Who should use a recruiter? Who should not?

If you have had a stable, upwardly mobile career track in a particular field, are not a career changer and have specific experiences and skills that a particular recruiter sources, you may be a good fit.

It is easy to address the question of who should not use a recruiter. If you have been a job hopper, are trying to break into a field or are not particularly experienced or unique in your skill set, a recruiter probably will not be interested in working with you.

What should job seekers know about recruiters? Why do organizations use them?

The first thing to understand is that third-party recruiters (“TPR”) (i.e. executive search consultants, etc.) are paid by our client companies to fill a particular role or requisition for them. Our job is not to find people jobs; our job is to find the right person for our clients’ job(s).

Many times the reason a company chooses to go outside their internal recruiting organization and use a TPR to fill a job is that it’s a particularly difficult person or skill set to find, or maybe they are overloaded with openings and need assistance due to sheer volume.

There can be other reasons as well. Perhaps the recruiting organization is in flux, the need to fill the position is extremely urgent and speed is a factor, or perhaps the company’s recruiting strategy is to stay lean internally and supplement with outside firms as needed.

How do Third-Party Recruiters (TPRs) differ from internal/corporate recruiters?

TPRs don’t work for the company, we spend nearly 100% of our time on targeted search and sourcing efforts to find the right candidate for the job.

Third-party recruiters tend to specialize in a particular niche. For example, the majority of my work is in and around finance, accounting and banking/financial services. I have clients that may come to me for assistance with searches in these particular areas and may use other firms for searches related to IT, engineering, marketing, etc.

What should I expect from a recruiter and what can I gain from working with a recruiter?

As mentioned, our job is to help our clients (the employers) by filling specific openings. If we think that you might be a good candidate, there are advantages to working with a recruiter vs. trying to get in to a company blindly on your own.

We have relationships with our client companies. I have some clients I’ve been working with since 2001. I can help candidates prepare for their interviews with my clients, let them know what to expect in terms of corporate culture and provide specifics about the group and/or person they’ll be talking to – because I know them. Most TPR have placed other job seekers with the company and therefore have additional insight from those individuals.

Another advantage is that, while HR is dealing with potentially hundreds of applicants for each open position every single day that may or may not even get so much as a glance; we’ll typically present just 3-5 candidates for a given opening and those candidates will be thoroughly reviewed and considered.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more about what job seekers should NOT expect from a recruiter!

Do you need help with your search? Follow this link to learn how I can help propel your job hunt!

The post The other side of the hiring desk, pt 1: Who should use a recruiter? appeared first on Keppie Careers.