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How to Work With a Recruiter
Featured Author:
Kayla Baxter
Kayla has worked in administrative roles in a law firm, in the graduate biology department at a university, at a dental and oral surgery office, and in various retail locations. She has expert knowledge of the administrative field and community both through her own experiences and through networking with colleagues. She has written extensively on career topics, emotional health, classic and contemporary literature, current events and politics, but her true passion is helping people see the possibility in their lives, regardless of their position.
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Recruiters can seem like demons that pick out all your worst qualities, or they can be like job-providing angels sent down from heaven; in either situation, if you’re retaining their services for free, you’re probably a job-seeker and you could be totally in the dark about whether they can really get you a job.
The key to working with a recruiter is to have accurate expectations. While it is true that a recruiter can be incredibly helpful in helping someone get a job, it is important to understand a few things in order to avoid a disappointing outcome.
Understanding Recruiters
First of all, recruiters don’t work for you. Companies hire recruiters to find and retain the best possible applicant for a certain position. Before a recruiter even meets you, he or she will have an image in their mind about what your qualifications need to be to fit their client’s wishes. Therefore, if for some reason they don’t call you back, then you don’t match that exact image – don’t take it personally. If your résumé’s keywords match what the company is looking for, then you will be contacted, usually immediately. If your résumé keywords do not match, then it’s not unusual for the recruiter to not get back to you at all, which is where the typical jobseeker gets confused and hurt. The thing you must understand as a job seeker is that recruiters are receiving hundreds of résumés per day – if they responded to each résumé, it would keep someone from getting hired for sheer lack of time in a day.
Recruiters nowadays keep a digital database containing every applicant that has ever sent a résumé. Many times, you will not be a perfect match for the recruiter at that particular time, which is of course frustrating. However, keep in mind that your relationship with a recruiter is something built over time. That résumé that you sent in – and the updated résumés that you should send in over the length of your career – stays in the database so that if your dream job (which matches all your qualifications) should become open, that recruiter can let you know about it.
Recruiters do not work with career-changers. Your past experiences are the only information they have to pitch you to the employer as a potential fit. Recruiters are expected by their clients to find people who are an exact match for the position and who are currently working in their field. If you are looking to make a career transition (i.e. sales to PR), then skip connecting with recruiters. Same goes if you are seeking an entry-level job.
If you are looking to make a slight shift into a parallel industry (i.e. tech PR to consumer PR) or a different type of position in the same industry, then a recruiter may be able to help you.
jgilham
13 days ago
10 comments
With the economy down, the government has recruiters working to place job seekers in matching jobs. Everyone knows what an unemployment office is but usually does not realize that 2/3 of the office that I work in does reemployment services and the other 1/3 unemployment. There is no cost to job seekers or employers.
jgilham
13 days ago
10 comments
I have worked in Career Services for 3 years and work with many recruiters. This information is very true and can make the difference that a job seeker needs.
mkgessner
about 1 month ago
34 comments
Great information. I've met good and bad recruiters. Some were very professional, but one invited me to lunch and then spent most of the time checking football scores.
miles2go
about 1 month ago
6 comments
This is an excellent article - Great tips - I'm going to bookmark for future reference.
op387
10 months ago
14 comments
sorry i got to get this off my chest.... i pissed off a really tall building onto the street below, it was mayhem people runnning for cover getting soaked in piss, it was horrible and yet... and yet i just carried on, i dont know what came over me, i just watched as i covered inoccent people in piss. what if one of them was goning on a date? now they would smell like piss so the person they were seeing would they were disgusting and leave them or even worse now they all smelt like my piss all the the dogs they passed on the way home would piss on them too. what have i done? WHAT HAVE I DONE?
lmcdowellbrown
10 months ago
6 comments
Good article - I've worked with quite a few and have found the info to be accruate. Like anything some are betters than others. Interesting comment from Deblaster on relationship building. And to MinpinMom, employers are still using recruiters.
TallAnna
10 months ago
44 comments
Thanks for the tips, Kayla. These are helpful in building appropriate expectations and being properly prepared.
Deblaster
10 months ago
6 comments
1. Recruiters, a good one, does work with career-changers when the skills can be transferred.
2.The iInformation on building a relationship is lacking. Not only phone calls, which are skimmed through, cards and, yes, emails help; especially since everything is done through emails.
3. Social networks work very well. Recruiters are logged in, looking for candidates. They also get an idea of your character.
Much more I could write, but this is not my blog.
MinpinMom
10 months ago
16 comments
I have never had a good experience with a recruiter and in this economy what employer really wants to pay the fee...