The Do’s and Don’ts when working with a recruitment agency
Sydney Brookes has put together a few do’s and don’ts for candidates to think about when interacting with recruitment agencies. We have many years experience in recruitment and we would like to give you some tips back in order to make your candidate experience as smooth (and as profitable) as possible…
Do – grab as much information from the recruiter that you can. Remember, they are a valuable source of information that can help maximise the job opportunity you have been given – ask what questions you will be asked in interview, what the client is like, what they don’t like etc
Don’t – assume you know it all when it comes to interview, even if you know you do! The recruiter has the inside track on the client so use them to your advantage – knowledge is power!
Do – keep it professional. It can be frustrating not hearing back about an application. However, many times its not the fault of the recruiter if they are waiting for feedback from the client. Keep patient, and always talk to the recruiter like they are a client. Because just like a client, they can help you get what you want.
Furthermore, recruiters get inundated with applications so don’t take it personally if you are not successful. Which leads me onto my next point:
Do – follow up on your application. If you haven’t heard back in 48 hours, give a quick call to the recruiter. Keep professional, and simply use this as an opportunity to sell yourself on the phone. Remember, people are fickle (and that includes recruiters). Sometimes if a CV doesn’t read well it can limit your chances. But if you come across well on the phone, and do make some good points about your background that could be relevant for the position in question, then the recruiter may keep listening… This has happened to me before, and I am not ashamed to say that the candidate was then put forward, and they got the job!
Don’t – expect to be told about the role right away. The recruiters job is first to assess your background and experience and see how you interact on the phone and/or in person. We need to do our job before we can just gift our clients details to you. We are not trying to be difficult, remember in an ideal world we want you to go to interview, and get the job because it means we get the ￡￡￡. But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our job first.
Do – ask for advice. Whether it be about your CV or about the company, the recruitment agency will be able to give advice on how to write your CV, write cover notes, dress for the interview, sell yourself to the client. Asking isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign that you have the confidence to cover all the bases.
Don’t – try and hide sales figures and other job related performance metrics from the recruiter. Whether they are good or bad, the recruiter is here to help and offer advice on how to answer performance related questions when in interview. The recruiter is not here to trap you or force you into a difficult answer. But the more you share with the recruiter, the better advice you can expect to receive back.
Don’t – go behind the recruiters back with a client, ever! Sounds silly right, but candidates do it. From a recruiters point of view we have taken the time to speak to you and pitch you a company/role. Why then go direct to the company with your application, or go with another recruiter who called you about the same role afterwards? It only causes a bitter taste with not only the recruiter, but also the employer. They don’t want to get into a tug of war slog with a candidate over two recruitment agencies, so more often than not they will dismiss meeting the candidate (thats you!). You also don’t know the relationship the recruiter and the employer has, so if you go behind the back of the recruiter, you may upset the employer as well. Simply put, just respect the recruiter that came to you with the opportunity first.
Do – make time to speak to as many recruiters as possible. It can be overwhelming to receive lots of calls (but also very complimentary), but make time to speak to all that show an interest. Block an hour of your time out after work to speak to recruiters, or during your lunch break. Remember, proactively finding a job is much more time consuming than being approached by a recruiter. That next call might be the job you have been waiting for.
Do you have any comments or any other do’s or don’ts? I would be interested to hear back from you in the comments section below.
Mike Chapman is Managing Director of Sydney Brookes, specialists in Sales Recruitment. Contact Mike for a confidential discussion about your recruitment needs or if we can help you find your next sales role.