How Important are Recruiters in a Job Search?
Q. How important are recruiters in a job search? I have not had much luck working with them.
Working with recruiters during your job search really isn’t a matter of luck as much as it is meeting the very specific requirements our clients want. The fact is recruiters place a very small percentage of the candidates in their database. So working with recruiters from a candidate’s perspective means there isn’t a high probability they will have a job right for you. Remember recruiters work for the company. That means for every job search only one candidate is going to be hired. Considering on any one search we conduct, we review between 150 and 200 candidates, the odds of any one candidate getting the job is very small.
So here is my recommendation for the candidates I coach when it comes to working with recruiters. Let the recruiters do their job and you do your part. The best way to work with recruiters is to make sure recruiters can find you. That is what recruiters do. We find people. So the higher your visibility in the market the higher the probability the right recruiter (the one with a job for you) will find you, engage you and hopefully place you. This is why building solid networking relationships is so important in a job search. The more people that know you the higher the odds are you will be referred to a recruiter by one of your networking relationships. Being highly visible so recruiters can find you is the best way to work with recruiters during a job search.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Tags: Job Search, Job Search Preparation, Recruiter Relationships, Recruiters
Job Search Preparation, Recruiters | bradremillard November 13, 2012
About the Author
Brad Remillard is a founding Partner of IMPACT Hiring Solutions, co-author of "You're NOT the Person I Hired", and "This is NOT the Position I Accepted". Brad is an award-winning international speaker, retained executive recruiter, and expert on hiring and retaining top talent, and executive job search.
