Two Things You Do That Bug Recruiters

I know, I know, you don’t love recruiters.

You are confused because they are supposedly there to help you, but they seem like they are part of the resume black hole. They don’t share much information, and rarely get back to you.

This was my experience.  I did not understand the recruiter / candidate (you, the job seeker, are the “candidate”) role.  I thought there were there to help me find a job, or to find one for me.  Indeed, that’s not how it works at all.

If you are frustrated with recruiters, you need to read this post: How Come Recruiter’s Never Call Me Back? CAUTION: SPOILER ALERT – IT’S YOU!.  Dan Levine shares two frustrations that recruiters have when they contact you.

The first is when you immediately ask “who is the client?”  They sometimes can’t tell you, but that’s the main thing you want to talk about.  Dan shares a great idea on how what you should do, instead of letting this be the stumbling block (read it here).

The second is when you ask about the compensation package.  I know why we do this.  If a recruiter calls and wants to offer me a job for $x, and I need to make $y or $z, it doesn’t make sense to talk much about that job, right?  Right!

Dan is suggesting that we (job seekers) take a different approach (read it here). I agree with him. I wish recruiters would be more open about the compensation, but whether they are or not, we need to start looking at recruiters as really good networking contacts, not just a tool.

A “really good networking contact” is a long-term relationship, not dependent on the one job that they called us about.  As Dan says, perhaps give them a referral instead of brushing them off.  You do that enough times and you should have a recruiter that thinks you are pretty cool, and might go the extra mile for you.