Have you ever come across a candidate who doesn’t understand why they should work with a recruiter as a complement to their own job search efforts? I work with midlevel clinicians and more frequently than expected, – I am asked, “Why is [the company] working with you to fill this opening?” My answer is always,“My client wants the top talent the market has to offer and I happen to be really good at doing that.” There’s not really a counter for that statement and it gives the candidate a sense of comfort and security that they’re in the right hands. But sometimes you have to give them the full spiel of why it’s valuable to have a recruiter in your corner. Here it is.
There are many different avenues a job seeker can take when looking for a new work opportunity. Most commonly used are internet job boards. This seems like the most seamless and confidential way to apply to positions – which it can be; however it also can be a black hole. Have you ever applied to a job posting and never heard anything back? It happens a lot. It’s frustrating when you spend time going through these sometimes lengthy application processes and never know if it was ever even viewed. I know that’s my biggest pet peeve. Did the hiring manager even look at my resume? Do I need to apply again? Was there something wrong with work experience? Did I miss some key words? Why didn’t I get their attention? These are all questions you might ask yourself when dead air is all you get on the other end.
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This feeling of uncertainty and disappointment is why working with a “pro” or a recruitment specialist is beneficial. The first benefit is that there’s actually someone there – a point of contact that you can reach out and touch – and ask questions to. It’s comforting to know that you’re working with a person who has some sort of responsibility to you, if they agree to assist you with your job search. Second – it’s in the recruiter’s best interest to place you in a great position. Recruiters make money based upon their job performance and that’s mainly judged by how many people they place. And, a productive recruiter won’t just place you in any old position – but in an amazing position. They want you to love and stay in your position so that they can develop trust and reputability with you and the company that hired you. Their goal is to get the hiring manager to come back for more talent and they want you to share your experience with your network, in hopes they can work with some of your connections too. Word of mouth is still one of the most powerful forms of advertisement.
The other advantages of working with a recruiter are that they have access to key people within a hiring organization and if they don’t – they have tactics to get to those people on your behalf. Like stated before – the recruiter wants you to get the job so they’ll pretty much do whatever it takes to get you in front of the hiring manager. Let the recruiter stalk and bother HR for status updates on your application. That’s usually the most humiliating part for a job seeker anyway. This way – you just get tagged in when the important stuff happens – i.e. interview time.
Plus recruiters will often be very realistic with you. A hiring manager probably won’t tell you that your outfit was horrendous – but a recruiter will. A recruiter should be like a career coach if they really love their job and seeing results. They will tell you exactly what attire you should wear, prepare you for the questions the hiring manager might ask, challenge your answers so you have a way out if backed into a corner and give you insider information that might not be easily available via Google query. A phenomenal recruiter will touch upon everything that might have an effect on the impression you make. It’s like an athlete having an agent or a celebrity having a manager – you expect those people to put you in the best light possible because it directly effects their success. And a recruiter will do just that because they want you to succeed.
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