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As a Jobseeker, Why Use a Recruiter?

Let’s face it, finding the job you want is hard work. Sometimes, you work harder at finding a job than you do on the actual job you land.

Whether you're looking to reenter the workforce or leave your current position, the excitement of a new career is often thwarted by the daunting task of job searching. Do you really want to sift through job boards to find potential openings, put more time into perfecting your resume, and sit around waiting for the phone to ring?

To make the process easier, consider working with a recruiter. When working with a competent recruiter you're not totally alone in your job search, and you have a powerful advantage in the marketplace. A recruiter can match you with a job that requires your skills and experiences.

Keep in mind that a recruiter's job is not to find you a job. Recruiters are hired by businesses looking for employees to fill their open positions. They don't find jobs for people — they find people for jobs. However, you gain several perks as a job seeker in a recruiter's candidate pool. Below are seven reasons why you should use a recruiter for your job search.

TRW only works with employers of choice. We have yet to place anyone into a company we would not consider going to ourselves. Some companies we have chosen not to work for because we have not been convinced they are quality environments for employees. We are in this business for the long haul. The last thing we want to have happen is to place candidate in a unsuitable company and then have you call us three months later and ask, “What were you thinking?” We will marshal all our resources on your behalf. We will meticulously go over your resume with a fine tooth comb. In our minds, a resume is really an employment proposal document that will help the hiring manager to see quickly and easily that you are the person who can solve his problem. What is his problem? He/she either has to meet revenue targets in a specific market space, managing existing business, make his company more efficient or other issues depending on the nature of the position. We will then help you tailor your resume to the specific opportunities we agree to target. We will also assume responsibility to help you become expert in the interview room. You are not a professional interviewee. If you were, it would make us nervous because we wonder how you got so good—is this all you do? Most candidates believe that a company hires the most qualified person. This is not true. If a candidate gets an interview, he’s qualified; otherwise they wouldn’t be interviewing him/her. So, everyone who interviews is qualified. Thus, the decision to tender an offer is usually made from other criteria than qualifications. We help you identify those and get that offer. Remember, in the recruiting business, there is no prize for second place. It is to our best interest to make certain you win the job. Because of our relationship with companies, we often we know of positions that are never advertised. If we believe you are a good fit, we will place you in front of the hiring manager and coach you from resume preparation to offer. The worst thing that will happen is that you will have a better resume document and have much better interviewing skills. We will be straightforward with you, yet tactful. We will act in your best interests. We will get good feedback for you and keep you informed along the way so you know where you stand at all points along the way.

Our goal is to stay with you for the remainder of your career—either placing you with companies or helping you hire the brightest and best.

May we suggest some good reasons to work with a recruiter rather than applying for a job directly?

1. Recruiters save you time.

How many hours do you spend searching and sending applications? Did you know that not all open positions are posted on job boards? Some companies only post available jobs on their websites. Others strictly rely on third-party sourcing agencies to find candidates. I’ve had a number of job orders that were confidential; a company was replacing an internal employee and didn’t want that job opening advertised publicly. You could be missing out on opportunities by only relying on job-search websites.

Recruiters can point you towards openings that are hard to find. They can give you access to jobs that are confidentially advertised or not yet posted on the internet. With more options to apply to, you have a better chance of receiving the job offer you want.

By using a recruiter, you split the workload. Recruiters spend eight hours a day (at least) trying to find candidates for their clients.

Recruiters know what jobs are out there. They know you're out there. And they devote all their time to making sure the right person is linked with the right position.

You have other obligations in life that keep you from job seeking. You might work for your current employer until a new opportunity comes up. You could also be in school or taking care of your family. Using a recruiter saves you time on your job search. The quickest I’ve ever placed a candidate is one week. I spoke to a candidate for the first time on a Monday and she started her first day of work the following Monday. While that is not the norm, we recruiters can significantly truncate the job search process.

2. You can network on a larger scale.

Think of your current job-search connections — past employers, former college professors and administrators, friends, and family. Even if that group is large, it does not match the number that recruiters can reach. Take advantage of a recruiter's connections to get the most out of your job-seeking efforts.

Recruiters spend a lot of time making connections through databases, phone calls, and face-to-face networking. By using a recruiter during your job search, your network grows exponentially.

When you send a resume to an HR department, you rely on that document to be considered for the job. Even if it’s an excellent resume, it is common for a resume’s first introduction into your dream employer’s realm to actually be processed by an entry-level HR person. These are sharp people, mind you, but not always experienced in the field and therefore not as able to identify winning matches to their open positions just by the content of a resume.

But if a recruiter thinks you are a good fit for their client, you have a hands-on advocate, someone personally in your corner. He actually promotes you to the hiring manager who trusts his/her recommendation. I’ve often had hiring managers tell me, “This candidate doesn’t look that strong on paper, but I trust your opinion. Set up a call.”

3. Recruiters help you through the process.

A good recruiter strives to provide the best candidates for their client companies. As part of that process, we then our job-seeking candidates for the entire job placement process, from applying to accepting an offer. If you choose the right recruiter, most of your questions will be answered and real opportunities multiplied.

You can also improve your resume, portfolio, and other applicant documents with the help of a recruiter. They can coach you on interviewing techniques, and, after you interview with the employer, the recruiter can give you feedback from the hiring manager you interviewed with, whether good or bad.

If the feedback is good, you will be progressing in the interview process. If the interview did not have the desired results, a good recruiter will coach you through the reasons and help you to achieve better results next time. Interviewing can be a learned skill, too.

4. Recruiters want to place candidates.

Cash is king when it comes to who is more driven to get you hired. For recruiters, your acceptance of a job offer means they get a paycheck, so closing a candidate is the name of the game. We recruiters only get paid if you get paid. Typically, our compensation is based on your compensation. The more you make, the more we make. I suppose you could say we’re “properly motivated.” The recruiter’s job is to stack the deck in their candidate’s favor as much as possible because when you do well, we do well. So, we want you to do well. You can and should leverage the recruiter’s motivation to assist you in the job search.

5. Recruiters have someone to follow up with.

Do you have any idea the low percentage of people who are selected to interview for a job, when only applying online? Why is that? In the first place, you have no idea whether your resume even arrived at the right place. It is likely that there are hundreds of other resumes that come the same way and it’s easy for a resume, digital or paper, to get lost in the shuffle.

The unfortunate thing is that there is no way for you to follow up. In many cases, you don’t even know the name of the person your resume was supposed to be sent to.

Here is where recruiters have a huge advantage. They are talking with the hiring manager personally and can follow up in a day or two regarding next steps. I know great candidates who missed being interviewed because the job was filled the day before. Every day you delay is a day companies have to fill their positions with someone else. Speed is the name of the game.

6. You have an advocate and an advantage.

Your recruiter has job orders now and he pretty much knows what the hiring managers are looking for, as well as the general salary range. Without having a recruiter who knows that information firsthand, you can either sell yourself short, or price yourself out of the market. A recruiter also knows where he can push compensation and where he can’t.

A recruiter already has rapport with the hiring manager, which enables him to get honest, straightforward feedback for you. That is critical in the job search. That’s how the recruiter keeps the process moving forward.

A good recruiter knows what his hiring manger is looking for. He knows how to coach you to speak the language the hiring manager is comfortable with. The difference between language usage in almost-identical companies can be a deal-breaker, if you are saying the same thing a hiring manager is looking for but using proprietary language from another company. A good recruiter has learned to properly translate terms from one company to another.

Even if a decision has been made to pass on you, sometimes it’s just a misunderstanding. A recruiting pro is not opposed to pushing back if he thinks it is warranted. After 21 years of recruiting, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been able to revive a candidacy after it was pronounced dead. Direct feedback can be critically important.

7. You stay in a database.

Even if you aren't hired for the first potential match, you stay in the recruiter's database. Your resume isn't tossed if an offer doesn't pan out immediately. Instead, you're kept on the recruiter's radar for future positions.

Though you might think your information will get lost in a huge pool of candidates, that's not the case. Recruiters use applicant tracking systems that make sorting candidates easy. The software pulls specific information from your resume and matches it to relevant jobs. When the right opening comes along, it's likely your resume will surface.

If you would like us to partner with you in your job search, please check our job listings, submit your resume for the appropriate postion(s), and let us get started on moving you to your next position.

Companies currently staffing up your organization

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TRW accepts search assignments for Sr. Management Executives, Sales Professionals, Customer Service Managers, IT Professionals and Operations Management in the Business Process Outsourcing and Technology marketplaces.

Once an assignment is accepted, we dedicate the necessary resources and time to successfully complete a client’s search, using all feasible search techniques. Our candidates typically surface from three sources:

1. Referrals…we’ve been in the business long enough now (6 years) that often candidates are referred to us without our solicitation…our reputation as a straight shooter has become a real asset.

2. Database Searches…using the latest Internet search techniques, we can search nearly 100 databases and post eye-catching ads that attract quality candidates.

3. Source Companies…primarily your competitors. Why not hire the brightest stars from companies in your market space? They already know the industry, truncating ramp-up time.

Our firm uses a thorough and proven process. Initially we contact candidates based on our knowledge of the industry and the reputation of the players. Second, we interview viable candidates for further evaluation based on your criteria. Finally, we select the best three candidates to present to the Client Company.

By the time you meet the candidates, they have visited and are familiar the client’s website, have discussed and considered the pros and cons of the situation and understand the job requirements. In short, the candidate is prepared to accept an offer should one be extended.

Finally, as a third party, we are able to provide clients with candidate feedback and assist in structuring a compensation package acceptable to both client and candidate. We can mediate the terms and specifics between the parties involved creating an effective atmosphere that produces results. Before you ever make a formal offer to a candidate, you will know whether or not it will be accepted. We do not want you to make an offer to a candidate he/she is not prepared to accept. We don’t think that’s good for you or the candidate.

Your business success isn’t primarily dependent on the latest management theories, the hottest technological breakthroughs, the best tight-wire budget strategies, the latest acquisitions or the newest sizzling market projections. The Human Element is your organization’s most valuable asset…it is your competitive advantage. Your company will be no better than the people you employ. We help you hire the right people by firing the right questions.

Hire good attitudes, not just good skills. Hire people who want responsibility and are capable of assuming it. Hire service champions who are passionate customer advocates, taking pride in serving customers. To them each customer interaction is an audition. Those are the kinds of people who make a company click.

If we’re on the same page here, let us partner with you to find and attract the best and the brightest. Frankly, we believe that we do what we do best better than anyone else. All we ask is that you let us prove it to you.

Hire good attitudes, not just good skills. Hire people who want responsibility and are capable of assuming it. Hire service champions who are passionate customer advocates, taking pride in serving customers. To them each customer interaction is an audition. Those are the kinds of people who make a company click.

Using a Recruiter: Why businesses should consider it

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“When recruiting recruiters, follow the golden rule of recruiting… those with the best recruiters win! It’s really that simple.”

"When I need a heart by-pass, rest assured that I won’t select my surgeon on the basis of what he charges." That’s what an ailing executive recently said when he was informed by his doctor about his arterial blockage problems. Why then are corporate executives so tightfisted when dealing with what is so commonly thought of as the “heartbeat” of their companies… top talent? This K-Mart mentality contradicts their stated objectives to “hire the best”. When it comes to recruiting, many companies tend to be penny-wise and dollar-foolish. The old adage is true: “quality is remembered long after cost is forgotten”. If you’re paying a 25% recruiting fee and your competitor is paying 30%, guess who your recruiter is going to recommend first? Hint: it won’t be you.

Why should a company hire a recruiting firm in these sof economic times?

Hiring a reputable external recruiter means a company is hiring a skilled consultant who can identify the best executives in a particular industry or functional area of expertise (sales, marketing, finance, etc.). These individuals maintain a high level of confidentiality, a wide network of knowledge and resources, objectivity in their candidate evaluations, and negotiating expertise to ensure a win-win scenario.

If the position a firm wishes to fill is of a critical nature, and the company wants to “hire the best and the brightest,” a recruiter can help find potential candidates that the client company typically cannot find on its own. In the war for the best talent, the organizations that can source, recruit and hire “an unfair share” of top performers in the workforce will have a powerful advantage in the global marketplace.

Company cost justification for using a recruiter

Everything has a cost, whether the work is done internally by your company or externally by a recruiter. In calculating the cost per hire, some companies make the mistake of considering only the cost of advertising. However, the true cost per hire also includes the cost for the time spent by the in-house recruiting staff plus the cost of the time spent by the hiring managers who are not productive in their normal job duties when they are spending time in interviewing, as well as lost revenue a potential employee could be generating. For Internet recruiting, the cost of developing a Web site must also be added. When all these things are considered, the placement fee paid to a recruiter can actually represent a cost savings.

Most large companies use outside accounting and legal firms, and don’t think twice about paying their often excessive fees. Then there are the consultants who are brought in to streamline operations. Compared to the fees charged by management consultants, a third party recruiter’s fee is comparatively low. The standard fee charged by contingency search firms is 20-35% of the annual starting salary. Here are just a few reasons why recruiters are worth what they charge:

Revenue streams start sooner

It is in the sales arena where using a recruiter is an especially good investment. If a sales professional’s quota is $10 million per year, he will average approximately $833,000 per month in revenue generated for his company. Every day he’s not on the job is “costing” his employer almost $28,000 per day. Assuming the average recruiting fee for this position is $25,000, if the recruiter can find a candidate even one day sooner than the internal staff, he’s already more than paid for his fee. Because they specialize, a competent recruiter can typically fill a position weeks, if not months, quicker than in-house recruiters. Specialization not only allows quicker ramp up, but also greater immediate access to higher quality performers. It’s hard to build a business case for saving a $25,000 recruiting fee by losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue with unproductive open reqs.

Specific expertise

The old theory about doctors being cautioned not to operate on members of their immediate family may be applied to the in-house recruiter or human resources executive. These professionals are vulnerable to in-house politics and other cultural issues that a professional recruiter is largely immune to. The recruiter is a service provider hired for the added value and specific expertise they bring to the playing field. This is especially true with attracting sales professionals, a breed apart from all other employees. A salesperson is like the pitcher on a baseball team—they have so much influence on the ultimate outcome of the success of the organization because they are the engines that drive revenue.

There are subtleties involved in attracting highly qualified sales people into your organization. Attempts to convert HR generalists into this recruiting function usually end up in failure. They seldom have the mentality or the aggressiveness that the job requires. Most HR people can’t spell sales, and are risk-avoiders and “cooperators” rather than competitors. Recruiting and HR should not be related in this way. The only way to capture a hunter is to send another hunter after him. That’s what good, professional recruiters are—specialized hunters who know the terrain.

Cast a wider net

A professional fisherman will always have more to show than a weekend angler. Recruiters are in the marketplace day in and day out. They know the unfished coves, reefs and inlets that are unknown to others. The job-hunter bookshelves are filled with lore about the “hidden job market” The same holds true for the for the professional recruiter who has a detailed roadmap to the hidden talent sources which will never be accessed by newspaper ads, alumni associates, applicant databases on the internet or any of the other more familiar sources of people. Professional recruiters spend their days talking to people who are knowledgeable about your business. They know the competitive landscape, and what it will take to recruit a key executive away from the competition and onto your team.

Executive recruiters have an edge because they have expertise in the industry in which they are recruiting. They know the players who will be viable candidates for the client. They are intimate with the details of the potential candidate’s career history, are aware of the kind of opportunities these executives are seeking in their next role, and can most effectively present a slate of executives that will provide the client with a real flavor for the wide array of talent available.

In most cases, an experienced recruiter already has excellent relationships with many major players in the industry, which gives you immediate access to highly successful professionals. A recommendation of your company from a well-respected recruiter is extremely valuable. It is one thing for your in-house recruiter to recommend your company (what else would a candidate expect to hear?), but when that recommendation comes from an independent recruiter who works for many firms in the industry, it carries enormous weight. The same concept is true in insurance. Would you prefer to buy a financial product from an insurance company with only their own line of products to sell , or from a broker who does business with many companies and can make recommendations based on fit rather than company loyalty?

Top talent is not looking for a job

Successful executives, by and large, do not spend time surfing the internet for jobs, reading the classified ads or circulating their resumes on job boards. A professional recruiter’s skill and network are often required to bring good people to the client company. The best candidates are recruited through the efforts of both the recruiter and the hiring manager. If a company truly wants the best people, they have to find them proactively, and not just wait for a resume in response to a job posting. Approaching these hidden prospects is not easy, but that is part of the added value competent professional recruiters bring to the table.

Negotiation

It is rare that an internal hiring manager will truly know what is motivating a candidate. The recruiter plays the role of a third party. They know the desires and budgetary limitations of the client. They have amassed considerable knowledge about the candidate, often including details of the candidate’s personal life and professional desires. With this information, the recruiter naturally is a better negotiator and can work toward bringing the two parties together in a win-win scenario. The professional recruiter is experienced in combining the desires of both parties to arrive at a mutually beneficial arrangement without going off-track, as often happens without a third party intermediary. The needs of both client and candidate are viewed from a position of mediation.

Speed

Speed is the name of the game in recruiting. Because most good candidates are in demand, they have a short shelf life. Many top performers are lost for no other reason than the hiring process took too long. Nothing good ever happens with the lapse of time—time only allows other competitors to “come to the dance” and often escalates the buying price. Lack of timely processes can cost thousands of dollars in competitive compensation. Speed is also critical in terms of scheduling interviews, a key point in the process that can often get bogged down. Sometimes, internal recruiters are hesitant to push urgency with hiring managers because they fear political consequences. However, the gentle persuasion of an external party whose sole focus is on getting you staffed up as quickly as possible can greatly accelerate the process. Working with a recruiter saves valuable time for a company because recruiters will frequently have candidates in their files who are available to interview immediately. The speed of the hiring process is often one of the distinguishing characteristics of employers of choice. Speed sends a powerful message to the candidate that says loud and clear “you are a high priority for our company.”

Confidentiality

Using a recruiter eliminates the need to advertise and alert the competition of a current weakness or void within the company. The potential for anxiety and apprehension among the current employees will be diminished because they will not be as aware of the company’s recruiting process, nor immediately targeted for recruitment by the competition.

Save training costs

Generally when a company hires through a recruiter, the applicant has all the skills required and does not have to go through expensive training. A frequent specification on a job order given to a recruiter is for a candidate who can “hit the ground running” and be immediately effective in the job.

Better candidates

Most companies expect better candidates from a recruiter than they can find on their own. Typically, a recruiter will go through hundreds of possibilities before selecting a “short list” of candidates. It is highly unlikely that a recruiter will be starting from scratch in recruiting for your opening. Usually, the recruiter will have a huge network developed over time on many searches for the same type of job. In-house recruiters usually don’t have the resources that a professional third party recruiter has. Just as there is a hidden job market, there is also a hidden applicant market, to which a professional recruiter has exclusive access.

Calibration in the marketplace

Good recruiters advise their clients in identifying the right type of person and the salary required to attract them. Recruiters are not guessing what your competitors are paying, they know. An employer of choice will offer a better than average compensation in order to attract and retain the kind of people necessary to conduct their business. Before beginning a search, the recruiter can help the employer take a reality check by advising the company whether or not the salary being offered is too low to attract good candidates. A good recruiter can also advise a client if the job specs are unrealistic, thus saving the company time in the recruiting process.

Conclusion

Smart companies know that the fee paid to a good recruiter is a shrewd investment, not an unnecessary expense. However, it is important to develop an ongoing relationship with a recruiter, as they will help the client company keep up with the industry, and remain current on compensation trends, employee benefits and succession planning. Reputable recruiters know their business, add value to their client and know what to do when things go wrong. A recruiter’s network of contacts in the industry is broad and deep; allowing them to bring forward only the best talent in the marketplace with a high sense of urgency. A good recruiter is a lifelong professional ally, who can provide you with a competitive advantage. Where else are you going to find this kind of information to keep you competitive?

Recruiters generally know when your competitors’ working environment goes south because they are the first ones to get calls from unhappy employees. Because the employee approaches a recruiter in confidence, often they can move a top performer from a competitor’s company to yours before anyone even knows that employee is unhappy.

Recruiters can proactively go into your competitors’ employee pool and help you to attract top performers. It is considered bad form for in-house company recruiters to do so. It is better to put the position out to search with a professional recruiter. This opens up an entire fertile area that most companies cannot ethically access on their own.

Another rarely thought of advantage of hiring a top flight recruiter is that by working with the best recruiters in your industry, a company can avoid becoming a source company for those same recruiters. The usual recruiter mentality is that “every company is either a client or a source.” It is generally accepted that a client company is off-limits as a source of candidates to a recruiter for two years after the client has hired a person who was referred by the recruiter.

Why much in-house recruiting is not cost-effective

Advertising an opening in the newspaper or in trade publications will generate a lot of resumes, but will also require a lot of work to screen out the job hoppers, job shoppers and applicants who apparently didn’t read the job description! Advertising on the Internet is like trying to drink out of a fire hose. It will require even more work to sift through the thousands of resumes received and there is a great potential for a highly qualified candidate to slip through the cracks. Candidates who come to a company through the Internet will probably be talking to numerous other companies who have also advertised on Usenet or the Web. At last count there were 3,500 job hunting Web sites, so you can be sure that candidates who are surfing the Web have lots of job prospects. One site called Career Path has 450,000 job openings, so that should give you an idea of what the competition is for candidates through the Internet.

Using a recruiter will ensure that you get only pre-screened candidates who fit the job specifications, and often these candidates have been recruited and are not applying for other openings.

Only recruiters offer guarantees

Hiring is not an exact science. Despite the best efforts, everyone will occasionally make a bad hire. If your in-house staff generates the hire and it doesn’t work out, you have no recourse except to go back and re-double your efforts. The money you spent on the process is not recoverable. Reputable recruiters will offer a warrantee period. If their candidate turns out not to be a good fit and is terminated for cause, they will replace that employee at no additional recruiting fee cost to you.

A good recruiter can be one of your best long-term investments—a partner in the success of your organization. They bring specific, competitive advantages to your company that you will find no where else. Only a short-sighted, penny wise, dollar foolish manager would fail to take advantage of such a resource.