Pros
*Note: I do NOT work for Fortitude. They are a staffing company that helped me interview for and secure a software engineering job at a different company. - Dedicated people who care about getting you hired - Regular check-ins during the application process - Always available and happy to answer questions I am a software engineer who took a 3-year career break due to personal issues. When I was ready to get back into the industry, I spent 6 months or so applying everywhere I could, to no avail. Fortitude reached out to me with a position they thought I'd be a good fit for. I went through the interview process and eventually got hired at a great company where I've now been working for three months or so. It's really an excellent job: good pay, good benefits, good work, and a great team. Without Fortitude, in this job market, I'd probably still be looking for a position. They gave me the opportunity to actually get interviewed by a serious company. I'm not saying they did everything -- I still had to nail the interview and prove my technical abilities. But they at least got me a real opportunity to get my career back on track. For that, I'm forever grateful.
Cons
It's a bit tough to go through a hiring process through a staffing company; there are two parties (Fortitude and the company you're interviewing with) to manage and keep updated and keep in sync with everything. I get it, since they need to be involved the entire time to ensure everything goes by-the-book and that they get paid for the candidate placement. But it adds a little friction to the whole process and makes it take perhaps a bit longer than it otherwise would. Overall, for everything they provide (interviewing guidance, communication, background logistics, relationships with companies), it's well worth it. Also, as I understand it, for most jobs you get through Fortitude, you will be on a 6-month contract working through Fortitude until the company decides to take you on full-time. This means you'll be on Fortitude health insurance, get paychecks from Fortitude, and have to deal with this extra set of logistics for the first 6 months, at which point you'll be transferred over to your actual company's payroll systems. But, again, if you get a job you like, not a big problem.