5 Things You Should Know About Your Recruiter

A recruiter can open up multiple opportunities which may have otherwise seemed out of reach. A good recruiter one can help you make your way to the best workplaces and positions. Remember – they have the skills to help you, but only if they want to! If you want your recruiter to work hard for you, you need to maintain a relationship with them that ensures you are on their mind.

To do this, you first need to understand their expectations. Here are some things that your hiring manager or recruiter might be thinking to themselves but not sharing with you:

#1 They’re looking out for the company’s interests

Your recruiter will expect you to share your future goals so that he or she can match available positions to your goals. This helps to reduce the rate of attrition in their firms and maintains their credibility. Naturally, a recruiter is likely to focus more on their company’s requirements than on our aspirations. For example your background includes technical work experience as an assistant but your goal is to build your career in marketing because you feel you can show your colours there.

However if you share such aspirations with your recruiters, you are making a big mistake for which you may regret later because a recruiter may not be able to help you with it. Employers take help of recruiters to find people with particular skill set and years of relevant experience to do the work and not potential employees who have the desire to do work. So the advice is, be careful while sharing your goals with recruiter, you may end up losing great opportunities and interest of the recruiter.

# 2 Hiring managers know you are not perfect

Your recruiter would want to know about your relationship with your current or previous employer, the nature of work, work culture, salary etc. These things help the recruiter to understand more about your needs and comfort. You should also share things that may have not gone your way in your career – like being fired in the past, any gaps in education, any legal issues pending with the previous employer etc. This helps the recruiter to understand the negatives in your profile and model them effectively while representing to the employer. They have prepared answers for such situations. Don’t worry they have dealt with lot many people like you and they know how to do. A small blip in your profile is not the end of your career.

 #3 Recruiters like ethical candidates more than others

Let the recruiter know if you have applied to the firm previously – for two reasons. If the hiring manager already has your resume in their internal system and the company is not interested in proceeding, you’re honestly wasting the recruiter’s time (while being dishonest about your history with the company). The other reason could work in your favor – companies may have different policies and some firms may not mind if you have applied long back to some other role. It would be rather safe if you release this information earlier to your recruiter.

#4 Recruiters are reading you even before the interview

Don’t waste their time if you have a change of plans before showing up for the interview. If you’re asked to confirm before an interview on whether you would show up, be honest. If you don’t, you’re hurting their credibility, and of course, your own too. If you are transparent, they can arrange some other candidate instead or do something about it. This would highlight your ethics and seriousness that would keep you up in the eyes of recruiter.

#5 They are also looking for feedback!

Recruiter may love to hear from you after the Interview. Follow up after the interview can be standard practice for recruiters, but if you were to pitch in before they do, it would add a personal touch and that reveal your interest in job seeking. They could consider you for future opportunities, and your honest feedback would help them build a better idea about the selection and potential negotiations with the hiring manager. Don’t forget to thank them for the opportunity, it motivates them and builds strong relations!

#6 Recruiters won’t like it if you waste their time

This is fairly obvious. If you are not interested in the job that a recruiter has suggested you, be upfront and tell them about it. This would save your time and their as well. Also if you know someone who would be interested in the job from your network and is a fit for them, refer them to the recruiter. Recruiters like referrals – it is like a bonus for them and some recruiters could also reward you for this.

Recruiters have the best opportunities for you and they can be instrumental in your success as a professional. You just need to build a professional relationship with them.

If you prove to be a good candidate in the eyes of a recruiter, you have definitely made the way for all the good opportunities in future. If you need help regarding building your relationships and profiles with top recruiters, you can always access portals like IIMJobs.