiring though a head hunter can be very profitable for their own personal bottom line if no one is the wiser.

If I could only come up with some evidence of this well known practice I would see to it that the attorney general locked up every one of these back street dealing head hunters and personel men that give and take these cash bribes.

So if you are thinking about using a head hunter think twice before you sign on the dotted line. Because if you quit or get fired from that job that he finds you, he is going to send you a bill for the remainder of his fee and if you don't pay it he will then hit your credit report and you will be finacially crippled until you pay the snake off.

Trust me I know. This is the voice of personal experience speaking.

PS Ricky Edge may your soul continue to burn in hell for eternity.

Captain Mike Bolinger

[cappy208]

Sounds like an excellent explanation to the earlier query about whether Unions are necessary or not! However I am sure there will be some who will still make a 'Unions aren't necessary' point.

[Steamer]

"So if you are thinking about using a head hunter think twice before you sign on the dotted line. Because if you quit or get fired from that job that he finds you, he is going to ..."

... do exactly what the contract you signed said he could/would do.

Make a deal with the devil and you better be ready to accept the downside. Whining about it when it doesn't go your way doesn't mean the headhunter is a bad guy, it just means you aren't prepared to stick to your word.

[captmrb]

Sounds like an excellent explanation to the earlier query about whether Unions are necessary or not! However I am sure there will be some who will still make a 'Unions aren't necessary' point.

The usefulness (or lack thereof) of unions doesn't have anything to do with headhunter agency contracts. If someone decides to go the headhunter route that's their choice and unions aren't going to help that person either way.

[cappy208]

Actually Unions are EXACTLY like a head hunter agency. EXCEPT, you have no recourse to succumb to the office whims and favorites hiring/firing/promotion when using a head hunter.

Both systems use a 'pay for a job' approach, Both systems are providing the ability to find 'better' paying and stable employment, And Both systems require payment by the employee for the 'right' to work.

However, using a head hunter does nothing to guaranty job longevity, or retention over the managers cousin Boudroix, or the in-laws friend getting to keep their job over you (even if you are more qualified, or have been there longer.) In my mind THAT is what benefit a Union job has over non Union.

[jthomas1600]

If you're desperate for a job, consider all possibilities. Maybe you'll use a headhunter and the experience will not be all bad. I used one 5 years ago when I transitioned from west coast ground fishing to the Gulf of Mexico. Considering my lack of experience and new license, it would have cost me more money traveling looking for work than I paid the headhunter. I mean, he found me a job so I made one flight from Portland to Houston and went straight to work. Also, not all companies that use headhunters suck and further rip you off. The guy I worked for paid me fair, treated me right, even paid 100% of my travel expenses though that was not part of our original agreement.

[Mike Bolinger]

"So if you are thinking about using a head hunter think twice before you sign on the dotted line. Because if you quit or get fired from that job that he finds you, he is going to ..."

... do exactly what the contract you signed said he could/would do.

Make a deal with the devil and you better be ready to accept the downside. Whining about it when it doesn't go your way doesn't mean the headhunter is a bad guy, it just means you aren't prepared to stick to your word.

Let me tell you a little story.

All American Marine, Mobile,AL says got a really good job for you.

Dumbass me...Dah, ok...

Sign right here,son.
Dah,ok...

Pay own travel to Slidell.
Process all day for Levacc job.
Fly to Puerto Rico that night.
No rest on plane.
Get to carrib. 4 hour taxi to boat. No rest.
Get on boat, drop bag, go tanker 12 hrs.
No orientation. All by myself.

Finish up come back to tug.
No room for me. Sleep in galley till we get to your regular boat in 4 hrs.

Lights on, guys playing cards loudly, smoking cigs, ect.
I am invisible man. Jerks.

Get to "regular" boat.
Drop bag go tanker 14 hours. No orientation. No OT. No food. No rest.
No likey, swim home.

Finish barge come back to boat.
You room with stinky local who no habla shower in a month of sundays.

Show me room. Lice on matress. Room smells like feet, BO, ass, and local.

Not sleeping in there.
No likey swim home.

Sleep in galley instead. 6 hrs off till next stop.
No potable water for showering. No food on boat. No orientation. No friendlies.
Captain and crew had been spending grocery money at cantina on food, booze, and whores.
Captain asks me what do I think of job so far. Not a good idea.
Told him not impresseed.

Get to next stop. Tired, dirty, upset, confused.
No cell phones back then. No CG in P.R. Not like they care about your living conditions anyway. Only care if you have drugs on board.

Get in arguement with "deckmate" over my treatment.
Stop bitching. Don't like job swim home.
Wrong answer.
Deckmate gets choked like a bitch and goes for a swim.
You swim home M.F.
I'll take your bunk instead.

Wake up 4 hrs later. Taxi waiting. Your fired.
Good riddance.

Get home headhunter keeps 3 days pay and sends me bill for 14 more.

I tell him not a "really good job". Too bad pay me.

Never

Hits my credit report.

Sue him. Judge says too bad yankee boy you sign on dotted line, the rest don't matter.
Judgement for headhunter.
Die before I ever pay it.
Put credit in wifes name.

Ricky Edge "owner" dies in house fire.
Poetic justic. Burn in hell for eternity headhunter scum.

What was that comment about keeping your word?
"Really good job?"

Headhunters have no honor only contract.
Save the "word" speach for the next dummy you get to sign your contract.

[captmrb]

This would explain why you failed the background check when I put a good word in for you at Transocean. Not cool.

[Mike Bolinger]

This would explain why you failed the background check when I put a good word in for you at Transocean. Not cool.

The guy that went for a swim was drunk and high.
The CG was never notified because the last thing Levacc wanted was them stepping on board one of those tugs or any kind of official investigation into what was really going on behind the scenes.

If I failed TO's background check it was because I forgot to take my deer rifle out of my pick up truck before crossing into Chicago.

However, what is "not cool", is that you are discussing private and priveledged information such as this on an open forum.

I do appreciate you putting in a "good word" for me, which by the way didn't mean squat to your port captain, but that does not give you the right to violate privacy act laws.

If you really felt the need to get this off your chest, I would have respected you much more and also guarded your privacy if you would have sent me a private message instead.

Now you have started something you did not bargain for.

We will see what your port captain thinks of you discussing private information such as this on gcaptain.

You will not be able to hide behind your "captmrb" screen name by the time my lawyer gets done having a field day with this one.

Thanks for the free payday. Thanks to you I will probably make more from TransOcean in a year or so than you will make in what is left of your probably short carear with them.
And as you pointed out I am not even an employee nor will I ever be apparently.

Furthermore, under the privacy act I should have been provided with a copy of this report if it had any kind of negative impact on me being considered for a job.
So in addition to your HR department discussing private information with you, an unauthorized third party, they have also broken the law by not providing me with said "background check".
And thanks to you running your head I now have this all in writing.

What I do find amusing is that I have renewed my ticket with the CG twice since I was arrested for having a deer rifle in the city of Chicago.
At least they gave me a chance to explain myself for this simple mistake.

Where as your company has so many "eager beavers" standing in line for a job where guys like you are going to talk down to them and crap on them until the make "high captain", that they can just toss a guy's file in the trash can for a minor mistake he made over ten years ago even though he has not gotten in trouble before or since in his entire life.

I am not hurting by far bubba. I have been in the marine industry since 1993 and have been a licensed officer for 14 years.
I have not made less than 150K in the last 4 years.

After further consideration, I realized that I did not have the patience to put up with dropping back down to AB and having to kiss the ring finger of a snob like you to spend years being talked down to and treated like a second hand citizen and be lucky to ever actually be able to bid for a 3rd officer's spot on one of your over rated video game ships.

You guys are nothing but over paid baby sitters that spend your entire watch playing a video game.
There is no real challange in your job and that is why so many of you bore so quickly and have so much time to surf gcaptain and run your heads.
I could train a monkey to do your over paid job by hanging a bannana on a string in front of him just out of his reach.

I challange any one of you guys to hold my watch for 15 minutes without screwin the pooch.

If you ever do come into port you have a high dollar pilot doing the job that you should be able to do yourselves but can not be trusted to do without incuring major damage to the vessel or facility.
And all that high tech gear doesn't add up to a hill of beans when it comes time for a real boat handler to take the wheel.
You guys can't find your butts with both hands unless you have no less than 2 assist tugs to hold your hands all the way in and out of the dock.

Were this country to ever have another major war where they needed to call upon captains like you to command vessels to actually do something important this country or the one on the other end would be in deep trouble.

Although some may consider this a "flame post" I call it the truth.
And if I am to be banned from gcaptain for speaking the truth then please first consider how this got started.
As with most other threads on here one subject about scumbag head hunters quickly got changed int a personal attack on one's character.

Captmrb brace for impact. This is far from over and when I get done with you you're gonna need a surgeon to remove your foot from your big mouth.

[Jon]

Oh this looks like a good thread to bookmark and watch.

[SailorDaniel]

Couldnt agree with you more Jon, this will be as fun as reading Capt Rob! Mr. Bolinger, You have a valid point and objection but I really dont think captmrb really meant to air your dirty laundry or offend you. Sounds like you were better off not going there anyway. The guy tried to help you at some point regardless of how ineffective he was. That should count for something. And I doubt he would've posted that comment had he known it would upset you so much. One of the reasons I love this industry is because of the comradre(sp?). Sometimes when I read these posts seeing people go at eachother so hard over little things(not to minimize your situation) it makes me think you guys have forgotten that BOTH of you are mariners. You both put up with BS, put your life on the line every time you go out, leave families home missing you, are probably underpaid for what you do , and are BOTH supposed to be part of this "brotherhood". Threating to destroy eachother in courts and such over these things that wouldnt even be remembered in 5 years just seems like it goes against any kind of sense of "brotherhood". That being said I'm just a young engineer with little civilian experience and had it been me in your shoes maybe I would'nt be so liberal about it. I just dont want to lose this fantasy that I'm to entering into one of the few industries left with a sense of brotherhood, comradre, and family

[seadawg]

I just dont want to lose this fantasy that I'm to entering into one of the few industries left with a sense of brotherhood, comradre, and family

you got the "fantasy" part right!!not so sure about the "brotherhood, comradre, and family" thing though??????

[SailorDaniel]

In all fairness seadawg, how much time working outside the maritime industry do you have to compare it with? I'm not trying to be smart, I'm seriously asking because I think there are some who would disagree with you that there is still some sense of comraderie. At least compared to many other industries.

For starters a mariner will put his life on the line to save another. That is an act more commonly associated with police, fire, military, and many other industries where "brotherhood" is a vital theme

Most of all though I think that just the fact this blog, forum, and the members within(who many of which are friends), exists, shows my point.

Look up a banking industry blog if you can find one. See how many members they have and all the engaging conversation

p.s. I looked up the spelling and its comraderie. I dont know why I thought it was one of those weird speelings like french or something

[Shellback]

Thanks Daniel for that moving speech and also the proper spelling..( Thats very important around here now a days) ...I like seadawg because he is a straight shooter and a no nonsense kinda guy, but he darn near reduced me to tears this morning with his post..Thanks for setting me straight...

[SailorDaniel]

I sense a little sarcasm Shellback.. lol You know, as soon as I posted that I had second thoughts and thought to myself "oh shit, here it comes"

If nothing else I'm glad I could at least be somewhat entertaining

[Shellback]

I sense a little sarcasm Shellback.. lol You know, as soon as I posted that I had second thoughts and thought to myself "oh shit, here it comes"

If nothing else I'm glad I could at least be somewhat entertaining

I am all about sarcasm and having a little fun...There is of course a time to be serious but I try to save that for when I am at work..I hide behind the term professionalism then...Hope I spelled that correctly !

[SailorDaniel]

Spellings ok, but your gonna need work on the punctuation.

[Jon]

Spellings ok, but your gonna need work on the punctuation.

p.s. I looked up the spelling and its comraderie. I dont know why I thought it was one of those weird speelings like french or something

Speelings? What the hell is a speeling? And Why Are You Not Capitalizing The Name Of That Shitty Salad Dressing Or The Language Of That European Third World Country? :-)

[TxKingfisher]

Less chit-chat, more rage and rediculous accusations!

[jthomas1600]

It seems all the mates on my boat have found a way to avoid punctuation issues. THEY SIMPLY TYPE LIKE THIS AND EVERYTHING SEEMS TO WORK OUT FINE NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT CAPITALIZATION OF NAMES AND PLACES AND IT'S UP TO THE READER TO DECIDE WHERE SENTENCES END AND BEGIN