Working with a Recruiter -- some thoughts

I was fortunate enough to have collaborated with Laura French on a Star Tribune article recently. The article was on how to find and work with recruiters on the job hunt. You can read it here: http://tinyurl.com/dkxdnv.

Obviously, this is a profession that is near and dear to my heart so my viewpoint is that of a recruiter. I wanted to add a few more thoughts along with Laura’s article.

We talked a bit about the “right” number of recruiters to work with. In a normal market, I hold to the “work with 3-4, maybe 5, but anything more than that is really tough to manage” theory. It becomes really tough to manage all the opportunities that come in from different sources. I’ve seen that lead to other issues, the worst of which is having your resume submitted by more than one company for a given role (which often results in a candidate being disqualified). However in today’s market I would say that there’s not necessarily a “right” number of recruiters to work with – we’re all a little down in the number of opportunities we have to share, so it may not be a bad idea to spread the “fishing net” out as wide as is manageable. I still think it’s possible to work with “too many” recruiters but the market is a little different right now.

Also, keep in mind that all of us recruiters tend to do things a little differently. You may like another recruiter’s style much better than that of mine. Ultimately, it’s always best to work with those you are most comfortable with. Some companies and recruiters are going to do a much better job focusing on full-time positions than consulting roles (which I tend to focus on). If you typically look for full-time positions, than you’ll likely find those recruiters are better ones to connect with. Companies in town like Recruiters of MN and McKinley are two that I know of that do more full-time placements, and I feel both are well-respected. If you are open (or prefer) consulting work, there are numerous firms to work with – Tech-Pro included of course! And all of us are different as well – some firms hire salaried consultants, others prefer to work only with hourly and independent consultants, and those that have a blend of all of the above.

Other “corporate recruiters” work just for one company – so when you apply for a full-time role directly with a given organization, you’ll likely be contacted by that individual. The role of the “corporate recruiter” is much different than those who work for third party companies – however, if you have your eyes on one company in particular for full-time work, they may be your best asset. They can be easy to find too – just go out to LinkedIn and do a search on “recruiter” and then enter whatever company you are looking for.

Laura does a great job on touching on some bad traits of recruiters as well. All of us have things we do well, and things we don’t do as well. The biggest trait that we recruiters must have is the ability to build trust. If there’s anything I do that you feel “you know, I just don’t think I can trust that Kirk guy”, then I am not a recruiter you should work with. For a recruiter to be successful, they need to be someone that balances a candidate’s best interests with those of their client and the mission of their employer (in my case, Tech-Pro). If you feel someone is trying way too hard to talk you into a position you don’t feel is right, they’re not doing a great job of balancing your needs with “the need to make a placement.” That sort of short-term thinking is likely to catch up with them in the long run.

You may want to get to know what makes your recruiter tick – how long they’ve been in the industry, and why they enjoy doing what they do. That may often shed some light on how much you’d like to work with them.

There are a lot of great recruiters in town -- many of whom are facing the same challenges right now, but very eager to help people find that next “perfect role.” I appreciate everyone that has met with me and hope that we can work together sometime, but it’s always a great idea to find that group of 3 or 4 you feel you can work with consistently over time. I’d be just honored to be considered part of that group!