From the Recruiter’s Desk: “Be Your Own Headhunter”
Lindsay Olson is a partner and recruiter with Paradigm Staffing (and PRNewser guest columnist). She specializes in helping companies and agencies find public relations and communications professionals throughout the United States. She has over ten years experience recruiting in the PR industry and also writes a career-related blog at LindsayOlson.com. You can find her on Twitter via @prjobs.
In her latest column, Olson reminds job hunters to “be their own headhunter.”
Lately, I’ve been receiving a ton of calls from candidates who call to “enlist a recruiter” to help find them a new position. It makes me wonder if some of these people think that by speaking to an industry recruiter, their job search woes will be answered.
Recruiters work for their clients – the hiring company, not the other way around. I’m not saying job seekers shouldn’t connect to a recruiter. Recruiters can and will bring opportunities to your attention you might never find otherwise, but it’s important to keep the expectations realistic.
The job market in its worst condition in years. If you are actively job searching or unemployed, don’t rely ONLY on job ads or a recruiter. These days it takes much more work to seek the opportunities out. Become your own headhunter and use some of our strategies to propel your search.
Have a plan
A good recruiter tends to be very organized and an obsessive planner. Recruiters don’t only rely on job postings they see on the internet to create new business. We target the top companies we want to represent in our industry and develop relationships with the decision makers, even when they are not hiring.. Make a list of the top 50 companies you want to work for and assume there are opportunities for you in each, even if there isn’t an open position posted.
Pick up the phone
Don’t rely on general HR emails to respond to job post. Try to find the hiring manager and contact him or her directly. Use LinkedIn or use Google to find possible team members who work in the group and express your interest.
You are going to need to go passively emailing people to get the attention you deserve. Reach out on the phone to potential employers. If you can’t get the hiring manager or recruiter live, be careful to not leave a long, rambling messages or unmemorable voicemail. After all that work, you don’t want to be a victim of the delete button.
Pitch yourself
When recruiters pitch a candidate to their clients, we need to sell the candidate in 30 seconds or less. We must demonstrate how our candidate is going to solve the problem the client is facing. You need to articulate what you do and your value to an organization – in less than 30 seconds. Be memorable! Write it out and rehearse it until it feels and sounds natural.
Always assume a position exists for you within the company until you are told otherwise.
Not all jobs are public. When I get a new search, I make a short list my top qualified candidates and people I know who know the candidates I’m looking for before I post to our job site or publicize the positions on any online network.
Remember: A company’s career page is not always current. Also, the positions posted out there might not always be real. Don’t sweat it. If you are really interested in a company, reach out anyways.
Don’t analyze every single piece of the job requirements.
Recruiters place candidates all the time who don’t match the job decription 100%. Most of these requirements are flexible assuming the candidate possesses a majority of the “must haves” AND has chemistry with the hiring manager and the team. It’s important to be a fit and write your resume to fit the description, but that page of qualifications listed is merely a wish list. Rarely will a company not hire someone they love if he or she has only has 80% of the qualifications.
Good luck!
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Nadine Cheung
Editor, The Job Post
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