Best Practices for Working Well with a Recruiter

Working with a recruiter can be an enormous advantage for you when you’re on the market for a new job. Recruiters are hired by firms to source the best candidates for their open positions and working closely, and effectively, with a recruiter can help your job search be more successful.

Here are some best practices for how you and a recruiter can have a solid and effective working relationship.

1. Be accessible. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s important to always try and pick up your phone when you’re in the process of looking for a job. The last thing you want is for a recruiter to send someone else to a employer because they were unable to readily get a hold of you.
2. Try to find a recruiter in your niche. The deeper the understanding a recruiter has of your market, the better they will be able to find a good fit in an employer for you. How well does the recruiter know future employers? What kind of relationships do they have with businesses in your niche? All of that information will help them be more effective for you during your job search.
3. Find a recruiter who will help you through the whole process. A good recruiter won’t just send you to a potential employer without any tips. They will help you optimize your resume, give you tips on what the employer is looking for and help you be the most successful candidate you can be.
4. Be proactive! Even if you aren’t successfully placed in a job the first time, developing a proactive relationship with a recruiter can be extremely helpful for getting jobs in the future. The better your relationship and the more aware they are of your current job situation, the easier it will be for them to remember you and (hopefully) place you in the future.
5. Be honest. The biggest piece of advice we can offer job seekers when working with a recruiter is to be completely honest. When you’re truthful about the extent of your qualifications, experience and background, then the recruiter can avoid wasting your (and their) time with positions and employers that aren’t a good fit.
6. Don’t hand the recruiter any surprises. This comes back to the point about being honest. You shouldn’t lie to the recruiter and embellish your resume, but you also shouldn’t hold anything back that may come back to haunt you. The last thing a recruiter wants is for you to go into an interview and say something (potentially disastrous) that they had no idea about.
7. Market yourself to your recruiter. It’s important that you’re recruiter sees you as a valuable investment. You need to portray yourself to your recruiter the same way you would show yourself to a future employer to make sure that the recruiter knows they are putting forward a professional candidate. The best asset you have during the hiring process is the good opinion of your recruiter because they’re the one who will be marketing you to a client.

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