Working with a professional recruiter is an important career tool and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Finding the right recruiter can help you save time and prevent some of the frustration of searching for a job on your own, but not all recruiters or recruiting companies are “perfect for you.”
Below are 4 qualities to look for when searching for your ideal recruiter.
They seek to understand you.
There is nothing worse than relying on someone who doesn’t “get you” unless it’s working with someone who doesn’t care if they understand you as long as they fill a spot.
Some recruiters tend to focus only on what’s best for the company doing the hiring. You want to find a recruiter who believes that your specific needs are just as important. In some cases, a seasoned individual recruiter, as opposed to a large recruiting company, can take the time to not only find an ideal candidate for the employer, they’ll help you find the right position.
Some recruiters get caught up in certifications and technical skills. Although these are important, the ideal recruiter can look beyond this to help ensure that a position is a fit in terms of culture and your goals as well.
Matching skills is the easy part. Pay attention to the questions your recruiter asks you and perhaps more importantly to the deeper level follow-up questions.
It’s important that your recruiter understands what makes you tick. If you’re bored in your current job, this should be of interest to them. Why are you bored? Is it the company, or is it the job position? Your recruiter should have a strong desire to dig deeper to understand you and your needs. This is the only way they can help you find an ideal position or situation.
They understand what the ideal candidate looks like.
You may have all of the technical skills for a job, but that doesn’t mean you are what a particular organization is looking for to fill the position.
They should know the client and the department culture and be able to provide examples of how the culture is lived out. You are looking for more than a job description and benefit overview and this is where an ideal recruiter will shine.
They aren’t afraid to give blunt, honest feedback.
In order to land a position that is perfect for you or even a stretch for you, you need to know your blind spots or potential barriers to getting a role. It’s best to know potential hurdles upfront so you can discuss and shed light on the situation.
A recruiter willing to give you honest and sometimes blunt feedback is going to be more valuable to you in the end than someone simply trying to get a slot filled.
They trust you and empower you.
Your recruiter can provide tremendous guidance in prepping you for an interview. In some cases, they can and should offer coaching for specific situations, but if they have done their homework and found the right match the need to micro-manage or even escort you and from interviews is childish.
It comes down to a simple point of view. If they understand what you are looking for and also understand the goals, objectives, and culture of the organization with a position to fill they simply need to empower you to shine and trust the research they’ve done that brought you to this point in the first place.
If the qualities addressed above sound like the way you would like to find your next position, contact me and let’s talk about your goals, interests, and options – I know the perfect situation is looking for you.
