Reasons why you SHOULD take a recruiting call...

Last week I was going through a status update on one of the jobs I am working on with a hiring manager. We were going over some candidates and he saw my note that one hung up on me. Once he saw that he asked, “Do people really hang up on you?”. My answer, “Unfortunately, yes, and depending on the job, it happens often.” He was in shock and couldn’t believe that people would hang up on a recruiter.

I obviously hate when people hang up on me, call me names, tell me to never call them again and that they will never need a recruiter (not true, but good luck with that). This does not happen to me all the time, and if it does it is mostly for more junior level positions. Most of the people I talk to are kind and politely decline my offer, but it does happen, that’s just part of the job. 

I totally get that if someone is cold calling you at an inappropriate time, it’s easy to get pissed and we are all getting a bazillion robocalls. We are in a world of information overload, and hanging up the phone just seems like the easiest solution. 

I want to tell you WHY you SHOULD always pick up a recruiting call or at the very least give a nice brush off...

First I will start off with WHY recruiters are calling you and HOW we work. Companies, like the one you work at now, hire us to help them find top talent. It is a necessary service, especially in today’s economy. If a company values its’ people, the company will pay us to find the best talent that is out there.

Now that we understand why recruiters are calling we will move onto the reasons WHY you should pick up the call…

1. You don’t know who has asked us to call you. Recruiters are often given direction as to who the best talent is and are given suggestions as to who a client would like us to reach out to on a company’s behalf. Sometimes we get exact names to reach out to. If the hiring manager then follows up to see how the call went, having to let them know you hung up is not a poor reflection on us. A recruiting call truly is a compliment. It means you are in demand and someone wants you.

2. The top recruiters in the industry make cold calls I recently got asked by a reader if cold calling was dead. I was trained by one of the top recruiting trainers in the nation, Danny Cahill at According to Danny. He is a big believer that cold-calling is vital and being comfortable making calls and being on the phone is imperative and humanizing. Everyone is so heavily relying on LinkedIn message and email and having a conversation with someone is the only way to establish a true relationship.

3. Top recruiters (who get there by making cold calls) have the best opportunities. In our profession, the best recruiters are choosey with the positions they invest their time in. They are only going to work jobs that they believe are “hot jobs”. A hot job is a job that a company has an urgency to fill the position and a great opportunity. It has to be a win-win, a win for the company AND a win for the person taking the job. This is never overlooked by a recruiter before they start working something.

4. Even if you are not actively looking for a job, you never know when you will need to work with a recruiter again. -While I am sure you have a great network, you can NEVER have too many connections and people to network with. Almost every senior person I call recognizes this and takes the time to call me back and have a conversation. They understand that there are NO guarantees in life and it is always a good idea to have an established relationship with a recruiter.

5. Speaking of help, when you work with a recruiter you receive career advice and interview help at no charge. -  When working with a recruiter you pay nothing, it is completely free of charge Recruiters to have a vested interest in your ability to succeed. Because of that, they are more than willing to take the time to review resumes and give feedback, to prep you for interviews and to just give general career advice. So TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!!!

6. Your resume gets put right in front of the hiring manager. -When you apply online or through a website, who knows if anyone has ever looked at your resume. It’s put in through the system and a keyword search has to retrieve it.. A recruiter is your own personal marketing and sales rep. 

When working with a recruiter, what’s most overlooked is that a recruiter who you have established a trusted relationship with really does want the best for you. They are invested in your next career step and are calling you to help get you there.

So just think twice before you hang up on them. ;)

Check out more of my blogs at, https://emily-rose.blog/!!