One of the important thing to understand is how recruitment process works in USA? Not all companies hire resources directly, in fact they outsource that work to recruitment companies who specializes in Human Resource Staffing. For example Company A, sign a contract with a recruitment Company R to channel quality Human Resources to Company A. So Company R will now become a Vendor for Company A. Company A, might also sign contract with other Recruitment Companies and based on their understanding Company A can nominate (based on the contract) which of them are Preferred Vendors.
Whether a recruitment company is a Preferred Vendor or not, it can channel human resources directly to the Company or it might delegate that work (keeping its percentage) to other recruitment companies, and that second level (up to nth level) of delegation is called Sub Contracting.
For you, an employee on H-1B Visa, it is important that you know whether:
- The recruiter you are engaged with is a Preferred Vendor or not? you should prefer those job opportunities whose recruiting company is a Preferred Vendor of the Client.
- Whether the Client mentioned in the job description is a Direct Client of the recruiter or is recruiter a Sub Contractor (more recruiting companies in between)? you should prefer working with those recruiters who are directly dealing with the Client, because the more the Sub Contractors involved the less the share you’ll get. Every recruitment company keeps a slice of its share from the original compensation offered by the Client against the job opportunity.
Preference Order:
- Preferred Vendor
- Direct Client
- Sub Contractor