(I had a vision of a 3 year old child asking this question to their parents as I wrote the Blog title!)
Approximately once per quarter, I address a group of executives in transition on the topic of
How To Work With A Recruiter. (I made one of these presentations this past week.) The purpose of this presentation, given at the offices of some of the Twin Cities premier career transition consultants, is to tell the truth about search and demystify the process. The message I give these job seekers is simple:
- We work on behalf of the employer.
Working with a recruiter is not something candidates wake up and simply choose to do. The largest misconception is that we work solely on behalf of the candidates. While we are certainly their advocates if they are right for the job, our client is the employer.
Are you visible and responsive?
Candidates in these transition groups want to know how they can be found. More correctly put, they want to know how they can become more likely to get a call from a recruiter. The answer is visibility and responsiveness. Let's start with responsiveness.
While sounding self-serving, I asked last week's group (roughly 25 people) how many of them had returned every recruiter call they had received PRIOR TO being in transition. Three people raised their hands. I then asked how many would return those calls now. All hands were raised (one person raised both hands).
All search firms, regardless of size, have some type of candidate database. While rarely the only way a search is completed, it is a great starting point. Search firms have to have a database in order to track the multitude of candidates that have to be contacted to find the one right person for any specific assignment. We as a firm have records of past candidates (our records go back 14+ years). These records contain notes from past conversations. Each candidate is coded in such a way that we can find them again. Codes kept are about industry, function, education, salary, etc. One of the key pieces of information we keep - did the candidate call us back when we had reached out to them. Were they helpful? If they weren't interested, did they have networking thoughts, ideas and/or referrals? Not surprisingly, we reconnect with people who we know will be helpful to us - by looking at the candidate's past history/responsiveness.
What about getting known in the first place?
This goes to the visibility question. One of the other questions I commonly ask is who is involved ACTIVELY in their profession and industry? Sadly, very few people raise their hands. Some are members of professional associations, but have not been to a meeting in years. The reason - too busy. They are members because they have always been members and they get information/updates from the group.
Being involved, by my definition, simply means showing up (at least). Being ACTIVELY involved means getting on a committee, writing an article or becoming a board member.
There are other ways to be visible.
LinkedIn is one of our research tools. (It is not our only tool, but it is one of them.) There are multiple user groups and discussion boards on LinkedIn that are affiliated with different industries and professions. Being a member is helpful for your visibility. Actively participating in on-line discussions is even more helpful. Our clients want people who are active in their profession. This is just another sign of your involvement.
Do you volunteer your expertise for a non-profit group? Do you guest lecture at the local college/university? There are so many things a person can do within their profession to get known. Most of these activities are actually fun! While they do involve taking some of a person's spare time, the career development and networking benefits that come from 'visibility activities' are well worth it.
But one more question . . . . . can't I just send my resume to every search firm and have coffee with you?
I would love to say we read/respond to each unsolicited resume we receive. And I do love coffee. That said, our job is to fulfill the specific needs of our clients (the employers). Sending a resume is certainly a good idea - especially if you were referred by someone we know. Use the referral name prominently - and don't expect coffee. Follow-up to make sure we got the e-mail - and then get visible and return our calls. You will increase future call likelihood dramatically.