Tip 2 Disadvantages working with Recruiters

1) The recruiter does not follow up.

How many times has a recruiter called you, told you about a job, perhaps even got you excited about it and then you never heard back from them? This has happened to me when I was in job searches. I didn’t understand why. I still don’t know why a recruiter won’t have the courtesy to call to provide status.

Worse yet is if you have a job interview and the recruiter doesn’t call you to provide feedback. You can make the logical assumption that the company wasn’t interested, but the fact the recruiter doesn’t have the courtesy to call you and provide feedback is not justified. This is one thing that gives recruiting a bad name.

Tip 1D

5) A recruiter can give you inside information which can put you ahead of the competition interviewing.

Part of a recruiter’s job is to assist you every step of the way in the interviewing and hiring process. The recruiter will providing you inside information about the company and people that work there you will be interviewing with. In addition a recruiter will; setting up the interview, prepare you for the interview, arranging travel, negotiate the offer (if it gets to that stage), and help close the deal.

Tip 1C

4) A recruiter can negotiate a better offer for you.

This is true in many instances. Recruiters know what companies can pay for a position as well as what others are making within that organization. I can’t give away all of our secrets, but if your working with a good recruiter, he/she should be a good negotiator. A better offer can mean; more vacation time, a sign on bonus, better relocation, just to name a few.

Tip 1B

3) A recruiter can get information from companies which you are not privy to.

In Point 1 above we indicated that you can submit your resume via email to most any company’s website or job posting, however, there is no way for you to know if your resume gets into the right hands unless of course that company calls you to schedule an interview.

If you don’t hear back from a company, were you not called because the company did not think you have the right background, they filled the position internally, or your information did not get into the right persons hands? This is another reason it is beneficial to work with a recruiter in your job search. They have access to information you are not able to get.

Tip1A

2) A recruiter can provide the hiring manager information about you that is not on your resume.

What a recruiter knows about you can be shared with the hiring manager. This can relate to specific skills that are not detailed on the resume, references that have been checked, your work ethic, attitude and other various tidbits which can mean a lot to a hiring manager. The resume is only meant to be a brief summary including your education, work experience and accomplishments. The bottom line is if a recruiter knows their clients well, they can get you an interview.

Recruiting 101 - Tip 1

Over the next several days I am going to share advantages and disadvantages of working with a recruiter. If you have worked with recruiters, you likely have experienced some of these. I welcome your comments.

Some of you have had great experiences working with recruiters and unfortunately others have had some very bad experiences. There are a lot more advantages as well as disadvantages I could have written about, but here are a few that likely hit home.

Advantages of working with a recruiter:

1) Recruiters know about jobs that are not posted on company websites or on job boards.

Many companies don’t have the time or resources to fill all of their open positions. Therefore they use recruiting firms to assist in the process. This has changed over the years with job sites; Monster, Careerbuilder, HotJobs, etc. Many companies will post their openings on their company website and/or one of these job sites. However many companies do a very poor job of managing responses they get, and some companies don’t even manage them at all which makes me wonder why they even bother posting them. How many times have you submitted your resume directly to a company website or a job site posting and not heard back?

Recruiting 101

Hi, my name is Brian Courtney. I started recruiting/headhunting in 1998 working for a small recruiting firm based out of Detroit. I left to start up my own recruiting firm, The Courtney Group Inc. 3 years later. We celebrated our 7^th Birthday this past March. 10 years in recruiting this September, where does time go?!

Over the upcoming months I will be posting information which is intended to benefit you when in a job search and looking to advance your career. Also, how to effectively work with recruiters or avoid those that cannot help you. My expertise in this area comes from the fact I have worked in industry 14 years as an engineer (mostly quality). Having worked for 5 companies I know when recruiters had my best interest in mind and those that were self serving. I’ve seen the Good, Bad, and sometimes Ugly world of recruiting. I will share both sides of the story from a recruiter/applicant perspective and bring you unbiased insight.

Some of you have had great experiences working with recruiters and unfortunately others have had some very bad experiences. I will do what I can to provide information to make sure that you don’t have any of those “ugly” experiences. Stay tuned to more information I believe you will find valuable. Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated.