But first, it is necessary to know the basics of these job recruitment agencies. At the very least, it is possible to know how to take good advantage of their services and, hence, become part of the employed instead of the unemployed and the underemployed masses prevalent in the recessionary economy today.
Types of Recruiters
There are two main types of recruiters - the retainer and the contingency headhunters. On one hand, retainers work for the client companies with their main job being to fill specific jobs in the organization. These headhunters are usually paid on a retainer basis, which means that their fees are paid whether the position is filled or not by their recommended applicants. As such, their loyalty rests with the client companies first and with the job applicants second.
The process used by a retainer compliance search agency can be simplified as follows: The headhunter prepares a short list of the prospective job candidates based on preset criteria including but not limited to education and training, work experience and skills as well as industry knowledge and performance record. The recommended applicants are then interviewed by the client for suitability to the job. Take note that the executive search professional only has recommending, not hiring, power.
On the other hand, contingency recruiters work on a per-placement basis. This means that their recruitment services are only paid by the client company once their recommended applicant is hired. It must be emphasized that contingency recruiters work against other recruiters and the client's internal human resources department as well as with online job boards and newspaper adverts.
Although this can be a disadvantage for the applicant, it is most often counteracted by the fact that the contingency recruiter treats said applicant as the main client instead of the hiring company. Typically, the contingency recruiter will actively market the job applicant to as many companies as possible. However, the job applicant must do his/her share of the work by impressing the prospective employer during the examination and interview processes.
Headhunters may also be generalists or specialists. Obviously, while generalists work across many industries and functional areas, specialists will focus on just a few of these industries and areas. In most instances, job applicants with specialized skills like in information technology will often go for specialist executive search recruiters while those with generalized skills like secretaries will opt for the generalists.
Work with the Recruiters
No matter the type of recruiter chosen for job-hunting purposes, the most important thing is that their expertise can be tapped in full so as to land that dream job. In that line, here a few tips to remember:
* Communicate with the recruiters about your career aspirations, professional qualifications and even personal circumstances that directly impacts on your job availability (i.e., relocation, travel and child care). At the very least, the recruiter can take notes on that matter and inform you of these aspects of the job.
* Provide feedback on every aspect of the job hunt from the submission of the resume to the completion of the final interview since there may be points that have been forgotten and which may be brought to the attention of the hiring company through the recruiter. For example, you may have forgotten to tell the interview about a certain pertinent qualification but the headhunter can relay it to the client company.
* Respect the choices made by the recruiter because then you will also be given respect for your approval or rejection of certain job opportunities. Keep in mind that the recruiter wants to conserve the time and effort necessary to match the job to the right applicant and, hence, any recommendation will have its merits.
* Keep your mind open to opportunities. Although targeted job searches are best, there are opportunities just waiting to be discovered and you want to be the first one to do so.
The right compliance search agency can be your ticket to more job opportunities opening up for you despite the tight job market.
