Recruiters find candidates, but they don’t actually hire them.
Contrary to popular belief, job seekers don’t hire recruiters to find them jobs. A recruiter actually works for an employer who pays them to find a candidate to fill a certain role within the company.
Some recruiters work for the company as an employee. They are called internal, corporate, or in-house recruiters.
External recruiters work independently or for a recruiting agency. They are also called third-party or independent recruiters, sourcers (not sorcerers, that’s a different thing), headhunters, agencies, or search consultants.
Recruiters are not career coaches or career counselors. Don’t expect them to give you general career or job search advice. They don’t have time. They will match you with an employer or they will not, based on the requirements of the position, your qualifications, and their impression of you.
Recruiters are not one-size-fits-all. Some specialize in a certain industry, career level, or location, so just calling a recruiter out of some online directory won’t work well.
Don’t blame the recruiter if you aren’t hired. If they present you as a candidate, an external recruiter will do their level best to make sure you are chosen because that is the only way they are paid. An internal recruiter gets a paycheck, but they will have credibility at stake in presenting a good candidate. However, no recruiter is in charge of the hiring process or makes the hiring decision.
What you can expect a recruiter to do is ask you a LOT of questions and to provide some information about the company and position(s) that may fit you as well as the hiring process. They do a whole lot of research and networking to find candidates that can fit the roles they hope to fill.
They often use Applicant Tracking Systems to help them search for candidates, which is why you need to make sure your resume can be read by an ATS, even if you’re not applying online.
You can also expect a recruiter to be very busy, so calling them out of the blue the day you lose your job isn’t a good plan. They don’t always have an open position sitting around that will fit you. Build a relationship with a recruiter BEFORE you need them. If they have a position they think you’ll fit, it is in their best interest to call you, and they will.
If you are having trouble finding a recruiter, contact me today. I have access to a reputable resume distribution service that will put your resume in the hands of as many as 2500 recruiters nationwide.
Image courtesy jesadaphorn via Freedigitalphotos.net.
