Ways to Work with and Not Work with a Recruiter
Ways to Effectively Work with a Recruiter
1. Making minor, though accurate changes when needed to your resume - every job specification (or at least the majority of) has many detailed requirements in which the employer would like to see a candidate have. Now, as a job applicant, if you possess those skills, and only if you do, take a few minutes to work with the recruiter and highlight them on your resume. It does not look very good nor is it very businesslike if you have the recruiter do it for you. As a matter of fact, I try to pass on applicants who do not want to do this. It says a lot about their work ethic.
Note: If a recruiter strongly asks that you change your resume to include aspects of your background which are not true, move on.
2. Allowing the hiring process to run its course - as a job seeker (I could imagine) that going through a third party entity to set up meetings with your prospective employer can be quite frustrating at times. However, you must learn to go with the flow. For this reason, I let my clients contact the employees directly, though this is not par for course.
3. Being available to answer questions - nearly every hire a recruiter makes, the employers will have questions along the way. Even though you are quite busy and all parties understand that, do your best to respond to any inquires either the recruiter or employer may have in a timely, thorough manner. If you are at work and prefer email, simply tell the recruiter that. If they call you, then it may be time to move on.
4. Be prepared to have an impromptu interview with a recruiter - you never know when a recruiter is going to call and ask you some questions. This is elevator speech 101. If you can't speak, make it clear to the recruiter that you are interested in speaking further. Obviously, only tell them this if you are interesting in further conversation.
5. Being upfront about other employment possibilities which you have - this is only fair to both the recruiter and employer. If you are honest about this, all parties will appreciate the honesty and will want to work with you in the future. Many people don't understand that some recruiters work awfully hard. If you put yourself in the recruiter's position, you would want this information as well.
6. If you don't want the position, be upfront with the recruiter - as a recruiter, it is quite frustrating to track somebody down only to have them say they are not interested. It takes a two minute email to convey this. I recommend that you do so.
Things to Avoid When Working with a Recruiter
1. When you don't answer your phone calls - this can be quite frustrating for both the recruiter and the hiring party. I've always thought that, if I send in a resume and the employer wants to speak with the candidate, then the applicant does not get back to me, it reflects poorly on my work. This course of action will probably deter a lot of recruiters from working with you moving forward. Therefore, upon seeing a job you like from that particular recruiter, getting in the door will be harder.
2. Going into a phone call with the predisposition that all recruiters are bad - yes, some people in my field have given the recruitment industry a bad name. Conversely, many people in my industry have helped individuals all over the world find jobs in which they were or, currently are very successful.
3. Calling too much - this is the Golden Rule of working with recruiters. If you call too much, the recruiter may start to get hesitations as to your professional demeanor.
4. Sending in your resume too frequently - this is sure to look bad. As a matter of fact, we are working on a position in which someone who sends their resume every week would be a fit for and we are hesitant to send this person to our client.
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