Choosing and working with a recruiter who will actually help you

It is important to have a good working relationship with a few recruiters. It is a fact that some recruiters know of and control access to some positions you will never find without them. This is not as true as it used to be and  primarily relates to retained firms however you cannot afford to miss even one opportunity in a market that has so few. You must turn over every rock and recruiters are one of the rocks. They can be a big help as you go through the hiring process including preparing you for interviews and negotiating a good compensation package. They can keep you informed about changes in the market and tell you about openings you can go after on your own. You should find several recruiters to work with. The problem with this is that I just described a minority of recruiters. A small percentage of recruiters have the skills, experience, knowledge and commitment to helping you that is critical to a successful outcome. Before trying to seek out this small percentage you need to understand a little bit about the recruiting business and what motivates a recruiter.

First understand that despite what recruiters tell you, you are not their client. Their representation of you is secondary to representing the person paying their bill, the client company. The recruiter’s priority is filling the assignment, not representing and placing you. Very few recruiters will actually market you to clients and those that do are usually rookies looking for clients and using you for bait and they won’t do that unless you are truly a top one per center who they think their clients will jump on. Don’t get me wrong I am not speaking ill of recruiters or their business after all I have been in the business for thirty years. This is just the way the business works.

Now that you understand the value of a good recruiter and know a little bit about the business it is time to choose one. How do you know who to call? You need to do your research and homework to choose the best one. So, where do you start?

1)      Talk to your peers. Ask them if they have worked with a recruiter who they trust and respect. Was the recruiter really helpful and did he treat them with respect and professionalism? If your peer needed a recruiter again would this one be his first choice.

2)      Talk to Human Resource managers and Directors of Recruiting at companies that hire people in your field. Who is the best most experienced recruiter they know of? Hint…When you have the HR person on the phone briefly tell them what you do and ask if they have a need for someone with your experience.

3)      Survey Monster, CareerBuilder and other job boards to see which recruiters consistently have the best openings.

So now you know who to contact how do you make the first contact and establish a working relationship that works for you. If you were referred to a specific individual this is an easy call. When you get the individual on the phone introduce yourself mention the referral source and immediately ask for a meeting if you are in the same geography or if not ask to schedule time for an interview by phone. In both cases he will ask you to send a resume so he can be familiar with your background. This is standard procedure. Recruiters can’t commit time to every person who calls in unless they think they can do something for or with them as a candidate. Despite this you should try to get more out of the call. Tell the recruiter a little bit about your background and ask him how many openings he is working in that might be a fit. Learn something about him. Before you get off the phone ask him when you can expect a call after he reviews your resume. Ask him if you could get it on your calendars so you are sure you will be available.

If you are calling a recruiting firm based on postings you have seen or based on their reputation you need to make sure you are talking to the correct person. Let’s look at the structure of most recruiting firms. Many firms separate recruiting “desk” in to two functions. One person does the business development/client management side of the business. Another person handles the actual recruiting and candidate management side. In many of these firms the “recruiter” position is staffed by rookies. People in this role are learning the business with the goal of moving up to business development. This is not always the case. I have worked with “recruiters” who have been in that role very successfully for years.

You need to determine who you are talking to. If I was looking for a recruiter I would want a very knowledgeable highly experienced professional working with me. This next move is too important to be trusted to someone learning the business. The business developer has the most knowledge of the client company and the position. Many times you won’t have a choice. Candidates work with the “recruiter “without exception. If this is the case make sure the person you are working with knows what he is doing. Interview him. How long has he been in the business? How many people has he placed? Ask him detailed questions about the client and the job. If you are not comfortable do not be afraid to walk away. A good idea is to ask for the owner or branch manager when you first call in. Tell him what you are looking for the type of recruiter you want to work with.

Basic dos and don’ts

NEVER allow a recruiter to send your resume out or expose your name without your permission and knowledge of who he is sending it to.

Before you go on an interview ask for/require an extensive interview preparation. Read my articles on my blog about preparing for an interview. You deserve nothing less.

Make your compensation requirements clearly known; not your wish list number but your must have number. If your recruiter can’t commit that the company can meet your needs don’t be talked into the interview.

Many recruiting firms compensate and or evaluate recruiters based on the number of “sendouts”; candidates referred to clients for interviews. They might be more interested in quantity vs. quality. Don’t be sold on going on an interview unless you really want the opportunity.

Tip… A quality recruiter will give you a lengthy, extensive interview before referring you to a client. The interview will be more thorough then the employer’s. The recruiter that spends 15 minutes on the phone with you then tells you your background is great and he will refer your background to the client is a recruiter to walk away from.

I could write much about this subject but I have given you a good foundation. I would be happy to continue based on your questions. If you need further help write me or include your questions as comments.

Comments

[Ankush]

hi Mark,
Nice information. can u elaborate about the resumes and the letter of motivation for freshers and and persons who wants to enroll in the PhD programs in life sciences mainly modern day sublects like Bioinformatics, Nanotechnology and cheminformatics

[Anton Kolesnikov]

Hi Mark,

Your advices about recruiters are very interesting. For example, I didn't know that there are usually two persons who deal with one position.

I would like to ask you a question not strictly related to the topic. I want to know your attitude towards international experience.

I have only come to Canada (2 months). I have already finished one of those job-preparation programs that help you to write your resumes and tell you the way to behave on the interviews. Some of their advices were just the same as in your previous articles. For instance, trainers advised us to pay great attention to networking.
For obvious reasons they also tried to convince us that international experience may sometimes be beneficial for us. Sometimes it is. Nevertheless, in most cases it is not so. As I see it, in most cases recruiters do not consider persons with international experience at all. I've already seen many times recruiter loosing his/her interest as soon as he/she hears that you haven't worked in Canada.

As I can guess in most cases so many resumes are received for one job posting that it is easier for a hiring person to exclude a big part of applicants using simple filters like inaccuracy, spelling errors, lack of Canadian experience...
Am I right? What do you think about it?

Thank you in advance.

[Philip Shoults]

Mark,

These are good comments and timely. Thanks for sharing your perspective and insight. We all need to Pay Forward and not just when times are tough. I have had that point reinforced these last few months.