Or… don’t. Here’s a post from a tech recruiter buddy on how to work with recruiters. He actually e-mailed most of this to me and then said: “Whpew — I had to get that off my chest!”
The number-one thing I recommend people to add to their resume is clear/concise language in the body of their email to me telling me why I should care.
I get a constant, deep and steady flow of resumes that say nothing but “attached” in the body of the email, with a dangling (possibly virus-laden) word-document hanging there with a title like “bills_resume_revision19.doc”.
Or, the emails say, trying to sound personalized (but end up sounding spammy): “I noticed the job you posted and I am a perfect match for it… or any other positions you have.”
That don’t help me worth nuthin’
The point is (speaking to job-seekers and would-be resume-blasters), help me to help you. Tell me what work you want to do, no what work you’ll merely accept. Now, tell me why you want to do that kind of work.
Tell me what fires you up about life and gets you out of bed in the morning!!!
…In 100 words or less, please (this is not your dissertation, it’s a teaser–a lead)… and do not, whatever you do, say simply “attached” and hope that I am bored enough to be interested in clicking your resume just for kicks–all of us are too busy for that. You wouldn’t respect an email like that if I sent it to you. (Plus, would you click a word document willy-nilly in our virus-laden Internet community?)
Oh, and, lay off the “picnic” and “summertime” stationeries for the background of your email, please. I thought you wanted a job, and your email is screaming “vacation!”
One thing to remember, in my experience – your recruiter IS NOT your buddy. You need to make the same impression and work towards the same relationship with them as you would a hiring manager. They do not want to recommend you for a job and then have you be a screw up. Their credibility will diminish – so they won’t recommend you unless they feel really good about you!
The one major difference I see between them and a hiring manager is the fact that you should have a different long-term relationship with them. In other words, they can help you through your job transitions in a way that a hiring manager can’t. Both will be valuable as network contacts but developing a strong relationship with a recruiter should pay off in a different way.
Search entry level jobs at College Recruiter.com.