5 Signs of a Great Recruiter

Miles Jennings  

I was talking to a friend of mine at a party that will soon be looking for a job. He pretty much knows where he wants to work already, as it’s a small industry and market. He also already has an “inside connection” at the company – a relative of his works there and can help him out with introductions to key team members.

However, the company where he wants to work is a big place, with lots of different teams and hiring managers. He asked me an interesting question – should he use an external agency recruiter to help him get a job with the company, even though he already has a good networking connection?

My answer was yes – use a recruiter as well – if you’re trying to get into a big company, you need to do everything you can. As long as you tell the recruiter what you’re doing and that you may already be represented for some jobs at the company, there isn’t any problem with trust or communication. The issue is that with hundreds of open jobs and tons of complex projects, any one particular networking connection, job application, or introduction isn’t enough. One department inside a large company won’t know what another department is doing or who they are interviewing. So you have to hedge your bets and go deep (as long as you tell everyone involved what you’re doing.)

We talked more about when you should use an agency recruiter and how you know when it’s valuable. The answer is pretty clear: when you already have a connection to a particular company, you are looking for added value in a recruiter. You are looking for a recruiter that can do more for you than submit your resume into a database, talk to you about the open jobs on the company’s website, or even introduce you to one person at the company. You are looking for indications that a recruiter has real influence over and knowledge about a particular company. This influence and knowledge is the mark of a great recruiter. So what will this great recruiter sound like?

Here are 5 signs that you’ve found a great recruiter that can really add value to your job search, even if you already know the company or know about the jobs online.

Past success: You want to work with a recruiter that has successfully placed candidates at that company in the past. Look for the recruiter to reference their past placements. Ideally, these past placements have become valuable networking contacts for the recruiter. The right recruiter to work with is the one with a solid history of success at the companies that best fit your skills in your local area.

Company knowledge: What does the recruiter know that you don’t know? Recruiters should have a detailed knowledge of the company that goes well beyond what can be found on the web. They should be able to tell you about the company culture and examples of previous hires at the company, or problems with certain managers, etc… Look for fluid discussion about the inner workings of the organization.

Project information: Good recruiters know jobs, great recruiters know projects and initiatives (the why versus just the how.) You don’t want to just know that there is a new Accountant job opening at ABC company, you want to know why that Accountant job is open and how it fits with the company’s efforts and business initiatives. A great recruiter will offer you multiple touch-points inside a company and tell you information that can’t be gleaned from the job description. By working with a great recruiter, you’ll walk into the interview with a leg-up on every other applicant.

Technical understanding: Job description are often, if not usually, filled with stock language. Positions often list every system that the company has, for example. A recruiter worth working with will tell you what the position really entails – what the hiring manager really is hurting for. Oftentimes, positions will be replacements – what was good about that last employee? What was bad? A great recruiter will have a comprehensive understanding of all the job requirements, but more importantly have a nuanced understanding of the key talent differentiators. They’ll know what the company really wants and if they have a really great relationship, they’ll even be able to tell the company what they should want.

Personal connections: Your recruiter doesn’t have to be personal friends with everyone that hires from them, but there is no substitute for solid, in-person networking skills. Your recruiter should have actually visited the companies at which they hope to represent you. A great recruiter will talk to you about the soft-skills of the job and how you might fit in with the various teams and managers for whom you might work. Examine the depth of the recruiter’s relationships and not just the number of their employment connections.

A great recruiter can make all the difference to your job search. They can offer you valuable information, detail the nuances of jobs, and help you navigate through the entire hiring process. If you’re a jobseeker like my friend, it’s important to know when you’ve found a recruiter that can really help. When you do find those great recruiters, be sure to stay in touch with them, even after you’ve found the job you want – those connections can be invaluable to your career.