Identifying the right Recruiters to work with during your Job Search

In this article I want to show you how to identify and build relationships with the GREAT Recruiters out there. Yes - there are many great Recruiters out there, folks. And most of them do not get nearly as much credit as they deserve.

But you do have to lay out some groundwork and do some research to identify the right one's!

Now, let's get right to it so I can help you as a Job Seeker, in identifying which Recruiters you should be spending most of your time with and building those relationships.

Also keep in mind - despite my advice in this article, you WILL sometimes still have to deal with the less than ideal Recruiters to get yourself in front of great job opportunities - so I don't want you to rule yourself out on those.

But let's talk about finding the great Recruiters, who in turn will most likely be highly interested in networking with you:

1. Focus on the right one's/specialists: to make the most use of your time, focus your efforts on networking with Recruiters specializing in your field/skill set - i.e. if you're in IT, you want to focus your networking efforts with IT Recruiters. If you're in Accounting, focus on Finance/Accounting Recruiters, etc. Now I'm not saying don't bother with Recruiters who might be generalists - but you'll find it the best use of your time to focus on those who specialize in, and therefore frequently recruit on, your skills. And not only because there's a high chance they might be working on something relevant to you, but because they frequently recruit in your field, YOU will get their attention and they'll be more motivated in getting into communication with you.
2. Investigate LinkedIn activity: just because a Recruiter specializes in your Industry still may not mean you will get their attention. For example, not all IT Recruiters recruit on each every vertical within IT. Some IT Recruiters may find themselves recruiting frequently on certain types of positions within Tech, whereas they might not recruit on other areas within Tech at all. A great way to investigate this is to simply visit the Recruiter's LinkedIn profile, scroll down to their "Activity" section, hit "See all Activity", and finally hit "Posts". You will see all the posts the Recruiter has put up of typical positions they recruit for. If they appear to recruit frequently in your arena, there's a higher chance they'd want to network with you. Also, while researching the Recruiter's profile, scroll down to "Recommendations" to see if anyone has provided feedback on them.
3. Look to your network of contacts for recommendations/feedback: I've personally had the privilege and honour of so many IT professionals here in Toronto refer their friends and peers to me who were on the market for new opportunities. I've even had people overseas in other countries, refer their local contacts here in Toronto, to reach out to me. Word gets around in the industry - whichever industry you're in. So reach out to your colleagues and peers - chances are, they have a good idea of great Recruiters they can recommend and whom they feel you should work/connect with. They might even give you a heads up on the less than desirable or unprofessional one's you should avoid.
4. Write complete messages/emails introducing yourself: avoid leaving your introductory message at just "Hi", "How are you?", "How are you doing?" or any variation of that. Now, its fine to ask those things - but what I'm saying is, write out a complete message if you're reaching out to a Recruiter on LinkedIn or email. This isn't WhatsApp, Telegram, or Text Messaging - and Recruiters do not have the time to go back and forth with you before you finally get to the point. Write a complete message introducing yourself when communicating with Recruiters.
5. Don't shy away from follow-up: Recruiters might not respond to your introductory message for many reasons. Recruitment priorities change all the time, and a Recruiters calendar is mostly filled up with conversations, phone calls, Zoom calls, etc. Do not take it personally. If you know for a fact that you would be a value-add and an asset to the Hiring Teams the Recruiter coordinates with (whether Agency or Corporate), then you need to ensure you continue to follow-up and check in with them until you can get them on a phone or video call to have a complete conversation.
6. Establish ground rules/expectations: What are you expectations from the Recruiter? How often do you want them to keep you updated? Should you be following-up with them? I'm not saying you can get everything you expect from a Recruiter, but before you hang up the phone make sure you have a transparent discussion about what's going to happen beyond that point - including your expectations. Most Recruiters will then be more than happy to set realistic expectations for you.
7. Take full responsibility for staying in touch: Recruiters communicate with many people during the course of just one day, so it can be easy for them to lose track of you and in some cases forget to get back to you about future opportunities. So take the time to put it in your calendar to stay in communication with the Recruiter. If you're currently employed for example, put a note to reach out to your Recruiter contacts every quarter, just to keep them posted on what you're currently upto. The more consistent you are staying in communication with the Recruiter, the better you'd be able to ensure you're the FIRST person they think about when they think about your field - and when a relevant opportunity comes up!

Hope these tips help you in building relationships with all the GREAT Recruiters out there!

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Dean Kulaweera - IT Recruiter & Job Search Coach

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