7 Reasons to Work With a Recruiter
Job hunting, and hiring, and recruiting is hard, but a recruiter can make it a lot easier.
By Renee Beckman, CPA | Digital Exclusive - 2017
The recruiting industry is highly competitive, sometimes cutthroat. Like all sales driven professions, the playing field gets dirty and clouds the value of the services. As an industry veteran, I’ve had many conversations with hiring managers and job seekers who’ve experienced the bad, but I promise there is still plenty of good.
Recruiting is supposed to be a relationship business; it’s not a resume service that pushes paper to hiring managers. A respectful and transparent recruiter/client partnership is critical to success. Perhaps in the past you never received feedback on an interview, or the recruiter you were working with fell into a black hole never to be seen again. Or worse, you made it to the finish line of a grueling five-step interview process only to receive an offensive offer.
Whatever the reasons you’ve shied away from using a recruiter (or maybe have never tried one), I encourage you to pick up the bat once again and take another swing. Here’s why.
1. Recruiters know of hidden & confidential opportunities
Believe it or not, Google can’t find every job opportunity. Organizations sometimes have to recruit and hire confidentially. Sometimes small to mid-size organizations have very small HR teams that have to outsource for recruiting assistance. Often, these career opportunities aren’t advertised by the hiring company, making a recruiter your only way in.
2. Recruiters have influence
Experienced recruiters build trust with their clients and maintain old and established relationships; oftentimes these relationships turn into close business acquaintances and good friends. A recruiter can have much influence over decision makers and can secure an interview in situations where perhaps traditional communication or application processes fail to be noticed.
3. Recruiters have inside information
Once you’ve worked with an organization for a good amount of time, you acquire a deep understanding of their interview style and format. This can include knowledge of specific questions they frequently ask, the areas of weaknesses they key in on, their thought process, and communication style. This information is invaluable and can give you a competitive edge as you prepare for an otherwise very difficult interview.
4. Recruiters leverage their relationships for people they like and trust
I probably shouldn’t say this, but it’s true. Recruiters that have close relationships with their clients and believe in them will go the extra mile to get them placed. “Selling” a person you believe in to a hiring manager that you also believe in and trust is very compelling for recruiters; when client relationships are strong, recruiters will gladly put their reputation on the line on behalf of their clients.
5. Recruiters do the dirty work
In addition to locating career opportunities and brokering a hire, recruiters also spend significant time handling administrative responsibilities. They proof and polish resumes, coordinate interviews, follow up on the recruiting process, gather employment information for credit and background checks, and continually communicate with the hiring company, just to name a few. The tasks are endless, and without the help, the job seeker and hiring organization would have to personally handle much more of it.
6. A recruiter could be free
In most cases, recruiters work for you, the job seeker, for free. Why wouldn’t you take advantage of a free service, especially after reading reasons 1-5 above?
7. Recruiters are vested in the process
It’s worth noting that contingent recruiters work for free, for both parties, until they make a successful placement. Meaning, they don’t get paid unless you land the job. This clearly creates motivation to make sure the right relationships are made, and ensures a vested interest in the success of the process.
Renee Beckman, CPA is the founder and CEO of Limitless Search Inc., a specialized accounting and finance executive search, contract resources, and corporate recruiting consulting firm.