It should come as no surprise, but many organizations are outsourcing recruiting needs to consulting firms and staffing agencies. With this growing trend, job seekers are now faced with a new element to the hiring process. The days of seeing a recruiter as a road block are fading and are becoming a crucial part to the hiring process. As someone seeking employment there are many advantages to working with someone who is representing you and ultimately going to bat for you almost every day. If you are fortunate to find yourself working with a top of the line recruiter, below is what you can expect.
1. Help with your resume. There are the obvious pointers like formatting, grammar, and chronology, but the most impactful is often the content. It’s common for resumes to be modified for a particular position. Let’s say you have a blend of experience as an individual contributor and a sales manager, and you are applying to a management role. Your resume may only focus on your individual success, which is great, but employers may also want to see what your team was able to accomplish with you as their leader. When working with a recruiter, you can be coached on how to highlight your skills that are most relevant to the position you are applying for. It’s not to say you aren’t capable of doing this on your own, but a recruiter has more knowledge as to what a decision maker is looking for – since it is their client.
2. Stronger interviewing skills. When’s the last time that you interviewed for a job (with a decision maker) and at the end of the interview they gave you feedback on how to be more prepared or how to present a more compelling story? My guess is that only a few people can say this has happened. One of the perks of working with a recruiter is they serve as your consultant. They can help coach you and guide you on how to be more effective when you are in front of decision makers.
3. Level of detail. Recruiters ask a lot of questions, and sometimes it may come off as intrusive. We may want to know why you left every position and how much money you were making when you started and left a position. There’s a lot of reasons why this helps us understand you better professionally and personally. Did you take a step back in pay because there were other things more important to you like flexibility or an opportunity to work for a company with a better culture? Did you resign from a position because you felt like you were no longer passionate about what you were doing? Were you fired from a position because you didn’t meet quota? When an employer sees a resume blindly without a narrative, assumptions and judgements can be made. When you have someone like a recruiter who can provide detail and color around your resume, it brings your resume to life and helps create a story that can stand out from the hundreds of applicants that may have already applied.
4. Personality and culture fit. Understanding what motivates you outside of money and benefits, and what you like to do outside of work is so important to help make sure your goals and personality are aligned with a prospective employer. At eQ we openly say that our company isn’t for everyone, and that also holds true with our clients. Someone who may prefer working in a teal organization (check out Reinventing Organizations for more detail) may not mesh well in a company with more formal hierarchal roles. You don’t have to have the same hobbies as a future employer, but if you happen to and we let you know that before an interview, there’s an instant connection. Culture is a driving force for engaging top talent and it’s a recruiter’s commitment to help companies find individuals that will culturally fit into an organization.
Ultimately both you and a recruiter are responsible for building trust and forming a relationship. The stronger the bond, the higher the chances of achieving the goal, helping you find a job.
Now that you what we can provide for you, why not get some help from eQ to land you that your dream job?
