What Does a Recruiter do?

We are excited to kick off our Spring Recruiter Blog Series focusing on Apply and Starting a new Position during the COVID-19 crisis.

What does a recruiter do and how can they help me?

Simply put, recruiters match up candidates looking for jobs with employers looking to fill open positions. The jobs may be for full time employment opportunities with the employer who has the open positions or it may be a position working directly for the recruiter’s company but assigned to a client company. Usually, in that case, the candidate is considered a consultant or contractor to the client but are still W2 employees of the consulting company.

Do I have to pay a recruiter to find me a job?

No, recruiters are paid by their employer or the client company. Candidates do not pay for their services, thereby insuring the best of both worlds.

How will a recruiter reach out to me? 

A recruiter may reach out to you in a number of different ways including; email listed on your resume (check your email every day if you are actively looking for a position), phone call, LinkedIn message or inbox from a jobsite. Even if a role is not an exact fit or you are not ready to make a change, you should respond and let the recruiter know- they may have open roles in the future.

A recruiter called and I forgot to call them back for a week- should I still respond? 

Yes, even if days or a few weeks have passed, respond to the recruiter, especially if you are interested in the position. Roles sometimes takes weeks to fill or there may be multiple roles to fill, so follow up even if it is later than you had wanted to.

I do not have all the skills listed-should I still talk to the recruiter? 

Yes, talking with the recruiter serves multiple purposes 1) you will learn more about the position 2) the recruiter will let you know which skills are required or suggested 3) the recruiter may have other positions available or coming up that may be a good fit for you. Even if this position is not the one, keep in contact and the recruiter will also reach out if a new role opens up.

What is the process of working with a recruiter?

The recruiter will reach out to candidates whom they feel may be a good fit for a position they are working on. They will contact the potential candidate to do an initial screening to determine if they meet the requirements of the position. Candidates should consider this screening as the first interview of the hiring process.