"Matt, I just had a call from a recruiter who said if I paid them $3000 up front and agreed to an additional 10% of my salary once placed, he can have me employed in less than six weeks--what do you think?"
Well, I'd start with - What do your years of experience tell you? Maybe, HANG UP, as quickly as you can. Although the market is in an upturn these types of people/organizations are taking advantage of your situation. Many times they will set up shop under one name, until they have so many lawsuits they just fold up, skip out on the lease, move to another building and open up under another name. There are a number of firms out there that have very slick presentations, amazing statistics (pulled from thin air) and some will provide real live references you can call.
Now don't get me wrong, there are some valuable investments you can make in your job search, like outplacement firms, resume writers, career coaches, former CEO's with "connections", professional job finders, recruiters or anything else that resembles a proven tool to help with your career search. But these people ARE NOT. They are scam artists. They probably found your resume on a job board and you're one of 100 calls they will make in an 8 hour time frame.
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