A legitimate recruiter can tell you about unposted opportunities, let you know how you stack up against other candidates, provide insights into the current hiring environment and individual companies, provide feedback on your resume, and prepare you for interviews. Image: DOERS/Shutterstock.com
People frequently ask me for names of recruiters to help them with their job search. Most statistics cite that ~85% of hiring is through networking (of one type or another).
That leaves ~15% of hiring through other means such as job boards and recruiters.
Given those numbers, relying solely on a recruiter or headhunter to find you a job is not a good idea.
What exactly is a recruiter?
Recruiters can be internal (working directly for an organization to fill internal roles) or external (working to fill roles for multiple companies). Both internal and external recruiters typically fill multiple kinds of roles at varying levels.
Headhunters work with companies to help them find and vet potential applicants—typically executives; they are rarely internal and often specialize in finding candidates for specific industries. Headhunters and external recruiters are paid a percentage of a selected candidate’s first year salary.
In most cases, you cannot hire a recruiter or headhunter to help you find a job.
As mentioned above, the most effective way to find a job is networking. Recruiters (and headhunters) search online (including LinkedIn) and use referrals. The stronger your online presence, the easier it will be to be found.
You can use LinkedIn to connect with recruiters and you can send them your resume (make sure to keep your street address off your resume) although recognize that recruiters receive hundreds of unsolicited resumes and you may not hear back unless until and unless a recruiter has an appropriate role to fill.
Recruiters can also find potential candidates on job boards if the job board has provided access to recruiters. Networking events also attract recruiters, especially industry-specific events.
If you do connect with a recruiter or one does reach out to you, please know that they can be of assistance. As a first step, please verify that they are who they say they are!
Unfortunately, there are people preying on the unemployed, running scams, and trying to extract money. To verify a recruiter, check their online presence, including company, email, and network. Ask specific questions about the job they have for you. No recruiter should ask you for money or your social security number, offer you a job without an interview, or offer you a job for which you never applied. Even if someone is on LinkedIn, that does not necessarily mean that they are legitimate.
If you do want to work with a recruiter, do your research first. Many specialize in specific geographic areas, specific jobs types, and/or industries; reach out accordingly. Recruiters mostly focus on people who are staying in their field—not people who are looking for career changes. If you are looking for a career change, you may be better off with a career coach than a recruiter.
A legitimate recruiter can tell you about unposted opportunities, let you know how you stack up against other candidates, provide insights into the current hiring environment and individual companies, provide feedback on your resume, and prepare you for interviews. They will also keep you in their database for future opportunities that fit your skills and experience.
Recruiters can be helpful in the job search but should be viewed as a tool and not “the answer.” At the end of the day, recruiters find people for jobs, not jobs for people.
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