I love it when someone sends me an email and asks, “Do you know this recruiter? Is he a good guy?”
Believe it or not, I don’t know every HR professional or recruiter. I just know a few — but most of them are good people. (Sure, some of them are chumps but there are scam artists and losers in every industry. Look at sales.)
You need to use your brain—and your smarts—to sort the wheat from the chaff.
Here are some thoughts.
- Do the work and make sure the recruiter is credible. Don’t be shy. Ask probing questions before you allow a recruiter to represent you. You can ask for a biography. Request references. Connect with him on LinkedIn. Look him up on Twitter and Facebook. Make sure this guy hasn’t burned bridges or created any sort of ruckus.
- My favorite recruiters are those who have established relationships with VPs, hiring managers, and Human Resources professionals. That’s a tall order, actually. For starters, you can ask the recruiter to talk about his networking strategies. You’ll want to hear how he stays current in the industry
- I ask for an overview of my industry. I’m not looking for an economic treatise; however, I am curious if the recruiter can speak intelligently about my career field without using a ton of jargon.
- Ask the recruiter to describe his last couple of placements. This is about data, yo. I like to know the positions filled and how long it took him to find the ideal candidates. Recruiters won’t talk about specific clients or placement fees, but they will talk about general metrics if you ask. It’s not tacky to ask.
- You will never have to pay to get a job. I hate to add this bullet, but there are a few sketchy ‘operators’ out there. Credible recruiting agencies don’t ask for money.
Finally, I think it’s important to know where a recruiter is submitting your resume before the resume is sent. You can ask for this specific information — it’s not rude.
Remember, a relationship with a recruiter is like any other business arrangement. Do your research, ask thoughtful questions, and operate with integrity. Don’t forget that a recruiter is risking his reputation on you, too.
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YEAH again Laurie. If candidates would adopt this type of due diligence, the agency recruiting industry would be better off, as the quality of recruiting professionals would increase greatly. They’d have to, or they would die in the recruiting profession. Tell Scrubby, Rex says meow.
@Dave You got it. Scrubby says hi backatya!
Thanks. This answers many of my own questions about working with a recruiter.
@christine Thanks!
As a recruiter, I definitely agree with knowing where you are being sent. I run into candidates all the time who say they are working with someone who won’t tell them when they are sending their resume unless an interview is requested. HUH?? This is your career and you have to be happy going to work every day. You should have a say about what companies you are sent to. The ones that won’t say are more concerned about protecting their leads than they are about you as a candidate, so why would you want to work with them?
Kendra Andrews
HireNetworks
@kendra I’ll tell you what — I think people don’t know that it’s okay to ask. That was my situation. I didn’t want to be rude.
Pay attention to how they communicate and handle things. If they are coming across as a bully or clueless or completely disorganized; they probably that way with everything and everyone.
This is especially true if the conversation was scheduled or if they initiated it since they had time to be prepared for the conversation.
@sales I think that’s good advice for all positions in the businessworld!
It would be good to know too what the easiest way to get in touch with them is, and what their minimum and maximum response time is (AKA managing the client’s expectations). Had a client who got sick of playing phone tag with one of the recruiters for a well-known financial services company…she left 5 different voice mails on 5 different days (some were a week to 3 weeks apart). The funny part too was that THE RECRUITER initiated the call to her and the client was just returning the call (since she was talking to someone else at the time).
Karen, The Resume Chick (on Google or Twitter if you need me)
@karen awesome insight — thank you!
I’ll endorse Nick Corcodilos’ ebook “How to work with headhunters” (http://asktheheadhunter.com/store/htwwh/sellhtwwh.htm) I reviewed much of it for Nick before he published it, and it covers all the things you’d expect and then some.
@Andy I endorse Nick 100%. He’s awesome.
Frankly, my biggest problem is when otherwise credible recruiters pass off jobs to bottom feeding Indian recruiters to prospect for them. They can’t speak English and have no idea what the actual job is about. Many high level technical people simply will not deal with them at all.
@Stephen Those are strong words about Indian recruiters. Wow. That’s not fair.
Terrific information and insight, Laurie. Thank you!
@iknowtoo Thanks!
Gotta say, have never had any good result with “headhunters” or “recruiters”; prefer dealing directly with the hiring company. Exception: if the company mentions/redirects applicants from its website to the recruiting firm’s or if the recruiter states company name upfront, which enables applicants to verify the relationship.
@Geekette I found my job at Alberto-Culver through a headhunter. Two of them. They fought over me since they submitted me around the same time. It was a lesson for me that I need to manage my relationships better. I should have been more on top of that.
I gotta ring in on this one. In response to Geekette, can your recruiter even understand what you do? If the answer is no, then the “recruiter” will have a hard time selling what they do not understand. The best recruiter I worked with actually read my diverse resume and realized that I was good fit for an odd job at a magazine, writing about topics where I had a real working knowledge. The worst recruiter tried to place me in a job hours from any city and where my skill set was a complete mismatch. The supposed match was based on experience with tires. I had worked high-level, back office design that was all computer based and the plant wanted production.
The one job where my wife placed me with a friend (fellow recruiter with a couple of businesses), someone had the audacity to ask what my wife’s fee was. I replied, “Her fee was just MY ENTIRE SALARY.” Rude and stupid questions deserve an answer in kind.
@HHS That is a rude question — and your insight about a recruiter’s knowledge of the job is a good one.
As mentioned above, there are good recruiters and not-so-good recruiters, just like any industry.
I wholeheartedly agree that a candidate’s resume should never be sent to a client unless the candidate knows where it is going and has had a chance to discuss it with the recruiter and/or look over the client’s Web site to make sure there is a pretty good fit. Of course, there are some sleazy candidates out there, too, who then make a quick call to the client on a direct basis and try to score an interview and “save” the cost of a recruiters’ fee.
@saxton there are some sleazy candidates out there, too, who then make a quick call to the client on a direct basis and try to score an interview and “save” the cost of a recruiters’ fee. Yeah, maybe. But when you work with a recruiter, you are gaining access in a way you’d never have on your own. I think candidates need to know this…
Thank you for putting in a good word about Recruiters/Head Hunters. I am one of the Good Guys. I am amazed when I hear shocking stories about a recruiter that has behaved unprofessionally. Without a doubt, there are “bad apples” in every industry. Unfortunalty, in my industry, we have more than our share. I welcome any opportunity to prove that all recruiters are not alike. It has been my experience that all I need to do is sincerely *care*. How easy is that?
@SeSee Glad you commented. Thank you!
Other thoughts for candidates.
Don’t sign stuff without reading it and understanding it. The only thing you should consider signing is permission for a reference check.
If a recruiter asks you to sign something that authorizes them to represent you make it specific to a certain job or company not a blanket permission to represent. Read the fine print on those puppies. Some of them say that if you don’t get the job then mention it to a friend who does ,without going through that recruiter, you are liable for the fee.
@Maven Some of them say that if you don’t get the job then mention it to a friend who does ,without going through that recruiter, you are liable for the fee. What? That’s crazy-talk.
I like to think of myself as an “Incredible Third-Party Recruiter.”
@Matt You are incredible!
Jason Alba wrote a nice article back in March…
http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/2010/03/17/wrong-question-do-you-know-a-recruiter-who-specializes-in/
One more add…enthusiasm. If a recruiter isn’t sincerely excited about working with you – and you’ll know it in the first 30 seconds of speaking with them – you stand a greater chance of being disappointed with them.
Consider the initial meeting to be a form of speed dating…
@Steve Love enthusiasm. Good point.
Careful with enthusiasm…or worse ‘excitement’. That can very easily become a reason to be suspicious for a candidate. EX: when was the last time you went to the doctor and they were really EXCITED to try out a new surgical procedure…wait for it…on you? Yikes.
My preference & suggestion in a word: ‘PASSION’ ~ Does the Recruiter believe in the company? Why? How long have they worked w/the client company, etc?