Working with Recruiters

A reader wrote this morning to ask about recruiters. Having not looked for a job in sometime, he wanted to know whether I could recommend a headhunter in his area.

I actually don't know anyone, but even if I did, one headhunter would not be enough.

Many people share the misconception that, for senior level positions, contacting a headhunter is the way to find a job. To understand why this is wrong, you have to understand how headhunters work.

A headhunter (or recruiter) is engaged by a company to fill a specific position. She is given very specific qualifications, and she is paid for her services by the company. Sometimes she is paid on a retainer basis, but most often she is paid only when she successfully fills the position.

So her compensation depends on finding people who exactly match the specifications she has been given, and her client is the employer NOT the job seekers.

Depending on the size of her practice, she may be working on just one position at a time, or several, but she doesn't have hundreds and hundreds of openings. And because she is paid for filling a position, she doesn't have time to spend on candidates who don't match the job criteria.

This means that it's not likely you will be a match for the position she's currently trying to fill. It's not impossible - but the odds are not in your favor. Which is why you need to contact multiple recruiters to have any good chance of receiving a call back.

You must also understand that most recruiters specialize in either an industry or a field (marketing, sales, finance etc.) and sending your resume to someone who doesn't hire for your profession is just a waste of time.

So to work effectively with recruiters, you need to contact a large group of people who specialize in your industry or profession.

I recommend Executiveagent for this purpose - it compiles a list of recruiters based on the criteria you determine, and once you pay, your resume is emailed to all those recruiters. The fee is relatively inexpensive, and it's an efficient way to reach a lot of people at once.

The alternative is manual research. Buy a directory of recruiters from a bookstore, or use Google to track down as many names as you can.

Just remember - the recruiter is working for the company, not for you.

Comments

[JB King]

There is another dimension to using recruiters which can be to recognize that they may compete for the same position. For example, here in the city of Calgary, I have found it quite common for a handful of I.T. placement companies to advertise the exact same job description with the same client and gotten the advice to have a spreadsheet to keep track of who has sent my resume to which company so I'm not appearing twice in a pile of resumes. I had previously put my resume on-line on some job boards and would get calls from recruiters that set up the initial meeting and would sometimes have a potential position that may be a fit for me or if not they would keep my resume on file if something did come up. How often should one be checking in with recruiters to remind them one is still looking for a job? What kind of procedure should there be after a resume has been sent, e.g. how long of a wait before asking if there is an interview or what happened? These are another part of the working with recruiters that I've encountered in my navigating the job hunting jungle.

JB

[Louise Fletcher]

Hey JB,

I think it's wise to resubmit every 6 months or so.