Why some job seekers are spending thousands on reverse recruiters: 'The old rules are gone,' says one recruiter

How much would you pay to get a new job?

Ask around, and job seekers will tell you it's harder to land an interview or offer today than it has been in years. It's not uncommon to hear from people who say they've applied to dozens, sometimes hundreds, of jobs and barely gotten anywhere.

Data backs this up: The U.S. had almost no job growth in 2025, adding just 116,000 jobs for the year, compared to 1.46 million jobs added in 2024. A typical job opening in 2025 attracted an average of 244 applications, more than double the number in 2022, according to data from Greenhouse.

Economists are calling it a "low hire, low fire" job market, with one even referring to a "hiring recession."

As a result, some job seekers are turning to "reverse recruiting" and paying to outsource the search itself. In traditional recruiting, companies pay recruiters to find candidates for open positions. In reverse recruiting, job seekers pay recruiters to help them land a job.