Working with a Recruiter
June 9, 2008
When working with a recruiter, what advice or suggestions can you provide in making this as productive as possible? - Karen in Flagstaff, AZ
Working with a recruiter helps you maximize your ability to get a job that you might have a difficult time landing otherwise. Recruiters have a definite advantage with being able to leverage a wide range of industry contacts to help qualified candidates find that perfect fit. This gives you an advantage over people who are searching for a job all by themselves. Aside from them helping you unlock doors, they can serve the dual purpose of providing excellent career advice.
When you use a recruiter, It’s almost like having a personal job coach that can help you sort through those difficult questions when it comes to interviewing and giving great salary negotiation tips. It is in your best interest to be as upfront as possible regarding your level experience and previous job history. This person needs to know as much about your professional life that you can provide them to help you figure out what is the best career path to go after.
Recruiters are hardworking, extremely busy people. So it can seem at times that you are being put off when you make a phone call or send an email without getting an immediate response. Between a constant flux of new job orders, clients and potential candidates that these people talk to on a daily basis, it is not unusual to go a few days without hearing from them.
So be patient, realize that they are behind the scenes working their magic for your benefit. However, by continually following up with them shows that you are definitely interested in the position. When you do speak to them try to be as prompt and forthcoming with information as possible. Now if you get ambitious and work with more than one recruiter make sure you let all of them know.
Candidates commonly assume that they will hurt their chances of getting a job somewhere if they let their recruiter in on the fact that they are using multiple recruiters in their job search. Believe it or not this is the complete opposite. Letting your recruiter know that you have more than one iron in the fire helps to build up trust and rapport with them and shows that you have enough guts to be straight forward.
There is nothing more irritating for a recruiter than to have a job interview lined up for a candidate only to find out the this person had acquired a position through another recruiter without letting them know and this can definitely hurt your chances of working with this person in the future because you led them on.
Realize though that the position you are searching for may take some time to materialize. A placement can happen as quickly as 24 hours or due to conditions outside of the recruiters control it can be many months before you find that dream job. You have to keep your resolve and understand that it is in the recruiters best interest to help you find the job you want as quickly as possible.
I have known many people who have worked with a skilled recruiter over many years and it has truly helped them in realizing their career goals, so make sure you follow the above steps to get the most out of the relationship.
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