Good recruiter, bad recruiter? Here is how to tell...

Good recruiter, bad recruiter? I had a conversation with a recent placement yesterday and thought I'd share on LinkedIn. Here is how you can quickly identify a bad recruiter, mitigate wasting your important time and maximize effective external recruitment relations:

THE FACTS:

1) The majority of external recruiters are transaction-focused and are either not paid well or are in extremely competitive / transaction-focused environments and comp plans creating a lack of transparency, honesty and true work ethic.

2) A big portion of external recruiters are "under the gun" of a larger, brand name recruitment firm who is looking to populate their database (for when that recruiters quits or is fired) and/or are managed by strict KPIs and activity-based metrics creating a "rush" to find candidates as opposed to a strategic search. Steer away from recruitment firms who seem to have excess layers in management (non-recruitment managers/directors who are KPI-trackers and report organizers) 

3) A large percentage of external recruiters do nut fully understand their clients' needs or their candidates' profiles. They are trying to "place" you for a single fee and not to better your career or build long term relations. 

4) There are a select group of recruitment firms and external recruiters who practice NONE of the above - the trick is finding them.

INTERVIEW YOUR RECRUITER:

When called by an external recruiter, it is imperative you do your research on that recruiter and their employer. Here are some questions I recommend asking before setting up a call or sending your resume: 

1) Where did you find my resume?

2) How long have you been recruiting within your specialty?

3) How many profiles like mine have you placed within the last 12 months and at what types of companies? 

4) How is your compensation structured? Are you paid per transaction or are you paid on your long term success with your employer? 

5) Ask them for some insight into their transparency, honesty, work ethic and past experience placing profiles similar to yours. 

6) Drill them with detailed questions about the company and job they are calling you about. If they do not seem to have a strong grasp on the company and role - they probably didn't put in the right effort into understanding their client before dialing your number. 

7) Ask them for collateral and intel regarding interview best practices and prepping, counter-offer analytics, market/industry analytics, salary negotiations, advice on you resume and LinkedIn profile, trends within your specialty and job function, examples of resignation letters, resume templates and cover letters.

HOW TO TRULY ANALYZE AN EXTERNAL RECRUITER'S POTENTIAL:

1) If an external recruiter calls you and is not familiar with ALL aspects of their client and the role, raise a red flag on their search capabilities and success ratios. Familiarity with their clientele and job searches include: size of firm, number of employees, estimated revenue/sales, direction & strategy of the company, progression and trajectory of the role, what systems the client uses, why the role is open, who the role reports to and how many people the role manages, what are the mandatory requirements, the preferred requirements and why, what is the client's hiring/sourcing timetable, what is the office culture and work/life balance, what do the benefits, bonus, 401k & pension/stock look like, etc. 

2) If the job they are calling you about does not line up nicely with your background, the external recruiter probably doesn't understand your specialties or your background and therefore cannot make intelligent judgments in order to properly place you in a new role

3) Do research into the recruiter's background on LinkedIn and see how long they have been recruiting and for what types of organizations? Successful external recruiters WILL have job progression and 5-20 years of experience placing people in a specific specialty/function (IT, Finance, Admin, HR, etc.) 

4) Check the external recruiter's employer web presence (glassdoor, indeed, online reviews, their website, etc.) While data can easily be skewed towards negative, you can identify on commonalities and shared themes to get a more clear picture into the environment this recruiter is working in. 

5) Make sure to set expectations with your external recruiter. Confirm that they need your permission to FWD your profile. Confirm touch-points with your external recruiter and require call-backs within a day or two regarding interview feedback, next steps, offer negotiations, etc. 

6) See if you are connected with any common profiles on LinkedIn - don;t hesitate to ask for recommendations and feedback from other professionals who have used their services.