1) Find a recruiter BEFORE you absolutely have to have a new job. Let's face it, you're probably wasting everybody's time talking to a recruiter unless you're at least thinking about making a job change. But the absolute worst time to make first contact with a recruiter is when you've been RIF'd, fired, or quit and you need a new job right away! The purpose of this first contact with a recruiter is to:
Some recruiters don't want you to call them until you're desperate for a new job. Avoid these recruiters. Continue searching until you find a real professional.
2) Find a recruiter that specializes in your talents. Most recruiters specialize. A recruiter usually specializes by geography, technology, or industry, or some combination of the above. When looking for a recruiter, try to find a recruiter who specializes in your technical field and geographical preference. We get lots of non-I.S./telecom resumes sent to our office, and they always wind up in either the paper shredder or get processed with a 'delete' key.
3) Find a recruiter that you like to work with and that you trust. No matter how perfect the technical and/or geographic match you are with a recruiter's specialty area, you MUST like working with this particular recruiter. If a recruiter "bugs you" for any reason, find another recruiter. It is far better that you find a recruiter that you like and can trust but is slightly out of your talent area, then continue to work with the "perfect recruiter" under a lot of friction and stress.
4) Don't be too quick to send your resume to an unknown but "smooth talking" recruiter... especially if you're still employed. When you finally find a good recruiter, your goal is for that recruiter to keep you in mind for career-building positions as they arise. Most recruiters are true professionals with very high ethics. They will gladly keep you in mind for new positions that are "right up your alley" as they are uncovered. However, there are a few unethical recruiters in the marketplace that will do whatever it takes to get you to change jobs. For example: How would you like your resume to wind up on your current boss's desk next week? How would you like your resume "shotgun blasted" to hiring managers at every one of your current employer's competitors in the U.S. and Canada? How would you like to have your carefully crafted resume "doctored" to say things you haven't done, mention technologies you haven't used, or credit you with academic credentials you don't have?
All of the above has happened to others. Some intentional, some maybe not. Be careful! Before you send a resume to a recruiter, make sure you know exactly what they will be doing and not doing with your resume.
5) Provide the recruiter with current salary information and expectations. Most people (including most recruiters!) find it hard to discuss something as personal as compensation. And that's fine. However, there are at least three people in this world that need to know your current salary: the IRS, your spouse, and your recruiter. The first two need to know for obvious reasons. Recruiters need to know for the following reasons:
6) Don't put important facts in the cover letter you send to a recruiter. Cover letters tend to get lost in the shuffle, are often not even read, and most recruiters only keep the resume anyway. Keep your cover letter short and specific. On a cover letter, you may include:
7) Make it easy for a recruiter to get and read your resume. Don't assume that every recruiter has every possible technology in place to receive and read your resume. We sometimes hear:
Web Browser? Download a copy? Multimedia resume? ZIP disk? Email? Quattro Pro format? A recruiter is usually a business person, not a technology person. Before you send your resume, ask the recruiter how they prefer to receive it (fax, email, postal mail, etc). And remember to send the best, cleanest, and clearest resume that you can. For example, when faxing a resume always use "high resolution" mode. The fax'd image that the recruiter receives of your resume is much sharper in "high resolution" mode.
8) Recruiters are usually NOT good vehicles to help you change careers. For example, a technical person with great programming skills and no sales experience wants to become a sales person or account manager. Or a seasoned project manager wants to return to the "technical trenches" and become a Web Programmer. In both cases, the people described above probably have great potential to do the jobs they really want to do. However, employers do not usually use recruiters to find them people with great potential. Employers use recruiters to help them find people with a particularly well-honed skillset, and several years of practical experience in a particular field. If you're an unrecognized "super star", recruiters are usually quite good at helping you get recognized and accelerate the advancement of your career. We are not very effective at helping you change careers.
9) Executive recruiters recruit; career counselors counsel! Recruiters are inundated with requests for free career counseling, free resume writing advice, free practice interview sessions, etc. Although most recruiters are very qualified in all of the above, our "real" job is to find qualified people to work for our client companies. Most recruiters spend half of their day uncovering great job opportunities with their clients and prospective clients, and the other half of their day searching for qualified candidates to fill these jobs.
Recruiters are usually pretty good at career counseling, resume writing, and interview prep sessions. However, a recruiter's "real" job is to uncover the best career-building positions in their specialization, and then recruit qualified people for these positions. Although part of the recruitment process often includes some career counseling, some resume "tuning", and some interview practice sessions, if you really need extensive help you may need to hire a professional career counselor.
10) Executive recruiters recruit; bus drivers drive busses! Recruiters get lots of calls that go a bit like this:
Monday afternoon, a Systems Analyst gets notice that he will become part of a major RIF at his current employer. He immediately calls a recruiter that he just found in the phone book and says: "I'll fax you my resume. Now go find me something!"
Two days later, the same Systems Analyst calls the same recruiter and says: "You guys find me anything yet?"
Two weeks later, the same Systems Analyst calls the same recruiter and says: "You guys aren't worth a #$%^! You never find me anything when I need you to."
The above scenario happens much more often than you may think. We affectionately refer to these candidates as "ticket to ride" candidates! These candidates must think we are bus drivers waiting to collect their "ticket" (aka "resume") and move them along to the next "stop" (aka "a better paying job").
See Tip #1 for a better way to work with a recruiter!
Q: I received a phone call from a recruiter last week, but I hung up on her right-away because I'm afraid my boss could find out that I've been talking to a recruiter. I really don't like to hang up on people. Is there a better way to handle a call from a recruiter?
A: I sure hope so! If every one hung up on me, I'd be pretty depressed after a while!
First off, congratulations! Statistically speaking, very few people ever get a call from a recruiter. You must have some very valuable skills to have received a call from a recruiter.
When a recruiter calls, try the following:
Q: Why does a company pay you recruiters "big bucks" to find someone to fill a position when there are always lots of good people looking for work? A: Great question! Chances are very good that before an outside recruiter gets a call from a hiring company, the following has already taken place:
Now, about the "big bucks" we recruiters get paid. If a recruiter's only job were to "sit around" and read & evaluate resumes, I for one wouldn't be doing this job! A recruiter is paid to deliver results. Nothing more, nothing less. If we don't deliver, we don't eat.
Thank you for contacting us. We are sensitive to the fact that undergoing a career search may be an unfamiliar process to you. Because of this fact, we have compiled some very valuable information for you; including resume tips, interviewing tips, and strategies to help you in your search for a new career opportunity.
This has been compiled to help you - the candidate - to successfully land a new position. Please take the time to read this.
1) 10 Tips for Dealing with Recruiters
2) Questions Recruiters Receive From Candidates
3) Resume Do's and Don'ts
4) Candidate Interviewing Tips
5) Interviews
6) Important Interview Questions and Your Answers
7) 10 Reasons for Not Accepting a Counter Offer
8) Resume Design Tips & Example
9) Beefing Up an Anemic Resume
10) The Dangers of Resume Overkill
11) Improve your Resume - In today's competitive employment market, your resume has to stand out in order to get the attention of the decision maker and create a strong impression
12) Top 10 Interview Blunders
13) Resume Tips for Engineers Over 40
14) Book - How to land a Job in a World of High Unemployment
For additional information on interviewing, and career search methods I highly recommend a book called: Knock em Dead and Knock em Dead Resumes, written by Martin Yate.