How to make Recruiters work for you

Take charge of your Career Search; get Strategic with how Recruiters work.

Knowing how to make recruiters work for you is an essential part of your Career Strategy if you are going to use recruitment companies and this information is good for you to know and have in order to assess;

1. The likelihood of the recruiters’ ability to place you in a rewarding position.
2. Your ongoing commitment to work with them to achieve this result.

In my experience, a successful and confident recruiter will openly share this information, as opposed to take offence to the questions, as they strive to establish a transparent relationship, built on mutual trust, with you- a high value candidate whom they will potentially place.

These questions are best asked in a face to face meeting, with a recruitment consultant who has initiated contact with you, or at the very least after initial electronic niceties have been exchanged.

I suggest asking a combination of some or all of the below questions aimed to give you insight into the respective areas;

Assess the recruiters’ footprint within your specific field:

1. When last did you place someone in my specific industry?
2. When last did you place someone with my type of experience & qualifications?
3. When last did you place someone with this particular client?
4. When last did you place someone?

Establish the recruiters level of control over the assignment:

1. Are you retained exclusively by this client to recruit for them?
2. Do you have full exclusivity on the role or are others recruiters working with your client too?
3. What is the history of your / or company’s connection with this client?
4. Who at the client company is the final decision maker in this process?

Learn how recruiters work:

1. What should I know about working with you?
2. Will you actively market my CV to other clients, irrespective of whether there is a role or not and will you put me forward to multiple roles with multiple clients?
3. Are you happy that I may decide to work with other recruiters?
4. What frequency of communication do you need from me?

Research how recruitment company work:

1. How many clients do you actively work with?
2. Is your business based on a contingency fee model ie: paid when placed or a retainer fee model?
3. What fee percentage do you charge your clients? (20% is the ‘norm’ in SA)
4. What guarantee / terms of business do you offer your clients on placed candidates?

Establish the level of engagement of the recruiter:

1. Are you an owner/ partner of this recruitment company?
2. How long have you been recruiting for & why? Do you like recruiting?
3. How many positions do you work at one time on average?
4. What is your personal average placement ratio? ie: success of placing?

Establish the reputation of the recruiter:

1. How is business for you / your company currently?
2. What percentage of your business is brand new vs repeat?
3. What do your clients and previously placed candidates say about working with you / your company?
4. Are you a member of any official associations or professional bodies within your industry? ie: APSO, Chamber of Commerce etc.

Consider this; You wouldn’t enter into any partnership, JV or business venture with anyone unless you had full disclosure and enough background information to ensure a positive outcome and mitigate any issues arising.

Treat your engagement with the recruitment company, who represent you in your next career move, with the same strategic weight.

If any of these questions go down like a led balloon- please invite the recruiter to read this post, I would welcome any feedback and debate.

Take charge and stay in charge of your #CareerStrategy

If you have enjoyed reading this blog take a look at – Licia Dewing Career Strategist 2021 Blog. for more mindset and action steps to move your career forward.

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