How to Impress a Recruiter

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So, you’ve decided to move on from your current employer.?It’s time for a change?you think to yourself as you stare at the clock on your computer, feeling unfulfilled and underwhelmed. You fire up your old SEEK account and log in to Linked In. Immediately you’re greeted with a list of jobs the length of your arm, and you have 3 new messages from Recruiters in your inbox. You decide to reply to 2 of the recruiters,?what the heck, they’re a free service and the jobs they have sound interesting enough.?But halfway through writing your reply, you realise you’ve never worked with a recruiter before and you’re not entirely sure how they operate. Read on to delve into what is important to us...

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Update your CV

No, I don’t mean add in an extra paragraph about your current job and call it a day! Re-read your whole CV from start to finish and if it’s too long and boring for you - someone else is probably thinking the same thing.

Make sure everything is well placed, double check your spelling and grammar (especially when regarding specific acronyms, projects names or methodologies). Are your contact details up to date? What about your referees? Have you completed any courses lately that you haven’t added to your CV yet? Consider every aspect of your CV and what may need a bit of a refresh. Remember my post from last week? You’ve got 7 seconds – make them count!

Know what you want

In our initial conversation with a candidate a recruiter will ask “So what are you ideally looking for?” to which the typical response we hear is “Ohhh I’m not too sure really. I just felt like it was time for a change.”

Easy for some. Harder for others. But being confident in knowing what your ideal job looks like is a powerful tool. You should consider things like whether you’d prefer to work for a large National (or global) operation, or if you like smaller teams and businesses. Consider what salary you’d like, how often or not you want to be on site and what kind of benefits and company values are important to you. Where do you see yourself in five years and what are the tools you need to get there? Take some time to think through these things before beginning your job hunt, and it will pay dividends.?

Know where your CV is

A good habit to get into, is keeping a detailed spreadsheet that you update after each job application. Your spreadsheet should include details like company name, job title and date of application for all applications made via job boards, as well as Linked In jobs and any recruiters you find yourself sharing your CV with.?

Most recruiters are restricted from representing you to any company that has received your CV within the previous 6-12 months, so knowing exactly where your CV is will save you and your recruiter both face and time. Even if you’re not working with recruiters though, this is good housekeeping.?

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Be forthcoming with information about yourself

It’s not just your technical skills and how many balanced cantilever’s you’ve built that get our attention, it’s the personal stuff too. It’s a well-known fact that the past 2 years has had a drastic impact on the way we work and how we prioritise our lives. So, if you do the kids school pick up every Thursday, or take yoga class Tuesday mornings, for example, tell us about it! Does your work influence your hobbies or vice versa? Valuable info to a recruiter!?

We work incredibly hard to make sure the next job you take on, is as much of a lifestyle fit as it is a career fit, and the more we understand about you, the better we can be at our jobs.?

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Be yourself

No explanation needed. Why would you want to be anyone else?

Well, there you have it. Five (mostly) easy ways to impress a recruiter (or hiring manager). These five steps will give you a clearer outlook on your future career path and the direction you see yourself taking. Not only that, but they dramatically improve your relationship with your recruiter, which has a domino effect to the opportunities that they can bring to you.

I will continue to post tips, tricks and handy dandy info on my page to help you out on your job seeking journey. Make sure you’ve hit the ‘follow’ button to keep up to date!?