Building Relationships With Recruiters As A Candidate

Relationships are essential to our personal and career lives.  As a job seeker, building and maintaining healthy relationships with the right head-hunters can increase your chances of landing that new job. Having relationships with recruiters gives you the opportunity to obtain insider information concerning new job openings. Before recruiters start to broadcast job listings they tend to reach out to personal and professional contacts, and if you happen to be on that list you are automatically a step ahead of other candidates who do not have that privilege.

In a competitive job market such as ours, cultivating relationships with recruiters cannot be over emphasized because certain high-profile jobs might not be advertised to the public rather candidate shortlisting is done in-house. Plan to engage recruiters, build rapport and develop long term relationships that continue even after you’ve found a job.

Recruiters also have the latest insights into job opportunities that are available at the moment due to their connections with recruitment personnel in other organizations.

So how do you develop and build relationship with recruiters?

RESPOND TO CALLS POSITIVELY

Responding to an unexpected call from a recruiter in a polite and positive manner can be the beginning of a healthy relationship between you. Recruiters can choose to place a call to the mobile number provided on your CV in order to invite you for an interview or to follow up on a previous interview. Ensure you provide the recruiter with all the information he/she needs. When responding, it’s important to go straight to the point and ask relevant questions that will show the recruiter that you are invested in their brand. Your manner of communication can tell the recruiter the kind of person you are, hence the need to respond in a cultured and professional manner.

BE HONEST

Relationships are built on trust; therefore, you must present yourself as an open book without withholding any information from the recruiter. When recruiters know they can trust you it becomes easy for them to recommend you to their counter-parts. Being honest does not just involve your personality but also includes being truthful about your skills and experiences. If recruiters discover you have lied about your qualifications, you are less likely to be invited for an interview or even hired for a job. Being honest with recruiters puts you in a favourable position and makes it much easier for them to reach out to you when the need arises.

FOLLOW UP ON RECRUITERS

Following up on recruiters does not mean becoming a nuisance who invades their personal space, rather it means checking up on them from time to time in order to know how they are doing, and during the conversation remind them that you are still waiting for their feedback concerning a recent interview or an application you submitted. Periodically checking in helps you stay on the recruiter’s radar in case of any new vacancies. Following up shows recruiters that you are passionate and persistent which are traits that head-hunters look out for in candidates.

PRESENT YOUR EXPERTISE

Take advantage of every opportunity you have to present your skills to the recruiter. Because recruiters have to sort through so many resumes, sending a reminder highlighting your professional prowess can make your resume stand out, making a second interview a more likely possibility. Every recruiter is on the lookout for top talent, therefore its necessary to let them know how qualified you are and how you can fit into the job role perfectly. If you possess any form of experience you should also mention them especially if they are outstanding performance reports from previous projects.

MAINTAIN YOUR CONTACTS

Even after you’ve found a job, maintain contact with those recruiters with whom you’ve built strong connections. Keeping in touch with recruiters even after you are settled in a job creates opportunities for you to send and recommend other job seekers. Maintaining that bond will also make the recruiter want to help you in other ways as you progress along your career journey.

In today’s business eco-system, getting a job goes beyond having a good CV and performing well in an interview. It also involves building and maintaining good relationships with professional contacts such as recruiters as this can only help you down the road.