Part 7: A Recruiter Can Be An Advocate

Patricia Kitchen | Change@work

November 9, 2003

Part 7 of a weekly series helping people with job searches.

Sure, job hunters might think of recruiters and personnel agencies as answers to their prayers, people whose job it is to fill jobs. You might think -- and indeed, many do -- that you are actually doing them a big favor by sending your resume. And that they exist to find you work.

But that's not so. Yes, they need the thousands of potential candidates they hear from weekly. But their first allegiance is to their clients, the employers who hire them and pay the bill.

A recruiter can be a "terrific advocate for you," says Joseph Daniel McCool, editor of Executive Recruiter News, a monthly newsletter. But that's only if you're right on target fitting the employer's specifications. Recruiters will not try to fudge and suggest you for a job they, and more important, their clients, don't see as the right match.

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Of course, to make those right matches, they need a good-size database, so they're glad to hear from you as long as you don't look to them as saviors.

"I am here to help you. I'm not here to be the only tool for you," says Gelena Shusterman, a recruiter with Lynne Palmer in Manhattan, who specializes in entry-level and junior- level jobs in media-related firms.

So, how to find recruiters who specialize in your area? They are big-time networkers, says McCool, and often attend and speak at industry association events. In your own networking with individuals, that's a bit of information you can ask for, "Who are the recruiters who handle jobs I would be suited for?"

And, of course, what else is Google for but to help you find recruiters in finance, health care, fashion or food and restaurant work?

Once you identify a couple of them, treat them just as you would an employer; send a resume and cover letter designed to sell yourself. And follow up with a phone call. There's little that's less impressive than getting an e-mail saying, "Here's my resume. Call me if you have anything for me."

Says recruiter Jason Banks, "You have to show us you're committed." That might mean sending a letter telling which employers you've researched or leaving an engaging voice mail. "Don't just leave your resume on the doorstep," says Banks, manager of biotech permanent placement at Lloyd Staffing in Melville.

He also suggests asking for a get-to-know-you interview, which is just what Reema Rasool, 24, did after she had established e-mail contact with Shusterman, the media recruiter. A December graduate of New York University, she had been "on the Internet eight hours a day" looking for entry-level publishing work.

That was when she saw an ad placed by Lynne Palmer. "I was getting nowhere by myself," says Rasool, who grew up in Brookville and now lives in Manhattan. And "who would know there's a publishing recruiter?"

When she went for the interview, she says she was not afraid to show her personality, unlike some other job hunters who wrongly mimic too closely what they learn in interview books and on career Web sites. "You have to put your own twist on things," and "show you're smart, not just that you can cut and paste from an Internet site," Rasool says.

Both her approach and good timing must have done the trick in her case. A week later, she was sent on an interview with Workman Publishing, just four blocks from where she lives. And in June, she was hired as the administrative assistant to the president.

While now may be a good time for those "get-to-know- you" visits, as the market continues to improve and recruiters have more placements to make, their time for such "courtesy interviews," will dry up, says McCool.

Still, be persistent with follow-up "get-to-know-you" phone calls, without coming across as desperate. And, while recruiters say they try to call everyone back, we've surely all heard of enough job hunters who call and call and never hear a word. So it pays to manage your expectations; remember, frustrating as that is, you're not paying their bill.

Which brings us to another important issue, recruiters and other job search firms that say they'll find you a job for a fee. Check out the recruiting section of the Riley Guide career site, www.rileyguide.com, and you'll learn that no reputable career professional will guarantee any such thing. Keep in mind that you're looking for ways to make money, not get bilked out of it.