Recruiter, please give me a chance! Sorry, but I can't. Here's why

Before you read this article, it's very important you know that it comes from a genuine place of wanting to help job seekers. Whenever I write articles like this, no matter how polite and well-meaning they are, I always get messages from upset job seekers about it. Please don't shoot the messenger; take action instead.

If you don't already know, recruiting is absolutely one of the toughest jobs on the planet. Most of the time, you're dealing with disappointment. Statistically speaking, most of the candidates that are up for a job you submitted them to are going to get rejected, and that's terrifically hard to handle for agents.

Even though my staffing agency doesn't "ghost" candidates, I understand why some agencies do. I don't condone ghosting, but the staffing agents just don't want to make all of the phone calls to say sorry because it's so heartbreaking for the job seekers. Also, sometimes candidates chastise the recruiters saying that it's the headhunter's fault for not being able to get them the job.

There is a lot of consoling and reassurance that takes place when agents do make those kinds of "you didn't get the job" calls to candidates.

One of the most difficult aspects of the job, for me at least, are the daily emails that come in from job seekers saying something like this:

Please give me a chance.

I'm a really hard worker.

I learn very quickly.

I won't let you down.

Invariably, these messages come from job seekers who aren't qualified for the job (and they know it), but they want me to put them forward to clients. There is a fundamental misunderstanding of the recruiting process and our role as a headhunter, so I want to clarify that right here and now.

How the recruiting process works

When high-net-worth employers go to a domestic staffing agency to find talent, it's because they already tried to do it on their own and weren't able to. In sum, they are usually frustrated for two reasons:

Firstly, they went on an exhaustive search taking out "Confidential Employer" ads on different platforms with no success; and they were bombarded with resumes and applications. They might have even hired someone, only to quickly find out that the fit wasn't right. Whichever candidate they hired was either fired or walked off the job because they, too, were frustrated.

Secondly, by the time the celebrity or billionaire has reached the recruiter for help, they are at their "wits' end." They are impatient because they haven't had a personal assistant or house manager for weeks (or months) while they have been searching, and now they are frustrated because they want the heartache to be over.

Employers want a turnkey candidate

Recruiters have very high overhead, and that's why we have to charge $20,000 or more for a placement. By the time employers come to us, they are usually in a hurry, and they want fast results! Additionally, they expect a lot (usually miracles) because they are paying so much money. That, my friends, is why it's totally impossible for a recruiter to "give someone a chance" when they are not a fit for what the employer wants. Let me elaborate...

Time is money, and reputations are at stake

The unfortunate reality is that most employers hire multiple staffing agencies to find a "unicorn" candidate. In the end, the employer is going to hire the best candidate they can get for the budget they have allotted.

If recruiters were rolling the dice and trying to submit candidates that aren't a fit for the job (just to be nice), they would quickly go bankrupt. Additionally, the employer will never be a repeat client because their expectations weren't met.

To reiterate what was mentioned earlier, employers want access to candidates that they can't get on their own, which is what they already tried to do when they took out job ads on LinkedIn or Indeed. Now, they are paying top dollar for great results, and that's why recruiters are always behind the eight ball.

Most of the time, recruiters are working for free

To satisfy the "instant gratification" world that we now live in, most recruiters are working for free. Yes, that's right. Zero money upfront from clients. It's an "eat what you kill" industry. Even if you are a miraculous recruiter, you're only going to close one out of every three or four deals -- AT BEST!

That means a very large part of your week reading resumes, doing interviews, and talking to clients is unpaid work all in the hopes that one of the many placements that you are working on will "close."

So, even when a recruiter is submitting candidates that are right for the role, statistically speaking, they still won't be paid for the work they did because the client will walk away from the process (for all kinds of reasons, but usually because they are unrealistic about what they want to get for the salary they are willing to pay).

This, again, is the reason why recruiters just can't gamble on candidates they don't feel are right for the job. And, believe me, recruiters want to help; they feel the job seeker's pain.

To use an analogy, it's like real estate sales in many respects. If a client tells an agent they want a three-bedroom house on a lake, then the agent shows them a two-bedroom house on a golf course, is the client going to buy? No, certainly not. The client wants what they want, when they want it.

What candidates can do to have a successful relationship with recruiters

To be perfectly honest, most job seekers are just blindly blasting resumes to job ads, and they don't put very much time into the process. That, believe it or not, can be very advantageous to a job seeker who is calculated in their approach to applying for jobs . Why? Because it's very easy to stand out in that case.

How to use a job description to your advantage

"Translating" the job description is your best chance at landing a role. It should be treated as gospel because absolutely everything you need to know is in front of your eyes in black and white.

Read the JD and take it to heart. Print it out and highlight the areas you excel at, then circle the areas you either don't know how to do or aren't that good at.

Customizing resumes and cover letters dramatically increases your chances

Now, here's where the real work comes in. You need to customize your resume and cover letter to highlight the skills you have to meet the needs of the employer.

I've never met a career coach , HR manager or recruiter that doesn't agree: customizing your submission increases your chances of getting an interview. You could be the world's best person for the job, but they will never know it if you don't put in the required effort that will separate your submission from the rest of the candidates.

Be able to articulate how your past skills can "fit" the areas that you don't have direct experience

For the skills that are "missing," be able to translate how your past experience is related. The recruiter and employer are much more likely to give you a shot if you can do it in a meaningful way -- and that's what the cover letter is for.

You may be saying to yourself, "Hey, recruiters and employers hate reading cover letters." Yes, it's true most of the time; and that's because so many cover letters are either too long and/or they lack any substance.

If you keep your cover letter laser focused and you answer all of the "why" questions, then they serve an invaluable purpose. Then, even if you aren't a perfect fit for a role, you give the recruiter the ammunition that they need to justify taking a chance on you.

I genuinely wish you the best of luck -- and I really mean it. You can visit our Sitemap for hundreds of pages of free job-seeker resources.