Fast Track Your Job Search

The job market is more competitive than ever, great career opportunities are hard to find and even harder to land. Employers are looking for talented people with the skills and smarts to succeed and they are being more selective than ever. Working with a recruiter is one way to increase your chance of finding a great job. While working with a recruiter clearly offers a number of advantages, it requires some work and patience on the part of the job seeker. Understanding how to navigate the do's and don'ts of working with recruiters can help you get the most out of your recruiter relationship, and ultimately lead to the best outcome; a great job and improved career opportunities!

Partnership
It is important for you to ensure you have partnered up with the right recruiter. Oftentimes, it’s best to select a recruiter that specializes in your industry because they will have a better understanding of the trends in that specific market. Make sure you have some questions written down to help you evaluate if this is the partnership for you.

Here are some suggestions.
• How long have you been in the recruitment industry? This will give you an idea of the knowledge and work experience of the recruiter.
• Now that you know a little more about me, is there a specific job you have in mind for me?
• What kinds of hiring trends are you currently seeing in my field?
• Do you help candidates prepare for interviews?
• After today, when can I expect to hear from you again?
• On average, how quickly do the candidates you work with find a new position?
• How long have you worked with some of your client companies?

Be clear
Your recruiter is meeting with you to clearly understand and define your goals and aspirations in order to;

a) Help source your next opportunity, and

b) Provide you with advice, recommendations, and referrals that will assist you in your search.

It is imperative that you provide your recruiter with genuine information about what you do and don't want and openly discuss your motivations and career history.

Know your experience
Keep in mind that the recruiter is meeting with you to get to know and understand what makes you unique in terms of your skills and experience. Before you go into the meeting, glance through your resume. Think about some of the most important projects you have worked on in your previous job(s), what you liked and didn’t like about each job or task. Remember to acknowledge some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced and how you overcame them in each role.

One of the best ways to make your recruiter’s job easier is to evaluate the impact you had in previous roles. Recruiters want to hear about what you’ve done and how you did it, but understanding the big picture and the impact of your work is also vital. It’s important for your recruiter to know this information to help them sell you to a potential new employer.

The right connections
Because recruiters work closely and on a daily basis with hiring companies, you stand a better chance at being chosen out of the many candidates who applied for the position. In presenting your CV to the employer, the recruiter has unique insights into the company and is able to present your skills and strengths better. 

If you work with a specialized recruiter, they will know dozens (hopefully hundreds) of hiring managers who work within your field. If you don’t get the first position you are interviewed for, your recruiter will likely have a few more in mind or know of several more that will open up in the future. Recruiters sometimes get exclusive vacancies; they get job specs from these hiring companies even before the job gets advertised. So you will have a head start.

Additional insights into the company
Because the recruiter is familiar with the hiring company, they will be able to tell if you will fit into the company's culture, work well with the employer and be able to cope in their kind of work environment. They can give you valuable information regarding the interviews process, the type of interview style, and some questions they might ask you. This will help you walk into the interview with confidence and well prepared on what to expect.

We spend half of our waking hours at our workplace, so make sure you select your next job carefully. Partnering up with the right recruiter will give you an advantage, save you time, and help connect you with the right potential employers in your industry.

Communicate Recruitment is a recruitment agency with consultants specializing in finding Finance jobs, IT jobs, Engineering jobs, Freight jobs, and Supply Chain jobs. Check out our vacancy page and apply now! 

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