Friday, May 18, 2012

Always, Always, Always...

If you've made the decision to begin your job search, you're going to be contacted by Recruiters & Staffing Firms looking to represent you for positions that you're interested in, it's inevitable in today's job market.  The #1 rule that you must follow if you plan on working with these outside recruiters:

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS know where your resume is going.  You never want to give a particular recruiter "free reign" to present your resume to any company they see fit.  When a client company receives your resume from multiple recruiters, it not only looks bad on the recruiter; but it reflects poorly on you, as the candidate.  When this occurs, I've seen companies complain that it seems that a candidate is not able to manage their job search.  If you're having trouble managing your job search, how efficient will you be at managing your job?

Secondly, if a resume is presented by multiple recruiters, there will be a dispute on which recruiter is representing you (and owed the fee for finding you.)  Companies often times decide to take the path of least resistance - move on to the next candidate in line, rather than deal with the headache of playing referee on who is owed a fee.

A simple way to address this is to ask nicely when a headhunter or recruiter contacts you to conduct an initial interview: "Can you please discuss with me any company that you are interested in presenting me to?  I like to keep track of these companies, and would like to know where my resume is being presented PRIOR to you doing it."

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