THE BEECHMONT CREST CAREER GUIDE:
SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN THE CORPORATE JUNGLE
Chapter 3: Organize, Market, and Sell Yourself
Don't forget that recruiters work for employers—not job applicants
Almost everyone who has been working for more than a few years has at one point been contacted by a recruiter. Recruiters always seem to call you when you already have a job, with promises of a better position (usually in another city).
Many people are dismayed to find that recruiters don’t seem as eager to talk to them when they are actually looking for another job. They forget that it is the employers—and not the job applicants—who put food on the recruiter’s table.
Recruiters are hired by companies to fill specific positions. If your resume doesn’t happen to fit an opening that the recruiter is currently assigned to fill, then don’t be surprised if your phone calls to her office go unreturned.
Recruiters often complain that job seekers don’t understand their role in the employment marketplace; and every headhunter dreads the unemployed person who calls once a week to ask if he has “found her a job yet.” Given that recruiters have minimal economic motivation to actively market your resume, your best bet is focus on marketing yourself directly to the organizations that can hire you. You should spend no more than 10% of your job search efforts on recruiters.
Copyright 2006 Beechmont Crest Publishing