Working with recruiters and placement agencies can be a great thing. But what you do as a candidate, and your expectations, can also determine your level of success. Today we’ll look at 10 ways you can hurt your chances of landing your next job through a recruiter.
But before we do that, a little background on the different ways you can land your next job…
Apply Online
This is the quickest and easiest way of handling the job search process. It can be done by you, at any time, day or night. You just search online for the opportunities and submit your resume. Easy peasy.
Referral
The referral can be either you getting your resume to someone to submit on your behalf, or it can be a prior boss or coworker specifically recruiting you for a role based on your past work experience. This is the method that has landed me my last 8 jobs in a row. It moves you to the front of the line and is great if you’re just looking to move up or laterally in an industry.
Networking
This includes leveraging your LinkedIn network, friends, past coworkers, groups you belong to, industry association events, etc. Like referrals this can be powerful. Often you’ll want to work 3rd degree connections who are often more likely to refer you into a job than someone you know well. I’ve often found this is the case because they aren’t putting their own reputation on the line as much. They haven’t worked with you but can still pass you along without a recommendation – this get’s you into the hiring conversation, but without a big push by the referrer.
Recruiters and Placement Agencies
This is the one that seems the easiest. Most recruiting companies and placement agencies don’t charge the job applicant for the search. They get paid by the future employer – either through a permanent placement fee or temp staffing markup and/or conversion fee when you convert to the company’s employee. Employers like this model because it simplifies their life – the recruiter does all the legwork and they just interview finalists. It also helps companies because they can try-before-you-buy with a candidate. They get to see how you do in the job. If you don’t work out it is less of a process to let you go. They just call up the agency, and the agency takes care of it.
Okay. Now that you understand the different ways to land a job, let’s talk recruiters specifically.
Working With Recruiters
Recruiters can often be your “fast-pass” entrance to some of the best jobs. They get to submit candidates for jobs that may not have hit the “retail job market.” Jobs you’ll never know about otherwise.
They’re usually looking to fill a specific opportunity. Yes, some are trolling for generic candidates. But even these fishing exercises are designed so they can respond quickly when a client opportunity presents itself.
You aren’t their client. Their client is the one paying the bill. And in the telecom business that is typically a wireless carrier, tower company, or construction company with lots of positions to fill.
The client most often retains a staffing company or recruiter to fill staffing needs related to projects. Projects require staff. And projects often don’t get staffed until they kick off. This means they need to hire…and hire fast. Sometimes it is a permanent placement. Other times it is a bunch of temp positions just to get the client through a busy time.
When you enter the recruiter’s pipeline, you often are either a fit or not. And they can typically tell that pretty quickly.
Working with recruiters is a great way to get access to a bigger piece of your target job market.
But as great as working with a recruiter is, job candidates can often unwittingly kill their current or future job placement chances with recruiters.
I’ve worked with many recruiters and staffing agencies over time in the telecom industry and have been a job candidate and have been on the client side hiring them to find people for my projects.
I reached out for the inside scoop of what recruiters see on their side working with job candidates and got their opinion as to what candidates should NOT do.
Thank you to Allie Pantaleoni with NextGen, who corralled some of her company’s recruiters and other team members to pull this list together.
Here’s how candidates ruin their recruiter relationship…
1) Ghosting
If you aren’t interested, are no longer on the market, or something came up, tell your recruiter. Things happen. They get it. But responding is professional. Don’t ruin your reputation in your industry. Recruiters are people. They talk. They share their war stories.
2) Lack Transparency
Ignoring calls, not responding to texts, cancelling interviews the same day. Something’s up. They know that. Just be above board with them. You don’t need to hide from your recruiter or dodge their messages.
3) Double Submit
Often agencies are competing against other agencies that a company has contracted with to provide candidates. There are times where two or more agencies submit the same candidate. You’d think that working with multiple staffing companies would increase your chances. And while that is a possibility, not letting your agency know that another recruiter is submitting you for the same position can just cause problems for both recruiters you’re working with. So be careful with this one.
4) Impatience
Recognize that recruiters have a lot on their plates. But if you’re still in the running for a role, they WILL let you know of any important developments. They DO want to keep you in the loop so you don’t lose interest. But constantly bugging your recruiter for feedback when they’ve told you they haven’t heard back yet, calling after normal working hours repeatedly, on weekends, on their personal phone…not good. Once they have news, they WILL reach out to you.
5) Not Paying Attention to the Details
There is a lot of information to keep track of…both for you and your recruiter. Things like hourly rate, overtime expectations, start and end times, scheduling details, etc. Not paying attention, or not asking to clarify something to make sure you understand, can lead to future problems when an offer is presented and your recruiter is thinking the deal is done.
6) Backing Out of an Offer at the Last Minute.
Wow. This is a biggie. Your recruiter has been working on your behalf, selling you to their client. Putting their own reputation on the line. And then you back out. It is one thing to back out when something changes or you get new information that affects the viability for you of this role. But when you’re nodding your head, “okay” all the way through the process, accept the offer, and then back out. That’s really bad. So if things are not sounding right, deal with it before you get to that point. And one thing you can do to avoid this is to, earlier in the process, REALLY consider what it will be like to step into this new role. Many times people with an existing job like the CONCEPT of the new job, but when it gets down to actually TAKING the job, they get cold feet and stay where they are.
7) No Show to Interviews
Run into a problem before an interview? Have a last minute conflict that you can’t avoid (maybe with your current job), reach out to your recruiter. Much better to let them reschedule your interview or put it on hold due to some new development, rather than leave them in the dark and no show the interview. Your recruiter is often ready and willing to help come up with a solution. If an emergency arises, please contact them!
8) Blame
Many times, a candidate gets through the hiring process to the point of an offer being made. Then they get frustrated at the recruiter for the pay range being offered. Don’t blame the recruiter. Pay ranges are typically dictated by the client company. Yes, your recruiter should let you know if you’re in the pay range prior to an offer coming in, but getting frustrated with the recruiter because you didn’t get the number you wanted isn’t fair and won’t help you build a strong recruiter relationship for the next opportunity.
9) Updated Resume
Not keeping resume up-to-date when active in the job market. This is on you. When a recruiter reaches out to you, they often have a job opening in hand they are trying to fill. If you have your resume updated and ready to go, they can react quickly. And this often means you get submitted and make the short list. Don’t have a resume updated means it takes a few days to a few weeks to get it there. Often it is a rush job which means it isn’t reflecting your abilities, experience, and accomplishments to their fullest. And then you miss out. That can be frustrating for a recruiter who KNOWS you’d be AWESOME in the role. But because your resume isn’t ready for primetime, you both miss out. So get started on updating your resume.
10) Transparency
Being clear on your requirements up front is important. No point in having your recruiter submit you for a part time role when you’ll only accept full time. Or requiring a 100% remote role when they thought a flexible work schedule with 3 days a week work-from-home would have been acceptable. If there are deal-killers, get them out there early so you aren’t wasting each other’s time.
There you have it. 10 things you should avoid doing that will hurt your job placement chances working with recruiters.
Need an updated resume? Check out my services and how I might help.
In the telecom business and looking to add a staffing agency to your job search resources? Reach out to NextGen.
NextGen, now part of the Kelly Science, Engineering, Technology, and Telecom Division, is committed to consequential and imaginative solutions and delivery to meet the needs of Service Providers, Energy, Private Networks, Education, and Alternative Industries.
NextGen’s core focus is finding the right solution or resource and delivering the most talented people in the field with the proper fit and within budget. NextGen performs a comprehensive analysis for all their clients. They assess, recommend, and implement the best solution or resource for the client’s specific requirement.
