The Spanish Inquisition was bad, but this...?: What Should Recruiters be Asking of You?

Ok, perhaps it won't be that bad...

I wanted to dispel a few misconceptions and help people understand what they should expect when they speak to a Recruiter about a job.

There's a fair bit that's been written recently about the information Recruiters should and shouldn't ask for. I can't force anybody to give me information about themselves that they don't want to. What I will say however is that sometimes, as Recruiters, we don't make the case as well as we should around why certain information is necessary.?When we ask seemingly unnecessary questions it's so we can do a better job for you. If you're ever unsure, however, feel free to ask for a bit of rationale.

So what are you likely to be asked and what should you expect to get out of dealing with a Recruiter?

Simply put, we charge hiring companies a fee for introducing you to them. For you as the candidate, the service is free. I have heard of scams and less scrupulous individuals wanting to charge fees to candidates. If someone suggests this run away and quickly.

You'll be asked for a CV. It's very difficult for us as Recruiters to do our jobs without an up-to-date CV. Prospective employers need to see a tangible representation of who you are and what you might be able to do for them.

"We need to understand what you want out of your career"

Good Recruiters will want to know about YOU so they can offer a role that helps you do what you want in your career. But we aren't mind readers.

We need to understand what you do/don't like about your current company and job as this points to what you do/don't want next. We need to understand what you want out of your career and perhaps where you see yourself in five or even 10 years time.?

This has started to become controversial in some circles. Apparently, Recruiters and hiring managers don't need to know your current salary as the job pays what it pays and that'll be enough to be attractive or not. Personally, I'm not sure about this at all.

The main problem here is ￡70,000 + package, for instance, can mean a LOT of different things.

There's ￡70,000 + package with a 10% pension (very good and not unheard of) There's ￡70,000 + package with a 30% bonus (sounds great but is based on targets which are tough to hit and the company hiring has never paid it out). There's ￡70,000 + package with a 10% bonus (which has paid out consistently).

All of these packages sound similar but they're VERY different.

Our job is to get you the job you want to be offered at a salary level you're happy with and the above examples show part of why you need to be transparent about your salary, bonus and package expectations, so we can work to meet them effectively.

Typically, when Recruiters get a job offer for someone, they should want to reconcile every aspect of their package accurately against what the offer is to make sure they're better off.

We can't do that if we don't know what they have currently.

And for any hiring managers reading this, we want this to happen before the written offer goes out.

Otherwise, we risk getting a 'false' verbal acceptance from the candidate because they didn't realise that the pension, car allowance, bonus, etc. was worse - so actually the offer isn't what they thought it was.

Again, some people worry about this, but they shouldn't. As Recruiters, we need to take professional references which we'll agree with you. Referencing is an important part of vetting and assessing people. If you wanted to make an important decision about something or someone, you'd feel a lot more comfortable if someone else had vouched for that person or product.

We like to take references as early as possible; it makes someone's application stronger if we send a CV with references.

Be upfront about what you've done so far. If you've got four interviews and two offers already - say so. It just saves everyone's time. Speaking of...

A proper conversation about the above might take a while - 30-45 minutes isn't unusual. Think of it this way: this is a consultation to try to help you with your career.

A word of warning - any Recruiter who spends 2 minutes on the phone with you either doesn't know what they're doing or has no intention of working with you properly.

You should get feedback if your CV is sent to a job. Even if the feedback is that there's no feedback (it happens sometimes).

Good Recruiters will make themselves available to talk when it's best for you and without prying ears. So they can have frank conversations with you which help your career.

What you discuss will be in strict confidence!

Particularly with senior roles, hiring businesses sometimes request Recruiters to keep their identity confidential. If this is the case, the Recruiter will let you know the identity of the company at the earliest available opportunity.

From CV, interview tips and techniques to insights on the market or a company, good Recruiters should be able to provide you with a wealth of information. This should help you make the best decision for your career.

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So, it's not quite the inquisition, but you may be asked some things you weren't expecting. But this isn't a bad thing, the better we know you, the better we can do with helping you with your career.