How to work with a Recruiter

When you start job searching you want to have a few key tools up your sleeve. You’ll need a killer CV, an all-star LinkedIn profile and a trusted, expert Recruiter.

It’s worth pointing out before we explain some of the best ways to work with your Recruiter, that finding a good one can sometimes be tricky to do. We’d like to think that there are tonnes out there, but the truth is we do hear horror stories. Here’s a few red flags to look out for –

Your Recruiter doesn’t take your calls
Your Recruiter doesn’t send you the job spec
Your Recruiter sends your CV without your permission
Your Recruiter doesn’t tell you the company name
Your Recruiter doesn’t set aside time to prepare you for the interview
Your Recruiter can’t answer basic questions about the business and the team

We could go on, but you get the picture.

So watch out for these and once you have found a trusted Recruiter (top tip: these are found at The Niche Partnership), you’ll want to know the best way of working with them.

Here’s our advice –

Make time for them

Your Recruiter is likely to ask to meet you before representing you (note that if they don’t do this, it’s another red flag). We understand that it can be difficult to fit this in around work and other commitments, but it really is important to make the time for this.

Firstly because it shows your dedication to the process. In a competitive market, you want to be front and centre when your Recruiter is shortlisting for their vacancies. If you’ve avoided meeting them, it’s highly unlikely that this will be the case.

Secondly, it’s crucial for the Recruiter to be able to represent you accurately. You want to make sure that the person presenting your profile to potential employers REALLY understands you. They should understand your strengths, your weaknesses, your qualifications, your requirements etc. Only by meeting them will they know this.

Be clear and informative

We’ll let you in on a little secret…Recruiters are not mind readers. If something is important to your job search – tell us! Holding back information or skirting around a point really doesn’t help us to understand your motivations and what you want from your next role.

A good Recruiter will be able to advise you on how to present yourself to the market, give them all the details they need to know and they can do this properly. If you withhold information at any stage of the process, they could end up presenting to you roles that simply are not right, wasting both your time and theirs.

Be open minded and take advice

Clearly only you will know if a role is right for you. That said, your Recruiter is there to show you options and this may mean suggesting companies and positions that perhaps you hadn’t considered up to now. Be open minded and always remember that you have nothing to lose in considering these options.

Also remember that the Recruiter knows the potential employer and the market better than you do, it’s their job to know this! If they recommend tweaking your CV or doing specific research, please do take their advice on board. After all, they are the subject matter experts in this case.

Ask questions

As mentioned above, your Recruiter should know the market inside and out. Ask them questions about it! You don’t need to restrict your questions to specific companies or vacancies either, ask them broad questions about the market or general advice on CV writing and interviewing in order to help your job search.

For more tips and advice, why not connect with our team?

We believe in giving valuable support wherever we can – regardless of whether we’re representing you for a role or not! If you need any help, get in touch at [email protected]