Are recruiters a waste of time?

I’m sure many of you have had the experience of recruiters ignoring you, or the relationship turning stone cold. In fact this experience is not uncommon amongst many jobseekers. So the question you have to ask yourself:

Are recruiters a waste of time?

The answer:

If you are changing careers, or have NO experience in the type of jobs you are targeting, don’t waste your time with recruiters.  Or to put it another way, if you want lots of rejection letters or want to be ignored, go right ahead and start contacting recruiters.  The reality is, if you want to change career, or you are not the perfect fit for a job, there are WAY better alternatives out there, including the hidden job market and networking.

If however, you have specific job target in mind with prior experience and a track record of success in this job target, then recruiters are a good bet.  For example, you are an experienced project manager in the field of construction and aiming for another project management position within construction.

When working with recruiters, understand – Recruiters are working for themselves, not you!

That is, recruiters are working for the company (or rather themselves, as they get paid a commission for placement) and the company is their client – and you are essentially the candidate (product) they are offering the client.

Because of the way the industry is structured, recruiters will be looking to work with the candidate most likely to get hired by the client.

What this means to you, is that they won’t be recommending you, if you don’t meet the client’s specific requirements – so don’t rely on a recruiter to nail you that job – besides recruiters should only ever by one aspect of your overall job search strategy.

Basically a recruiter is the perfect tool, if you bring the following to the table:

• No more than 3 jobs in 3 years
• A solid education
•  You have a successful record in the industry that they specialise including a list of achievements and accomplishments
•  You possess a solid personality and you present well in person, including expressing yourself well
•  You bring enthusiasm and you are excited about the company and opportunity

ONLY if you bring this background to the recruiter, should you spend some time building personal relationships with recruiters and developing a network of recruiters.

My Top Tips Working with Recruiters:

•  Before contacting recruiters, make sure your marketing collateral (Resume, LinkedIn profile) is spot on.

•  Once you have your personal marketing sorted, contact as many recruiters as possible in your specific field.  Generally recruiters specialise in a specific sector, for example, construction, engineering, law, banking and finance etc.

•  Make sure you only approach ethical recruiters.  A small number of recruiters don’t act in a professional and ethical way, which might potentially be detrimental to your job search.

•  If you want your job search to remain confidential, I suggest you call the recruiter first. Most recruiters assume that a job search is confidential, but to play it on the safe side, I suggest this approach.

• Build a network of recruiters in your sector on LinkedIn.  Most recruiters are going to be very receptive to your invitation, as recruiters are after a large number of professional LinkedIn Connections, as it makes finding talent via LinkedIn easier. It goes without saying, that before you connect with recruiters, make sure your LinkedIn profile is complete, professional and is selling you effectively.

•  Don’t take offence if they ask you to fill in their standard application form.  This is often just standard procedure and your information is for their search database.

•  Whatever you share with the recruiter in terms of salary and what you are looking for in terms of a compensation package, is going to be disclosed in full to the employer (their client).

•  Finally, recruiters are not going to provide you with feedback from the employer.  So if the interview with the employer was a disaster, then this won’t be disclosed to you.

At the end of the day, it is about ensuring that you are the star candidate and by doing so, recruiters will put you forward, providing you with great access to great potential job opportunities.