What to know when working with a Recruiter

Working with a recruiter can give you a tremendous edge on your competition in a tight job market amid endless available talent. Establishing a transparent, open dialogue with your recruiter is the best way to ensure you get the job and salary you seek. When done right, you and your recruiter become a team working closely to find a position that best suits your life and needs.

Here are few tips on maximizing your experience with a recruiter.

You are #1 - Your goals and aspirations have to be first. While recruiters may and should offer you suggestions, offer alternatives and help shape expectations, their priority should be helping you find the position that is right for you, not them.

Does your recruiter get you?

Ask your recruiter to give their elevator pitch about you as you wrap up your initial meeting. Any good recruiter can convey why their candidate is the right choice in 3 – 5 sentences on demand. It is an excellent way to ensure your recruiter listened, not just heard, you and understands what you offer a future employer.

Honesty is the best policy

The old adage you get what you give couldn’t be more on point. Salaries, dates of employment and degrees are more often than not verified when approaching the offer stages. References, background checks and credit reports will be run in some instances. Giving your recruiter a clear picture of what potential challenges you face helps you both create a winning strategy and present you in the best light. It also prevents surprises down the road that make both you and the recruiter look unprofessional and not forthcoming potentially threatening a job offer.

Share positions with your recruiter

If you apply on your own, your recruiter can’t represent you. Simple as that. Don’t assume your recruiter didn’t consider you for the position or forgot about you. Often times, companies begin searches on their own and later open the search up to staffing agencies for help. If your recruiter has a relationship with that company, they can inquire about the position and potentially represent you. And if they can’t, they will at the very least be able to offer you insight into the organization’s culture and help you prepare for interviews.