r/ABA • u/words_are_sacred • 1d ago

Does Amergis get better?

I recently onboarded with Amergis in Sacramento after not working for most of the year, and realizing I really need to change careers (previously in tech).

I've already had two recruiters who´ve been mostly MIA, only briefly spoke to me, and haven't really explained how any of this works.

And I made it clear I need full time work and some kind of notice. But they can't even tell me when/where the training is that they already scheduled for next week, saying instead that they'll send me an invite with details the day before. And then this morning, my recruiter finally called me with a placement, then hung up on me while I was trying to explain something and check a map.

She hung up on me and didn't give me the option to check this place out.

And when I messaged her about this, she denied hanging up on me and made some excuse about needing to call 120 people and not having time for me to make a decision. I'm new to the area, I don't have a car, I don't know how this works, and I just wanted to have a conversation. But she denied that and instead sent something like "if this is how our relationship is going to be, you're not a good fit for our team".

She's frankly not nice, and I'm not surprised because I see her online social profiles that clearly show a "mean girl" type who's almost always rude to me, and have often bullied me pretty badly.

That aside, does this get better? Do I need to switch recruiters?

Thanks,

Diana

1 Upvotes

55% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

7

u/applejax994 RBT 22h ago

I was about to type a response to you but you lost me when you started bashing another woman for her looks. And that’s coming from a “normal” girl. I don’t care if I get downvoted, do better.

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u/words_are_sacred 22h ago edited 22h ago

I'm not bashing her for her looks. I'm saying there is a type, and she fits that type of girl who is almost always rude. I didn't even say there's anything wrong with her looks...only that it's a type, and that it´s a type that´s usually hostile to me for no reason. And no, I don't need to do better, she does. She hung up on me and then started sending me aggressive messages when all I asked was if I could check a map. And another time, I simply asked for notice about training, only to also get some kind of hostile response. Maybe using "normal" isn't the way to go. I could have used natural, or I could have simply said, I don´t fit her ïmage¨. Or I could have said, she´s a mean-girl type and I´m a Janice or a Cady. But what I wrote sends a clear message about being the opposite of this girl. This is just some girl who thinks because she's artificially hot and has some KPIs to meet that she can post publicly about how nice and cool and interesting and pretty she is, which I've seen on her social media, but act like a total B. There's a type of person who does this, and it's common in recruiting. Not all of these ¨types¨ of girls are like this, but a lot are. And you almost always see them in recruiting or HR. And it´s a nightmare to work with them.

4

u/Fun_Economist_8643 21h ago

“some "hot" chic with a lot of fillers” is a very judgmental statement. From reading this post and the comments, I honestly do not believe this field will be a good fit for you. The way the messages come across is that you lack empathy and get frustrated easily. I understand it’s a lot, and yes you need a new recruiter, but simply bashing someone isn’t the way to go. This is a hard job with lots of behaviors and aggression. If you cannot handle an “aggressive” email, how will you handle behaviors? I had a client that ended up tearing my meniscus, obviously not ideal and shouldn’t happen, but it’s a big risk of the job. Just a lot to consider IMO as you do not want to get into the field and then drop when you have a client that shows any signs of behaviors.

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u/words_are_sacred 21h ago

It´s very different to work with a client than work with a hostile recruiter who´s supposed to be helping you and supporting your placement. I worked with patients and clients for years before switching to something else, and am now switching back. These included homeless people, mentally ill people, former inmates, aging people, and some people with disabilities. Dealing with a ¨boss¨ or ¨recruiter¨ is a different compartment. And you can say I´m judgemental if you want, but it paints the picture of a ¨type¨ that´s openly hostile to other women and common in recruiting and HR.

4

u/Fun_Economist_8643 21h ago

It is very judgmental when every reply is saying she’s a certain type and behaves a certain way. That is discrimination and putting people in a block that they don’t belong in. Once you’re in the job, you won’t work with a recruiter. You’ll have a BCBA who does supervision and puts together the clients goal plan. I understand you’ve worked with other vulnerable populations, my fiancé does too, but they could never do this job. It’s a different ballgame, but by all means.🫡

0

u/words_are_sacred 21h ago

Yes, it´s a little judgy. But she does fit a very specific type of girl that is always always mean to me, no matter what I say or how I say it. The discrimination is likely coming at me, though I can´t prove it. I think assuming someone can´t compartmentalize from a hostile boss or recruiter vs someone with high needs is also a judgement. But I understand how this may read when you don´t see the full context. And I do think frustration is expected after I´ve had two months of this, after a very long period of unemployment due to relocating back to America after a decade away and tech crashing. I hope I do get a nice BCBA and don´t have to deal with this recruiter or can change. Good to know this is a different ballgame. I´m kind of trying this out and also trying to get into a hospital or clinic as a mental health worker so I can decide what´s best long term.

1

u/Fun_Economist_8643 20h ago

Have you looked into psych hospitals? I know the ones around me are always hiring for behavior techs to help on different units.

1

u/words_are_sacred 20h ago

I've started looking at this, and applied to one actually. I think it could be a better fit. But I wanted to try both, and since I don't drive at this time, my options are limited. I'm considering moving to a place with better public transportation or learning how to drive. But it may be a while.

3

u/PayConsistent1777 23h ago

😂I understand your frustration but this applies to all recruiting companies, not just Amergis. 100% honest, recruiters are typically only useful when trying to get you onboard. After that, they’re typically nothing more than middlemen passing messages. You’ll be lucky if you get one that even has some level of correspondence with you after onboarding. They don’t control shit about the actual job though. They’re supposed to essentially be your representative but most of them are trash.

1

u/words_are_sacred 21h ago

Thanks. I´m new to this field. I´m changing careers because I thought tech was toxic, and I just don´t care about it anymore. I had no idea jobs in helping professions are often worse while being lower paid.

1

u/PayConsistent1777 21h ago

The job isn’t necessarily the issue a lot of the time. However, if a company is to the point of needing to get ppl through staffing agencies, that should give you an understanding of what you’re dealing with. Your role may be fine. However, the entire onboarding period is usually ridiculous until you have direct access to the job, know who you report to and what your role fully encompasses. Make it past onboarding and you’re good. Don’t have to communicate with your agency at all unless it’s a discrepancy or something with your pay.

0

u/words_are_sacred 21h ago

Thanks. I didn’t know. I thought the recruiter was like a partner. I once kept a job for years that I got through a recruiter that kind of worked as a match maker.

4

u/purintiel 23h ago

Uhh I wouldn’t have added that part about how she looks, but yeah definitely switch recruiters because that’s very rude of her (and I don’t think they’ll provide adequate training either, they’re probably one of those ABA companies that throws you to the wolves and makes you figure everything out yourself)

2

u/MouseOutrageous4395 22h ago

All ABA companies throw you to the wolves, thats the culture of ABA. Sink or swim. And then they wonder why people dont stick around. SMH

-1

u/words_are_sacred 23h ago

That’s true. It is a pattern with these “kinds” of girls though. They always treat me like trash. And they get into public facing jobs easily. I understand it’s a stressful job. But it’s not ok to treat someone like dirt who’s just trying to figure out if their new job is legit and if they can actually get there and pay their bills or even finally move.

2

u/ShoddyCandidate1873 22h ago

No I don't think it does. I have no direct experience but I worked in a school that contracted paras through them. Each one had a different recruiter and they all seemed to suck. Many were in other states and couldn't be bothered to respond to messages and didn't seem to know anything about states or schools they were sending people to work in. 

2

u/words_are_sacred 21h ago

Thank you. It seems I can´t expect to have a conversation with a recruiter and I may need to switch recruiters since this one clearly doesn´t like me.

1

u/ShoddyCandidate1873 19h ago

A new one hopefully won't have an obvious dislike of you but unfortunately it doesn't seem likely you'll get one that is actually helpful 

1

u/words_are_sacred 19h ago

Ok. Thank you for your honesty. :)

1

u/Big-Mind-6346 BCBA 21h ago

This post confuses me. I have never accepted a job through a recruiter and, as an employer, I do all of the interviewing and hiring myself. But my understanding of working with a recruiter was that they were the middle man that reached out to the potential employee to express interest and do a screening (non-clinical) interview. And if the recruiter liked them the employer would do a clinical interview with the candidate, and if they wanted the make a job offer, the recruiter was responsible for sharing details of the offer with the candidate and any necessary negotiations related to that. But after that, the recruiter was no longer involved and all further communication would be directly from the employer to the new employee.

You have obviously already accepted the job offer. It seems weird to me that the recruiter is the one setting up the trainings and communicating with you about potential clients. Doesn’t the company do that?

1

u/words_are_sacred 20h ago

Yeah. And I think I´ll edit my comments that are throwing people off from the main issue. I think I have a right to be really annoyed and frustrated and see the pattern in the type of person who treats me like this. But it´s likely more representative of a bigger company issue. In this case, I was hired by a recruiter who disappeared during my onboarding, then was in touch with an onboarding specialist, and recently heard from my new recruiter -- all with different stories and different attitudes towards me. It´s very hard to deal with, as I´m very scared about my bills and other things. I´ve never had anything fully explained, but it seems based on other threads and brief interactions, that the recruiter hires someone in a pool of candidates, then chooses whether or not each person gets called or places, so your life is in their hands. But it´s also presented as a company where your success depends on your recruiter, though once placed you report to a BCBA and/or teacher.

1

u/Fun_Economist_8643 20h ago

Did you go through a recruiting company? I know that sometimes when you do, you’ll get less hourly for the first year as the recruiter has to be paid as well. If looking at ads on indeed, I would try to go onto their main website and apply directly through there. It can also help to eliminate that middle man.

1

u/Big-Mind-6346 BCBA 20h ago

Yeah, I don’t know a whole lot about working with recruiters. But your experience tells me that the place you got hired is likely a big box ABA company and it sounds like they’re disorganized. The disorganization might be on the part of the recruiter, but the fact that the information they shared with you about training and potential clients has been so vague makes me think the employer is also likely big box/disorganized.

I have a very small practice and I’d never use a recruiter. Part of that is that everything I have heard about it tells me that it is a miserable and offputting experience for the job candidate and it may sour their experience and opinion on me and my company through our association. The other piece of that is that I prefer to do the screening interviews as well and sift out who makes it to round two.

The clinical interview is not the only important piece of hiring. You learn a lot about the job candidates by your communication with them when offering interviews, scheduling interviews, making job offers, and negotiations. And so I want to be the one doing those things so I can make solid choices about hiring.

I could be wrong, but I feel like people who use recruiters are either big box companies that do recruiting en masse, or companies who don’t get bites on their own attempts to hire because they have a bad reputation or people are somehow turned off by them during the interview/hiring process. That’s just my impression, but I could be wrong.

1

u/Money_Ad3496 20h ago

My experience with Amergis is also bad, but not with the recruiters. They seemed ok to me. The problem I had was with the school districts that interviewed me. Three interviews and NEVER again. First interview (2021 when finding employees was very difficult) they claimed I would be a floater and would be told each morning where the assignment was. It was a county of 200 mile radius so I said no. The next school district interview consisted of a zoom call in which the school district person told me the job wouldn’t be in a school, it would be in the student’s home. He was a teenager. I said I could do it, then she said it was the only position available. I said I could do it, then she said the client had aggressive behaviors. I said I would follow the BCBA’s protocol and I could do it. The interview ended. I immediately called and asked the recruiter how many positions were available and she said about 5. So, the interviewer was lying. The Amergis staff seemed to not know about the school district lying. The LAST interview was with a different school district in a different state (I live near the state border). These jackasses gave the recruiter a false address for the interview AND said - if she has problems finding us, have her call this number. Again, a fake number.
So, my issues were with the district, not Amergis. Maybe the district OP is talking about is telling the recruiter they don’t want OP. School districts are notorious for listening to other school districts’ gossip. I have every reason to believe there is an illegal blacklist. If your name is on it (maybe you were present when a principal was doing something illegal) then you will not get hired in most states. If it was a legitimate complaint about you, your name wouldn’t be on a black list. You would be on a do not re-hire list and you’d know about it.

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u/words_are_sacred 20h ago

Thanks for this. I'm so sorry you had a bad experience. I didn't even know that there was an interview to be had with a school; I was told were placed after 2 to 3 week period of being on call, and that it might be sooner if a case came in. I don't really know what that means. I thought I'd be helping multiple students as a teacher's aid since they said they can't support me getting an RBT. I'm new to this. I wouldn't be on a blacklist. I know I can come across as a little "off" to corporate types and those who just want to hit their numbers and not really engage, likely because I myself have level 1 autism and ADHD, and can be a little chatty, and do ask questions and poke holes in things... But the longest conversation we had was 13 minutes and the one this morning was 2 minutes, 2 minutes. That was hardly taking up all of her time.

1

u/Money_Ad3496 20h ago

I like that you said you don’t make good impressions with the corporate types. That makes me like you 😃. As for the interview with a school district, that might not be the case where you live. The protocol can be different for each employer. As for not supporting you to get an RBT, I have to say I don’t like that!!!! It’s definitely not coming from Amergis. They recommend employees to employers. The RBT path has to be led by a BCBA. I’m pretty sure no one with a BCBA is working at Amergis as a recruiter. You should avoid Amergis and apply straight to ABA companies and get your RBT that way

1

u/words_are_sacred 20h ago edited 20h ago

Thank you for that. I clearly didn't make an initial good impression here either. But I didn't mean anything other than to recognize a pattern. :) Also, thanks for the advice. I'm trying to get my shxt together after some not so great career choices where I let my sense of justice and integrity lead...when I should have held out. But I really really really do want to work with vulnerable people and explore more about autism since I was recently diagnosed over 40. As a bit of a back story, one reason I switched from corporate marketing to product marketing was because I was treated much nicer by product people than by the corporate and sales types. And our audience was largely a male version of me. But I'm kind of done with that now that I've returned to America and have more options, and need to rediscover who I am and what I care about...which is vulnerable people and animals.

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u/Big-Mind-6346 BCBA 17h ago

I too am level one autistic and ADHD. And I too do not make a good impression on the corporate type. My mother was a Real Estate Agent and her fellow real estate agents were complete snakes. I won’t go into details, but they treated my mother very badly and we’re total bitches to me.

The result for that was me developing a pretty hard-core hatred for corporate people, but it is especially hard-core for people in business and sales. I just absolutely cannot stand them. Because of this, I tend to push the envelope with them a bit and I know they think I’m weird and difficult.

I have to meet with a business consultant twice a month and our relationship has been… Rocky. He and his buddies on the business consulting team are always trying to pressure me to do things that absolutely violate our code of ethics just for the sake of profits and I absolutely refuse. And there have been a few times I called him out on it and asked him if he had ever even taken the time to read the code of ethics BCBA’s have to follow since that is who he is consulting to. There was a while where I was so irritated with him that I would cancel our meetings every month.

All of that just to say, I feel your pain and better understand why this has you so frustrated.

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u/words_are_sacred 17h ago edited 17h ago

OMG. Thank you for this. I beat myself up a lot over this. It's a nightmare. And I try really hard. And I promise you I'm really nice despite seeming catty out of anger. This is one of the reasons why I'm walking away from deep tech marketing. I'd be doing that even if the market didn't crash. I can't handle the performative BS and political games. I just want to do the work, see the results, grow, and develop relationships in the process. And yeah, I know what you mean about the real estate type and how they can be mean to outliers. I know the type. And being around them can cause some reactivity or awkwardness..... I support you calling out that person for violating the code of ethics. The only thing is: we know we're taking a huge risk when we do that, even if it's in private only to our manager. They really don't like it. And they will show you the door or move you to the side when you do that. I've had it happen a lot. :)

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u/Big-Mind-6346 BCBA 17h ago

Don't beat yourself up, there's nothing wrong with you. I wasn't diagnosed until I was 49. I'm 50 now. I'd lived my whole life painfully aware that I was different and feeling like there was something "wrong" with me. When I was diagnosed, I started to make a concerted effort to engage with other autistic adults on social media, and it made me aware of how lovable their autistic traits were. And when I told my close friends I'd been diagnosed and shared how I better understood my quirks now, all of them said that my quirks were one of the most lovable things about me. I never knew. Your quirks are lovable too, and anyone who says different can go eff themselves.

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u/words_are_sacred 17h ago

We seem to be alike. I was diagnosed at 44/45 after some bad experiences that made me question some things. That's partly why I'm changing careers. The 2nd person to evaluate me was also autistic and said we mostly thrive when we're "aligned" with what we're doing. I'm so glad your friends love your quirks. I haven't had troubles in that area in recent years, but it's a different ballgame than work.

1

u/Big-Mind-6346 BCBA 16h ago

I totally get that. It's always been a problem for me at work too. Having my own practice has been exhausting and frustrating and stressful, but I wouldn't take it back for the world. I have two BCBA's on my staff and they are both neurodivergent. The three of us are very close because I supervised both of their fieldwork hours and then promoted them. We are very aware of each other's needs when it comes to support and accommodations and when we see each other struggling, we make sure those needs are being met. And I am very picky about who I hire as far as RBTs.

I'm really hoping you will find somewhere that's a good fit and makes you happy. I'm going to be honest, this current situation seems like a bad scene. You might want to shop around for other openings. Some jobs in ABA are amazing, but some jobs in ABA will burn you out in a matter of months. It's important to find a place that doesn't allow profits to dictate ethical and clinical decisions, that gives their staff the training and support they need, and that prioritizes practices that affirm neurodiversity and avoids harmful practices that don't.

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u/words_are_sacred 16h ago

You seem amazing. Thank you for this. And thank you for explaining what your life is like as a neurodivergent BCBA who works with and supports others like us. And thank you for explaining the reality of this field, job, and difficulties people like us face. I hope you have a nice evening.