A Message to Job Seekers - Were Recruiters Not Agents - Workology

A Message to Job Seekers - Were Recruiters Not Agents We  are recruiters. We are not your agents. An important announcement for any job seeker considering working with a recruiter as part of the search: We  are recruiters. We are not your agents. We arent sitting at our desks with a roster of favorite candidates, madly dialing up companies to find the perfect job for you. (That, my friend, is YOUR job.)  I know that can be frustrating to hear. Especially when youre in that Oh s#*t, Ive been canned! manic panic mode. (This, by the way,  usually hits just about three days after a layoff, shortly after youve cleared out your surplus of Johnny Walker Red and Ding Dongs.) But its the truth, and you shall prevail if you understand how recruiters work  before  you waste  even one  minute calling every one youve ever talked to. Generally speaking, recruiting firms get hired by  corporations with open positions that theyre struggling to fill. Sometimes, this relationship is formed as a retained search; more often today, a contingency search.  What this means to you is this: Recruiting agencies (and their recruiters) make money by finding the perfect candidates for the open positions that said corporations need filled. When the agency finds the match, the corporation pays the agency a percentage of that candidates base salary, often between 15-25%. If we dont find the match? Its donuts.  And its often a race, because recruiting agencies are frequently pitted against other agencies to fill positions. Speed wins. Given this, recruiters often just dont have time nor incentive to shop your resume around town to a list of random companies with whom they may (or more likely, dont) have relationships. Unless you are a great fit for one of an agencys current openings? You arent going to be a high priority. We might like you a bunch, and hope like heck that we can find a good home for you, but you wont be the Top Dog until/unless we have something available for you. This doesnt mean you should avoid recruiters, at all. I, and most other good recruiters, certainly like to hear from you when you are considering a career move, trying to relocate geographically, etc. Well keep  you  in mind as things open up, absolutely.But the important bottom line is this   you cant expect to find a job today by simply getting a couple of recruiters on the case.Proactivity and accountability are critical in todays job race. Blogging4Jobs  guest blogger this week is Jennifer Foss.   Jenny runs Ladder Recruiting Group, LLC (www.ladderrecruiting.com), a boutique style independent recruiting firm with offices in Portland and Metro Detroit. She is known as  @JobJenny  or  JobJenny.com  and considers herself your job search  BFF  and tough love expert on finding your career passion.