Today’s job market is becoming more competitive than ever. With hundreds to thousands of qualified applicants competing for the same position, it’s important to make sure your application and resume standout from the crowd. But to successfully navigate and close in on a given opportunity, you need an agent on your behalf who knows the in’s and out’s of a position as well as being able to sell your skillset to a decision maker. Here are 5 reasons why you need a recruiter on your next job search:
1) Direct contact with the hiring manager:
Recruiters have vested relationships with the hiring managers. Recruiters devote time to learning what makes someone a good fit and also the cultural nuances of a particular company. After speaking or meeting with a recruiter you will know if the job is the right fit for you or not.
2) They know the ins and outs of the job description:
When you are reviewing a job description typically the bullet points of Job Requirements are the most important part. A good recruiter will know what areas of the job description are most important and which ones are secondary. By knowing this ahead of time you automatically can get yourself to the front of the line.
3) Give career advice:
The recruiter’s job is to interact with thousands of job seekers a year. Recruiting is much like a batting average in baseball. Unfortunately success is determined by failing more than winning. They know what a bad interview looks like, and how it can be prevented. If you are an average job seeker chances are you are only interviewing a few times a year. Which means you only get a few shots at getting things right. Working with the recruiter allows you a chance to learn from others mistakes. If you can spend even 10 minutes with a recruiter finding out what makes a job applicant attractive to hiring managers, it can save you hours of wasted interviewing time.
4) Up-front honesty:
Unfortunately the true fact is that companies do not want to tell you why you are not a fit for them. They would like to have you believe “there was a better applicant”. And while that may be true, that still begs the question: what made them better? More experience? Better aptitude to do the job? Would they accept a lower salary? Hiring managers aren’t afraid to tell recruiters these answers because they know they do not have to tell the applicant themselves. So, as such, there is no fear of backlash by sharing this information with a recruiter. On the flipside the recruiter is not afraid to tell the applicant this information because ultimately they are not the ones who feel this way, it comes from someone else. When you are working with a recruiter you can get the black and white truth, no matter how harmful it may be.
5) Interview preparation:
The recruiter can prepare you well for the interview in advance. They know if the hiring manager prefers someone who dresses casually, shows up 15 minutes early or has a strong handshake. Candidates can be declined on the basis of these subtleties. If you are interviewing on your own, how are you supposed to know that? Working with the recruiter allows you to know what will set you apart from the rest of the applicants. Maybe this hiring manager will only hire a team player, and while the candidate before you was unaware of that you walked in prepared to talk all about how you were part of a 10 person team that had to work together, and you brought examples to prove it.
Bottom line:
Ultimately working with a recruiter will get you closer to that dream job you’ve been trying to land more than you could think, by separating yourself from the herd. Knowing what a hiring manager wants to see on a resume and what will set you apart once you land that interview will put you that much closer to acing the test. But don’t just work with the first recruiter who calls. Understand their market, clients and industry. If you are an IT Director looking for that executive level position it makes no sense working with the Financial Recruiter who specializes in tax accountants. The recruiter/ candidate relationship should be one of understanding what the two of you can do for one another. After all, this is your life we’re talking about.
Author Bio: I started Incredible Consulting in 2008 to help people achieve the type of job and career they want. Incredible Consulting is now one of the largest independently run personal career & recruitment sites with about one million visitors a month.
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