Being in the staffing industry, it’s safe to say that we’ve heard our fair share of misconceptions about working with recruiters. Regardless of the abundance of resources that recruiters offer, getting the wrong ideas keep many job seekers from utilizing recruiting services. You'd be surprised how common misconceptions can lead to not leveraging the power of recruiters.
No question that recruiter fees do come out of their client’s pockets, but in no way does this impact your salary. Often times the fees are determined by a contracted percentage of your first-year earnings, so the motivation to get you the best compensation possible is always high. Recruiters are often aware of how much a client is willing to spend secure top talent—if worthy, salary negotiations can go a long way. When you look at the bigger picture, the compensation of recruiters is tied to yours.
You heard right, recruiters don’t get paid until they fill a role, but the goal is always to fill the role with the right talent.
If recruiters place a candidate that doesn’t have the skills to succeed and grow in a role, that candidate won’t be happy—they will lose confidence in their recruiter and their ability to assess what position is the best fit for their candidate's background. Because IT recruiters work on a referral basis, just “filling” a role has consequences on their success—they lose referrals by just “filling” a role.
Not only can potential referrals be lost, the relationship with the client could be affected. Leadership may not come back with additional orders if connected with a candidate that’s not suitable.
What separates a good recruiter from the pack, is the ability to create a real, professional relationship. This relationship will be built upon the recruiter maintaining integrity, honesty, consistent/timely feedback and reaching out simply to check in and say hello, even when there’s nothing at stake. These relationships are simply the best part of recruiting!”
-Sara Moon, Sr. Technical Recruiter
Even though recruiters don’t carry out the hiring process, they provide recommendation in the hiring decision—so making a good first impression on IT recruiters is important. Many clients use recruiters to screen clients to see if they are a favorable culture fit, outside of their qualifications. How you conduct yourself gives them an idea of your soft skills, professionalism, work ethic, communication, attitude and adaptability.
As constructive as recruiters can be, they are a resource, not career counselors. Although they can provide direction and insights on focus areas for your job search, the management is up to you.
Reflecting on your experiences with recruiters, you have an idea on the importance of knowing where you’ve previously submitted your resume to, the date, and for what roles. You can keep track of your job search and submittals with a simple spreadsheet, then share this spreadsheet with your recruiter. Timing is everything - a resume you submitted a month ago may no longer be active, but your recruiter can resubmit it when another opportunity arises.
I frequently hear of recruiters that don’t stay in touch with candidates they submit to an open position, unless they receive an interview. This gives the candidate a bad experience and will be less likely to work with that recruiter in the future. I often find that it takes several months and submissions to find the right “home” for candidates, especially in a competitive market like Denver.”
-Kevin Haas, IT Recruiting Manager
Recruiters not only work for their employers, they also work with the client and the talent. It’s important for all parties to be on the same page, and that all decisions are based on the candidate’s best interest. This requires recruiters to make themselves available 24/7 for questions and inquires. If they don’t know the answer right then and there, you can count on them to dig up the answer for you.
Keeping candidates informed is a top priority. As soon as you’re finished with an interview, expect feedback. Express how the interview went in your opinion, let them know what you really liked, what concerned you and what you want to know more about. Recruiter-candidate relationships work best when both are being transparent.
Recruiters are given temporary and full-time positions, where you are placed is ultimately up to you. Roughly 75 percent of job seekers focus on permanent assignments, but there are also pros in contract assignments. Most contractors end up being hired into full-time positions or their contracts are extended for another six months to a year.