In today’s bleak employment market, many job seekers are turning to professional recruitment firms for help. It’s a smart move, unless the candidate goes into the relationship thinking that their sole responsibility is to provide the recruiter with a resume and an idea of the job they’d most like to have.
To be effective, the recruiter-candidate relationship is one that must be cultivated and proactively managed by both sides. As the one in search of a job, it starts with you doing your homework to identify a recruitment firm that best fits your needs.
The best recruitment firms for sales professionals will have a deep understanding of the entire sales process, including territories, product, price, positioning, sales cycle, top performer profiles, sales leadership, etc. There is a critical correlation between how a sales team is led and their overall performance, which is why understanding the sales culture is essential to determining the right job fit.
From there, it’s important that you treat the relationship with your recruiter as a partnership. Do this by establishing expectations upfront and giving the recruiter the detailed information they need to best represent your interests to potential employers.
It is critical to stay engaged in and proactively manage the search process in partnership with your recruiter. This means keeping them informed about any updates in the status of your job search. By that same token, you should expect your recruiter to keep you informed of the companies to which your qualifications are being submitted.
This is particularly important if you are working with more than one recruitment firm, since you don’t want your resume to be submitted multiple times for the same position. Most employers take a negative view of this practice, so it could easily ruin your chances even before you’ve had the opportunity to interview.
It is also a good idea to make frequent visits to the recruitment firm’s website to identify and alert your recruiter about possible positions as soon as they are posted. This keeps you in the loop about available opportunities and ensures that you’re not overlooked for a position that requires skills you have that your recruiter isn’t aware of.
Most importantly, keep the lines of communication open. This demonstrates to your recruiter that you are serious about your job search, which makes them more willing to go above and beyond for you. It also ensures that your recruiter knows all there is to know about you, which helps them do their job – finding you a job – more effectively.