How To Work With Recruiting Firms
Understanding How a Search Consultant Works
First it is important that you understand that a recruiter or MSG Search Consultant is an engaged representative of a client employer. The Search Consultant has a dual relationship that they must juggle. They work with you by representing you and they may even actively promote your background to prospective new employers. However, you must realize that the Search Consultant is paid by the client/employer and thus has more allegiance to the employer. This means that the Search Consultant must give the client/employer exactly what they are looking for in terms of candidate backgrounds and experience. Some Search Consultants have built rapports with client/employers that they can occasionally steer a hiring authority to a skill set or similar experience that they would not normally be pursuing. Most of the time, the client/employer has their minds made up as to what they are looking for in a new hire. The Search Consultant's job is to search out and find that specific background and experience to please the client employer.
Your relationship with a Search Consultant is much like the relationship you might have with an attorney who represents you in a legal matter. Or perhaps, a talent agent representing an athlete or entertainer. The relationship is even similar to that of a real estate agent who is helping you to sell your house and then purchase a new home. In all of these relationships, honesty and openness is important in order for the Search Consultant or agent to do their best job representing you. Once you demonstrate that you are not honest with the Search Consultant, you can expect them to drop you for future consideration. They are looking at you just as if they were the employer.
You must let the Search Consultant know about those things that are very important to you, as well as those of lesser importance. Different factors have more or less weight with different candidates. Factors that you might consider include: job content/responsibilities, growth prospects, compensation, travel, location, company size, benefits, mentorship, start-up vs. established company, Profit vs. Non-Profit, Research & Development-focus companies to name a few. Letting the Search Consultant know what is really important to you and what matters less will help the process. You may feel like the Search Consultant is trying to know too much information and you just want to move on to meet the employer. Remember, the Search Consultant does represent the employer and is being compensated to screen and qualify candidates for the prospective hiring manager. I have been told by some candidates that my interview process was at times more thorough than some employer's interview!
For this relationship to work, a Search Consultant must introduce you, the candidate, to an opportunity that satisfies your needs, while at the same time satisfying the needs that his or her client firm has for the individual(s) they seek to hire. It is not an exact science and there is always some amount of give and take on both sides. No one gets married without making some compromises -- the same is true in this relationship between you, the candidate, and the prospective employer.
Selecting a Search Consultant
To find the best Search Consultant for your specific needs, you should seek out someone with similar industry expertise and interests. This Search Consultant does not have to live locally. In fact, some of your best choices could live hundreds of miles away from you. The key is finding someone who has the industry specific expertise to understand what you do and has the industry contacts. Be cautious about a recruiter who says they handle all industries and accept job orders in all industries. This person is spread way too thin and could not possibly have the focus or the contacts in your industry to do you justice. Also, don't be concerned that your recruiter is not willing to share the names of their client/employers when you first make introduction. Until you have submitted your resume and have been interviewed by the recruiter, you are not considered to be eligible for introduction to their clients. Remember, they are selecting you based upon your background and experience. To qualify your recruiter though, you should make every attempt to determine what kind of clients make up the majority of their placements.
Another good idea for selecting a Search Consultant is to ask for a referral from someone in your industry/area of specialization. If you are in healthcare, ask your healthcare associates which recruiting firms do the best work for them. Professional societies or publications from these societies, or trade magazines, are a good source of potential recruitment firms. Remember, those firms that have been doing recruitment and placement in your field are more than likely to have the greatest number of contacts and industry resources/access to help you.
You should feel very comfortable talking with the Search Consultant and determine whether or not you can have faith in them by the way they respond to your needs. If the Search Consultant hurries you along as if they need to get you off the phone, then they obviously are not going to take interest in helping you. Some recruiters can make you feel unimportant if they cannot use your background right now. Good recruiters have a sense of urgency for meeting their client/employers needs today but also spend adequate time in recruiting strong candidates within their industry for future opportunities. Some Search Consultants look daily for premier candidates within their industry that they can proactively introduce to prospective new employers.
If the Search Consultant cannot speak knowledgeably or passionately about your field or industry, then there is a good bet that they don't have much interest or expertise in that field either. Even if a Search Consultant cannot help place you today, they may be able to give you advice about your resume or career options. This kind of Search Consultant is a valuable resource and may be willing to refer you on to other recruiting firms that can help you today. This Search Consultant is someone you might expect to call you in the future and want to talk to you when they can help you.
The Referral Process
Once a Search Consultant has referred your resume to an organization, and interest is expressed by that organization, the Search Consultant will introduce the firm and the opportunity to you and then you can decide if you are interested or not. Generally, if you are not in the firm's immediate vicinity, the company will conduct a telephone interview. After this, if both parties are interested, a face-to-face interview is the next step. If that goes well, a second or even a third round of interviews might occur. It is possible that you might receive an offer after the first interview.
At the offer stage, the Search Consultant will probably have some insight as to what you can expect. Some firm's offer is a "best and final" offer; others might have room for some negotiation. The Manning Search Group Search Consultant generally positions himself/herself to be the liaison between the employer and the candidate. That means the employer will generally ask us what it is going to take for a successful job offer acceptance. Also, many of our employers ask us to make the job offer and we must know what the minimal acceptable offer will be so that we can guide the employer if their first attempt is unsatisfactory. If you prefer to do your own negotiating because you have established a good rapport with your prospective supervisor, great. Please realize though that the Search Consultant can help you. Remember, the Search Consultant is trying to help the parties "to the altar", so he or she will work to satisfy your needs as well as his or her client's needs. It won't work any other way.
Helping the Process
Telling the Search Consultant where you have already sent your resume will help avoid duplication and wasting their time. If you have already sent a resume to a prospective employer, your Search Consultant will most likely not be able to represent you with that employer. If you have interviews already scheduled, let the Search Consultant know where you are in terms of timing, especially if you are expecting an offer in the near term. Please don't waste the Search Consultant's time if you are expecting to accept a pending job offer. If your pending job offer is not what you really want, be honest with the offering employer and tell the Search Consultant that you will turn down the offer. If the Search Consultant is "burned" by your dishonesty, you have alienated a valued ally in your industry.
It would be very helpful to provide a targeted list of companies that you have strong interest in gaining employment. Let the Search Consultant do the initial contact and marketing of your background to that company. Please realize that a good Search Consultant has a much better chance of gaining an audience with a prospective hiring manager than "John Q Public". It is an interesting phenomenon of how executives and middle level managers will take phone calls from recruiters because they want to know what they are offering. Every manager has a good recruiter/Search Consultant's name in their Rolodex/Address Book!
Remember that if you treat someone the way you would like to be treated, then the experience should be a positive one for all parties -- you, the Search Consultant, and the employer.