This is my second post for #NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), in which I’m blogging about my experiences of searching for a new job. Check back soon for more posts.

Recruiters – your worst nightmare?

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘recruiter’? I suppose it depends on your past experience of recruitment agencies/consultants, and under what circumstances you are approaching them. But it’s fair to say that recruiters have a somewhat shaky reputation among the general public. Whether that reputation is truly deserved is a topic for another blog post. Nonetheless, by learning a bit about what makes recruiters tick you can maximise your chances of successful job hunting.

The nature of the beast

Arguably the most important part of working with a recruiter is understanding who they’re ultimately working for and what motivates them.

The employer is the client, you’re the service user.

No genuine recruiter would ever charge a candidate a fee to use their services – it is the employer who is paying for their time. This has an obvious benefit to you – it’s free – but it also means that your needs (the right job) are secondary to the employer’s (the right candidate for the job). That doesn’t mean the recruiter isn’t working in your best interests, but it never hurts to remember who is paying their bill.

Recruiters are salespeople!

Recruitment consultants, generally speaking, earn a significant portion of their earnings from commission, paid by the employer. Sometimes the consultant (and/or their agency) is paid an upfront fee to conduct a search in addition to a significant final payment (retained recruitment), but more often than not the recruiter is simply paid a finder’s fee when a candidate is successfully placed (contingency recruitment). Recruitment agencies are highly target-driven, with fierce external (and often internal) competition. For widely advertised roles with a lot of candidates there may be a race to get there first, which might affect your chances if you’re not equally quick off the mark.

Recruiters are very busy!

It almost goes without saying that target-driven salespeople – who are working on a commission basis – often have packed schedules. A recruiter’s daily workload may include:

• writing job adverts
• posting adverts on multiple job boards
• searching job boards for suitable candidates
• interviewing potential candidates by phone
• searching for advertised vacancies to recruit for
• making ‘prospect calls’ to potential clients
• catching up with pre-existing candidates

For a more first hand account of a recruiter’s daily routine, read this day in the life post by Mohammed Ahmed for Yolk Recruitment.

In short: don’t be surprised if you don’t always get a call back!

Taming the recruitment beast

With the above characteristics in mind, what can you do to maximise your chances of success? Here’s a few ideas:

Don’t be afraid to sell yourself

I noted above that recruiters are salespeople. This means, of course, that you, the candidate, are the product that they are ultimately selling. It pays, therefore, to make their life easier by doing some of the hard work for them. Here’s some sage words of advice from Aimee Bateman, founder of careers advice platform Careercake (emphasis mine):

You need to influence your recruiter and convince them of the benefits you bring and the value you can add to their clients. They need to really believe in you to really ‘sell’ you.

You can do this by giving them a breakdown of your achievements. You can write them a list of companies that you would love to work for and give them the reasons why and you can hand over as many fantastic references as you can get. Your recruiter can and will use all of this information to help differentiate you from the other candidates and secure you that last interview slot.

Taken from Aimee’s guest post ‘Top 3 Tips for Working with Recruiters‘ on the Undercover Recruiter Blog

The above advice may sound unorthodox but it really works. Following Aimee’s recommendation I include upfront references on cover letters, job applications and my CV. The results are noticeably better when I do. Of course, a similar approach also works when applying directly to employers.

Equally important when selling yourself to a recruiter is to be brief and to the point. When writing a cover letter for a specific role, focus on how you meet the requirements and what additional benefits you would bring to their client. Give concise examples of relevant work experience, but avoid repeating information that is contained in your CV. Not all recruiters place much importance on cover letters, but if you want to increase the chances of it being read then short and snappy is often the better approach.

Pick up the phone!

Many people (myself included!) prefer a well-crafted email or cover letter to a phone call but the truth is that speaking to an actual person guarantees that you’ll get a response. You may not be as eloquent over the phone as you are in writing, but it’s often much harder to demonstrate your enthusiasm using the written word alone. Calling someone up can also save you a lot of time; if a recruiter’s not interested then you’ll know immediately.

Keep at it

Finding a job via a recruitment agency is rarely quick or easy. You might get lucky on your first few attempts but the best way to get the job you want is to be persistent, focusing on your unique skill set and abilities. Here’s some words of wisdom from Joe Morgan, a digital marketing recruiter for the creative industries:

It can be very frustrating being a job seeker but my advice is STICK WITH IT. I work within the digital sector and without a doubt the job market fluctuates month upon month, the trick is keeping that finger on the pulse. Far too often I see candidates who apply for roles they are not suited for in desperation for work. As a candidate you will have a defined skill set and (hopefully) an idea of which industry sector in which you wish to continue your career. So stick with your skill set and stick with your industry aspirations, don’t apply to roles that deep down you know you are not suited for. Every day is a new chance!

Conclusion

I hope that you’ve got something from this post, and please pass it on to anyone who may find it useful. Thanks also to Joe Morgan for contributing his advice.