Why to use a recruiter - as a candidate

After returning from a couple of meetings in Germany this week with candidates I've recently helped secure new roles, the topic of why they chose to engage with me came up at each meeting.

Why would you speak to a recruiter/headhunter? I would like to highlight the reasons to use a headhunter and the benefits to you, the candidate. All of the points are my own opinion.

• Zelus benefits - to start I'd like to highlight the benefits of using me and my company, specifically. We exclusively recruit enterprise sales roles in the Cybersecurity software space within DACH. We know who is worth working for and who to avoid. We genuinely know the market. We're in Germany once a month, sit down with us, have a coffee/beer, tell us what you really want. Find an agency who cares about your career, not just getting paid. We might work together now, maybe later, man seiht sich immer zweimal im Leben. Find a specialist agency, if you don't work in the space we recruit for, find an agency who does and will take the time to meet with you and focus' in one area. You don't want an agency who is 'qualifying' you for one job, if you aren't right they never speak to you again.
• Interview preparation - in my experience agency recruiters will prepare you more for the interview. I'm not talking giving you a script to read off however I will discuss with my candidates where others may have failed, what has worked for my other candidates in the process. Preparation won't get you the job, but it can often be the difference between progressing through the process.
• Direct contact - as a headhunter I have direct access to both the internal recruiters and hiring managers for the roles I am working on. If I feel you're a good fit, I can immediately pick up the phone and get you an interview. If you apply online you join the other 100's of applications. After a certain number of candidates are in the process companies will often see how they go before arranging more interviews.
• Package - I've worked closely with the client, I understand what their team get's paid, and ultimately what package you can achieve. For the majority of candidates they don't like to negotiate directly, this person will potentially be your new boss, do you want to push them over €5-10,000. It avoids a potentially awkward conversation for you.
• Getting an honest picture of the client - Internal recruiters have only one option to offer you, their company. I can offer you a range of companies, I will tell you the positive and negative's of my clients to find something that genuinely fits what you're looking for.
• You might not be looking - most of my candidates aren't actively looking but if their perfect role came along they would listen. If you take the time to explain what you would listen to, if/when that arrives with me I can pick up the phone to you. It costs nothing to speak with a recruiter, they can put in the ground work to try and find the right role, if it doesn't work out you've lost nothing but 30 minutes explaining what you want.
• Fee's - A a lot of candidates believe they will have a lower chance of getting a job if a company has to pay a recruiter, however 99% of the time this isn't true. The fee a recruiter gets paid comes out of internal talent/HR's budget, which they allow for needing to use recruiters whereas your package comes from your managers budget. Therefore going through a recruiter has no impact on you securing the job.

I hope you found this article interesting and maybe next time I call you, you will be more open to speaking with me.

Kieran Kenny, Director & Headhunter at Zelus Recruitment.