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Work with Recruiter for Efficient Job Search

Imagine yourself as a recruiter who just advertised a position a day ago. You come back the next day and “BAM!” Your email is flooded with over 300 applications. It’s obvious that more people are looking for jobs now. Sometimes they apply directly to the company. This volume is exponentially high for any busy HR department to handle, so the task of recruiting  is commissioned to a recruitment agency to filter through the applications. Hence, the recruitment agency is under tremendous pressure to do their job quickly as all hires are somewhat urgent. Today, we will explore how you can work with a recruiter to get yourself hired as quickly as possible, but first:

  • Facts about your recruitment agency.

1. The agency is invested in you. They are on your side, but they work for their clients.

2. The agency can put your resume in front of the right people because it has relationships with them.

3. The agency actively builds new beneficial relationships everyday.

4. The agency is the employee’s reference for you.

5. Your chances of getting employed are higher if you go through an agency because of their connections in the industry. 

6. Lastly, the agency will interview you and prepare you to some degree to become the right fit for their clients; the companies that hire them to look for the best people.

  • How can jobseekers work with a recruitment agency?

1. Work on building relationships. Honesty and sincerity are the best policies. Build trust.

2. Be teachable. Be practical.

3. Avoid misplaced expectations.

4. Take time to work on yourself.

5. Stay in touch.

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  • Building relationships.

Through a recruitment agency, you stand a better chance at getting in front of an interviewer. Human resource managers of companies at times have long-established relationships and it is these relationships that you can ride on to get to where you want to go. This part of the job-hunting process and job referral is done for you. At times, this process is faster than doing it on your own because recruiters instinctively know who will fit where. While the agency-company relationship exists, what about your relationship with the recruiter? We need to work on that too and can’t deny the benefits that come from such a connection.

To build this relationship, just like any other, there needs to be some realistic awareness. You don’t have to reveal everything to a recruiter, but in cases where there is an absolute necessity, the candidate should be honest. Case in point, how about gaps in the employment history? Perhaps you could wing it out on your own in your resume or even at the actual interview but really, there are three concerns here:

1. We can’t see our own mistakes.

2. We don’t know the employer’s expectations beyond what is advertised.

3. We don’t have a feel or gauge on the employer’s touchpoint as the agency does.

These and other pain points of your own which you may not realise you have are brought to light when you meet a recruitment counsellor. This is where a new journey may begin for you.

  • Be teachable. Be practical.

In spite of the recruitment agency working for the employer, choose one that is invested in you too. It’s detrimental for an agency to only provide candidates, but not assess or prepare them. All agencies have some sort of rating system based on the quality of candidates they can find, so a good candidate means higher ratings for them. Our philosophy is to produce the candidate as much as we provide them.

Some young people coming of age are at times quite unprepared for the reality of work. Work is not easy and I’m reminded of the true story of a friend’s son. He studied a technical subject in college. Soon enough, he landed his first job in a technical firm. The next thing you know, he quit his job. The reason he resigned was because he couldn’t handle the fast paced work culture of the company. He was more used to an easier life and college became the starting point of a great honeymoon. Till now, having a job is the last thing on his mind. What happened to taking up freelance jobs, getting work skills with some internship and volunteerism? This is an acquired character or habit and therein lies the root of the problem. Therefore, young jobseekers should start much earlier, perhaps in the second or third year of college, preparing for the professional life ahead.

Important things like what sort of industries are in an upward trend and what you should do to prepare yourself to get into profitable niches. Often, the lone wolf jobseeker doesn’t know himself well enough, ends up choosing the wrong career and time is wasted.  The candidate, therefore, needs to learn where to focus and make ready. As such, the agency will interview you first to assess if you are ready to be taught, guided and exercise patience in the job search. This “making ready” is the process of change in the mindset as well as changes in the resume and portfolio. Perhaps even the experienced jobseeker or fresh graduate doesn’t realise how many changes they need to make for themselves. For further reading on this, you may refer to our earlier articles, The Best Attire for your interview & Popular Skills to include on a fresh graduate’s resume.

  • Avoid misplaced expectations.

So you’ve chosen to go with an agency for a job. Does that mean you should stop looking by yourself? Not at all. One shouldn’t expect the agency to do 100% of the job hunt. You must work on it yourself as well. Enlarge your territory by making your own connections with friends and on social media. Let the right people know that you are available for employment.

  • Take time to work on yourself.

As you take time to build and respond to the relationship with your recruitment agency, apply the above life changes in the process. Apply our tips on this blog like resume tips, strengths and weaknesses or your appearance. Working on yourself has big rewards. One area to consider if you need is speaking and listening skills in English. Try looking for some English Conversation courses which can give you the IELTS certification as well as Business English. There are some being conducted by the British Council for adults here https://www.britishcouncil.my/english/courses-adults

  • Stay in touch.

If you manage to find a job on your own, please do inform your agency. It’s the polite thing to do. However, your agency’s work with you is not over but it continues. This is our view because you might need our help again in the future. The converse is also true. We may need you to recommend candidates to us. The coaching, relationship and collaboration continue. This is the 21st century way of doing business.

As an agency, we too have a passion and a mission, which is to get everyone employed. We are genuinely interested in people and upgrading them to be the best that they can be. Once you find a job through us, we’ve done ours. If you, under any circumstance get fired, it will also affect us. Nevertheless, this mission and passion continues.

If these insights are somewhat helpful in guiding you, get in touch with our recruitment advisors. We will give you the appropriate assistance and a new starting point in your journey.

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