How many different approaches do you take in your job search? Setting up job alerts, scouring job adverts, watching company websites, following social media posts, attending job fairs. But do you identify and build relationships with agency recruiters? Working with recruiters can be a great way to be introduced to relevant roles and companies. But how much do you know about working with a recruiter? And do you feel comfortable approaching a recruiter or does getting in touch fill you with anxiety and nerves? Working Girl is here to give you the full low down and a step-by-step approach to working with a recruiter to ensure you get the best out of this relationship.
What is a recruiter’s role?
The first thing you need to know is that there are two types of recruiters, in-house recruiters (which work within the company which is recruiting, they can also be known as talent managers or talent acquisition) and there are agency recruiters (who work within a recruitment agency and will recruit roles on behalf of multiple companies).
We are talking about the agency recruiters, who will predominantly work for companies and source individuals for the companies’ open roles. The recruiters are briefed and given a job specification, and their focus is then on attracting and engaging the most suitable people to shortlist and showcase to their clients.
A recruiter’s role is also to maintain a smooth process, they would be your main point of contact throughout your journey, briefing you on the opportunity, letting you know what the process will involve and answering questions you may have. A good recruiter will also work with you on tailoring your CV, briefing you and preparing you for interviews, ensuring you get feedback and managing any negotiations for you.
When would you use a recruiter?
Recruiters are generally approached to work on roles which are harder to fill, the roles might require a specialist skillset or the company is looking for someone for a specific short-term project. Or recruiters can be there to take the hard work away from a company and free them up from the time it takes to go through a recruitment process themselves.
Recruiters are less able to help people looking to do a career transition or those without any real skills. The companies want to see people with the most relevant experience which tick the boxes in the job specs and want the recruiters to show them the top 5 or 6 candidates for the role. This unfortunately doesn’t allow much room for introducing people who are looking to break into an industry or change careers as this isn’t what the recruiters will have been briefed to show the company.
The key aspect of working with a recruiter is knowing which ones to speak to and building a relationship with them. Here are my 7 points on getting the best out of the relationship:
1. Do your homework
You are going to need to find the recruiters who work in your local area, that focus on your particular specialism or sector. You can do this by:
Doing a quick Google search for “Recruiter” + “Your Specialism” + “Your Location” and take a look at the various company websites and take a read over the individual recruiter’s bios.
Going onto LinkedIn and do a similar search for them and read up on their profiles, to get a steer on the type of roles they work on.
Looking at the job adverts which are of an interest to you and generally at the bottom, you will be able to see which recruiters are advertising the roles and the company they work for.
You can even call up the reception of a recruitment agency and ask who is best to speak to in the company in regards to the roles you are keen to look at.
Ask your peers, who have they worked with that they would recommend.
Not all recruitment companies cover all industries or specialisms, so you do need to do some digging and research who are the ones which will be most relevant for you.
2. Signing up (to more than one agency)
The next step will involve you getting in touch with a recruiter and “signing-up” with them. This means they have your details and CV on their database and can search for you when a role comes up which fits your skills and experience. You can drop them a message on LinkedIn, send them an email or give them a call and book in a time to register with them for updates and suitable roles.
One point to note which no recruiter will tell you, (and they may advocate that you definitely do not do this), is to sign up with more than one agency. Signing up to ALL the different agencies can work against you, therefore limit yourself to the 3 or 4 of the most relevant agencies for you.
To be sure you are signing up with the best recruiters, ask them how they will work with you and how they will keep in touch. Ask about their process for letting you know about roles and make sure that they will not send your CV anywhere without discussing the role with you first and getting your consent.
3. Ask the recruiters questions
Specialist recruiters will have fantastic in-depth knowledge on the sector you are interested in. So go on, tap into this and ask them questions such as:
How often do they work on the type of roles you are interested in?
What is the average salary level for the roles you are looking at?
How does your CV compare with others at your level?
What are the key things employers look for in terms of a CV / skills / knowledge / courses?
Is there anything they would recommend you should do to help you stand out more?
How is the market at the moment and what are the trends they are seeing within the sector you are interested in?
4. Be honest and open
You need to build a relationship with the recruiter and be clear in letting them know exactly what you are looking for. Also, if they do brief you on a role, talk openly about the things which are important to you, to ensure it would be the right fit for you before agreeing to be put forward for the position. (What are the company’s values, what is their own impression of the team, why are the company recruiting the role and what is the salary banding etc) Ask to see the job description, ask how long you have to prepare your CV and ask what other information would be useful for the recruiter to have?
Also, if you are involved in other processes whilst working on a role with a recruiter, let them know and keep them updated on the progress of the other role(s). If you get offered a role, you may need to pull out of the other processes, and your recruiter can make sure this doesn’t come as a surprise to any other hiring managers. One point to note, keep the details of the other roles to yourself. Don’t tell the recruiters, “my other role is with X company and it is an assistant level role within Y’s team”. All recruiters are sales professionals that will be looking to work on more opportunities. Giving the details of your other roles may lead to the recruiter contacting the company and asking if they would want to see additional CV’s for their role, which will dilute your chances with that company. It is absolutely ok to keep the details of the other roles confidential and say “I am forward for another assistant level role, with a tech company”, keeping the specifics of the opportunity to yourself!
5. Honour your commitments
If there is one sure fire way to burn bridges with a recruiter, it is by not doing what you say you are going to do. So, if you can’t make the interview or you change you mind on a role, just let the recruiter know as quickly as possible. They may be able to reschedule an interview for you, if this is what you need, but just not turning up and ghosting a recruiter is a big no-no and one way to ensure you won’t be hearing from them about other roles in the future!
6. Follow up
If you are forward for a role with a recruiter and you haven’t heard back, follow up! Ask them when you might expect to hear back, how they will keep you updated and what the feedback was from your interview.
7. This is YOUR job search
Recruiters are just one way to hear about opportunities, so don’t fall into the trap of signing up with a handful of agencies and then sitting back and waiting for the job opportunities to start rolling in! You need to remain in control of your own search. Keep looking at relevant roles being advertised directly with companies, keep checking your target list of companies’ websites for new career opportunities, keep following the hiring managers and the companies on LinkedIn to hear of roles as they are posted and keep doing you own networking.
Also, you need to do your due-diligence on a company and opportunity. If a recruiter brings you a role, don’t assume it is the perfect fit for you. Make sure you do your own research, check out reviews online, ask others if they have had any experience of the company and look at people on LinkedIn who have worked there to understand if they have a high turnover in staff, or promote from within etc. Don’t feel obligated to go forward into a process if it doesn’t feel like the right opportunity or fit for you. This is your search, own it!
A recruiter’s job is to work for the clients and find them the most suitable people for their jobs, they will work with you, if they have a relevant job, but it is worth keeping in mind that they do not work for you. It is important that you still do your own searches and qualify any roles presented to you, as being the right type of opportunity for you.
Conclusion
If you are new to using a recruiter, there really are a lot of benefits, they are knowledgeable, can open you up to new opportunities, they can help optimise your CV and ensure you are presenting yourself in the best way possible, they can provide additional info on what to expect and how best to prepare at different stages of a process and it also doesn’t cost you anything to work with them!
It is also worth bearing in mind that if you are actively searching for a new opportunity, using a recruiter should make up just one avenue of hearing about different vacancies and getting the best out of working with a recruiter still involves putting in your own work to ensure you have the best outcome.
Look out for recruiters who actively work on roles which interest you, build out a relationship and start talking to, and working with them. They might just land you your next role or make some key introductions for you, or simply help coach you through areas you struggle with or advise on positioning your CV better. Good recruiters are great to have looking out for roles for you, just remember to keep searching for yourself!
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