Remember when we told you to budget 80 percent of your job hunting time for networking? You should be spending a solid chunk of that 80 percent finding, connecting to, and meeting recruiters. It’s a great use of your networking time and the payoff can be huge as you get more people advocating on your behalf.
Learning how to work with recruiters is crucial, because — love them or hate them — by the time you reach mid-career (and earlier if you work in digital), you’re likely going to work with a headhunter or an external recruiter.
Recruiters are not created equal. Choosing the right one can jump-start your job search, while choosing the wrong one can derail your job search indefinitely.
Recruiters are not created equal. Choosing the right one can jump-start your job search, while choosing the wrong one can derail your job search indefinitely.
At The Hired Guns, we call ourselves Talent Agents. And akin to the Hollywood talent management model, we bend over backwards to help the people we represent achieve their full potential. Likewise, a solid recruiter –- one who knows you and your career goals, aspirations, and experience — can account for a considerable amount of new job opportunities. If they know your industry and have connections to the companies you’re interested in, they may alert you to a job and score an interview before it even hits a job board or Linkedin. At The Hired Guns, about 50 percent of our gigs fall into this category.
A great recruiter will not only know the HR team at a company, but the hiring managers, too. This means they’re in a key position to play matchmaker and help find you not only a great new job but the right*new boss to mentor you through the next phase of your career (we’ll tell you more about hiring your own boss in the coming weeks).
Generally speaking, there are three types of recruiters you can turn to for full-time roles:
Retained Search
Retained recruiters will typically work on high-level searches (VP to C-Suite and $150K+) and they have an exclusive on the job. In these arrangements, companies pay the search firm a portion of the fee up front and set a time limit for the agency to find the right hire.
Contingency Search
Unlike their retained counterparts, contingency recruiters typically work on all professional levels and are strictly pay-for-performance, meaning that if a candidate doesn’t get placed, the recruiter doesn’t earn a commission. General purpose staffing agencies are nearly always contingent recruiters.
Contained Search
Contained search is a hybrid of the retained and contingency models. This method involves an initial engagement fee and is usually indicative of a position being very high priority for the hiring company. These types of engagements are less common than retained and contingency searches.
Once you’ve established a relationship with a recruiter, the job opportunities they bring you should be more on-target than the ones that you might find on a job board or through the grapevine.
Why Bother With Recruiters?
A recruiter’s livelihood is tied to your success in a few ways, all of which you can use to your advantage.
Most obviously, a recruiter only earns commission when they place a candidate in a job and that person sticks for at least three months. That’s trickier than it seems, which is why recruiters can get a bad rap and be accused of only being interested in putting “butts in seats.” In reality, if they don’t make matches that stick, their clients will disappear and they’ll be looking for a new job, too. Working with them should improve your chances of getting hired, since they’re sure to have the skinny on the likes and dislikes of the companies they are recruiting for.
Additionally, most job hunters aren’t skilled at determining whether companies are serious buyers or only window shoppers. A good recruiter will only send you on interviews where you have a decent shot of closing the deal with companies who have a vested interest in hiring.
Finally, when a recruiter really knows their clients (both you and the companies they serve), they can sometimes sell employers on the candidates they really believe in, but who may not look quite right on paper. If you’re trying to make the leap into an ambitious role, changing careers, or just don’t quite hit every bullet on a wish list, here’s where having a good recruiter on hand to make a case for you can really pay off.
How to Find a Great Recruiter
Cast a wide net
Which recruiters are your industry pals using to get their jobs? Figure that out and ask for an intro. Not tight with people in your field? Hop on Linkedin, identify the people who do what you do on Linkedin, then browse their profile to see which recruiters they are connected to.
Don’t overdo it
Generally, you’ll want to identify one to two boutique recruiting shops who specialize in your industry to work with and one to two big players who have a division focused on your industry. Try to make sure there is not too much overlap between end clients so your recruiters don’t cross paths. Be honest with them.
Interview them when they interview you
Having an agent advocating for you in the future will be a very good thing indeed. Just know who you’re going into business with. Ask specific questions, like who they know in your industry, who they’ve placed and where, and where they see the industry going in the next one, three, or five years. Be sure to get a sense of whether or not they truly understand you, your goals, and your industry. And make sure you genuinely vibe with each other.
Keep them in the loop
Unless you’re under an exclusive contract with a recruiter — which is rare — they’ll expect you to be out there looking on your own, even while they’re also doing heavy lifting on your behalf. If you start to get deep into the interview process with a new company, let them know early. They may even help you negotiate your next offer, even if it’s not through a role they are representing (here at The Hired Guns we do this all the time). A good recruiter knows that your next job won’t be your last job, and if they help you, you’ll come back when it’s time to move again.
Pay it forward
There will be plenty of times when a recruiter approaches you with a new opportunity. These days, it may be as simple as sending you an InMail in Linkedin. But even if the job they send you isn’t one you’re particularly interested in, don’t just blow them off. If you know someone who would be great for the job, make an introduction. This puts two points in your karma bank, because both the recruiter and your pal will owe you one.
The Takeway
Before getting involved with a recruiter, find out what kind of search they’re running. Ask them smart questions about what they’re looking for, what companies they typically represent, and the urgency of the hire. Figure out if they’re a high-turnover shop just looking to fill a seat, or if they’re a more focused firm with your best interests at heart. If it’s the latter, make the effort to build a lasting relationship with them. Finally, know that working with the right recruiter can save you time and energy, and can often open doors that might otherwise remain closed.
What’s Next
You’re sending out dozens of applications but not getting any responses? We’ll explain why your online applications don’t get answered.
28 Days to a New Job is a month-long Hired Guns course designed to help you maximize your competitiveness in the current job market. Learn the secrets to getting a job from hiring managers, recruiters, negotiation experts and more. Read our our introductory post here. Or Subscribe Now to receive 28 Days to a New Job as a daily email.
