Karen Swim

Corporate recruiters generally feel ownership to the company they work for and develop deep relationships with the organizations they support and staff. They want long-term success for their company.

Agency recruiters of course develop strong relationships too, but are focused broadly on a set of companies or a set of industries. Often placing talented people several times through their career at different organizations as they build their “book of business.”

@nick, et al, recruiters not being good networkers is an interesting one. I know a lot of agency recruiters (usually the ones who become responsible for business development) who are very friendly and can be open…. as long as there are possible dollar signs somewhere down the road.

However, I know many recruiters who are highly analytical and process-driven. It’s actually a very good skill in our world of digital-everything. Getting to “know” someone as a human being is not the same as aligning someone’s key skills and abilities against a list of open requisitions and jobs and letting the hiring manager actually do the “selling the job” part. Is it surprising to know that many recruiters never ever EVER physically meet the people they place, even though they can tell you eerily accurate information about you like exactly what company culture you will enjoy or dislike–often because they know your job match “DNA”, even though they don’t actually know YOU, the human being.

The video INTORDUCTION TO JIBBERJOBBER should be posted on the front page of your web site. Before anyone signs in they need to see this video!

Steling

Other headhunters, however (I think the best ones) are actually hubs of information and contacts in the field they recruit in. They cultivate relationships. Frankly, that’s the aspect of the business that kept me in it — I love exploring, exploiting and cultivating new relationships. That’s where the fun is, and frankly, it’s also where the impact is. But a headhunter has to be comfortable with something in order to do this well: Most new contacts don’t develop into business. Few do. But over time, contacts turn into something far bigger. They make the headhunter a respected hub of relationships. That’s when it all pays off.

As with anything else, you must vet the people you deal with. Check the headhunter out. What’s his or her reputation? How does he or she fit into the industry? The best ones have expansive relationships throughout. They might not take time to talk with you when you think you need them, but nor will the person you’d like to date, right? It all takes time. The point is to do it so you’ll enjoy it.

Specifically to Bob’s comments:

1. I think, in general, recruiters are good at prospecting and networking to do their job, but you ask a recruiter for help and see how he/she clams up. They have their network (or little black book) for a purpose, and the guard it carefully. I doubt any of them are going to open it up for a brand new network contact – much less a job seeker who they really don’t know and trust.

2. Hard data? No, sorry. I’m not a believer in “hard data.” Not since I read the book “How to Lie With Statistics.” These assertions are all based on what I’ve seen, heard and experienced. So far, though, it sounds like it’s fairly accurate. There will always be outliers, but the point of the post is I want people to think about this question, and why it is a bad question.

My assumption is that you’re correct in your assessment of recruiters. Everyone knows they work for the company, not the jobseeker. I’m a bit surprised to hear that recruiters aren’t good networkers–don’t they seek out more clients (the companies)?

The comments from recruiters seem to back up what you say. But I’m curious, do you have any hard data to back up your assertions?