How To Work With Recruiters
Send your resume to recruiters, but not to companies. Sending your resume to companies will cancel out any help that a recruiter might be to you. And the goal here is to work with a few great recruiters because when you find a couple of great recruiters, they are worth their weight in gold, if you know how to work them them.
Become recruiter agnostic. Don't be afraid to work with two or three or even a dozen of them to start. After a bit of time you will know the ones who are connected and who are willing and able to be helpful.
Be honest with them. Tell then that you plan to work with more than one recruiter, and then you will narrow the field. Recruiters want your business because they don't get paid unless you get hired.
Also, be up front. Tell them if you've already sent your resume into a company or not. It's a big waste of their time and a big trust buster if they have to find out from the HR department that the company already has your resume on file.
I can't tell you how many clients who are a perfect match for a position, the company already has their resume on file, and its as if the company doesn't know the candidates even exists. I don't know exactly why, but HR departments are notorious black holes for resumes.
Standard Procedures
At any one time a recruiters who answer your emails will likely be working on a position or positions for which you may be a good match.
So when you send you resume out and a recruiter contacts you back, the recruiter thinks that he can help you.
At any one time, a good recruiter will have contracts with a half dozen companies. But if they've been in the business for a few years, they will know key people at hundreds of companies for which they do not currently have contract or for which they are looking to get a contract.
Creative Procedures
Put aside the straight forward relationship where the position the recruiter is working on is a perfect match for you, and you end up getting the job. That's the ideal scenario.
Now for the creative scenarios:
Recruiters are always looking for business. One avenue into a company where they want to establish a relationship and do a bit of goodwill bidding is to get into that company on your coat tails.
As you prospect for for jobs, and you are looking for contacts inside of a specific company who can help you get your resume onto the hiring manager's desk, a recruiter is often the resource you need to make this happen for you.
Recruiters will be very impressed when they know your goal when prospecting for jobs, is to is to get your resume hand delivered to the hiring manager' by someone the hiring manger trusts. Not only are you doing what 99% of job seekers do not know how to do, but you will gain the respect and trust of a recruiter who knows if you get hired, you will likely advocate on their behalf when you yourself need to do some hiring.
If you strike out on the position that the recruiter initially contacted you about, that doesn't mean the relationship is over.
Most candidates never ask for this kind of help from recruiters, so it isn't as if they are doing a lot of pro bono work that doesn't pay the bills. And, because the recruiter instantly has a new found respect for you they will likely lend your their help hand.
You simply can not underestimate the value of a connected recruiter.
What's Next
Get your resume out to as many recruiters as you can, free.
We've stumbled upon a great deal where you can send or 'blast' your resume out thousands of recruiters for free. Usually, a service like this can cost $50, $100, or even thousands of dollars depending upon how broad your emailing is.
We have a great review of the paid services, but as long as this service stays free, there is no reason to pay to have your resume delivered.
A Couple of Tips When 'Blasting' Your Resume
- Send your resume too as many recruiters as you can, send it as widely and broadly as the service allows. And this service allows you to do just that, for free. You will be really surprised at how much help you will get back. It is mass marketing after all and our numerous experiments have shown that it is better to err on the side of breadth and depth than to send your resume to a 'select' few recruiters.
- As mentioned before, even if the service offers a free 'blast' to companies, do not send your resume to companies, unless you don't plan to work with recruiters.
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