Taking the Mystery Out of Working With Recruiters, Part 1

***Jeff Jefferson, founder of Actum, Inc, located in Richmond, Virginia, has graciously provided this content to the Interview Angel blog. Thank you, Jeff!!**

The Role of the Recruiter-

Two things to remember about recruiters, 1. they are in the business of building relationships directly with the people who do the hiring, and 2. there are a lot of them out there. Companies are increasingly “outsourcing” non-revenue producing activities, and recruiting is one of those activities, so my point is this, recruiters aren’t going anywhere, and they can and should be part of your job search. Also, there are a large percentage of permanent job openings that never get advertised, and an even larger number that are contract or contract to hire only openings (more on that later). Recruiters are your only option for getting those jobs, and they can be great jobs with great employers.

Let me pull back the curtain on the types of recruiting firms.

Having worked at one of the largest recruiting firms in the country, and then starting one from the ground up, I feel pretty confident that I know how a vast majority of recruiting firms operate. There are really 4 types of firms for most purposes. The Big Boy, the multi-national, multi-vertical mammoth staffing company is the first type. This type of company is on many of the “vendor lists” for the large companies, and may or may not have small and medium sized clients. They may have dozens of recruiters sitting in your town, and a lot of them are not very far removed from college. Think “Boiler Room” meets a J-Crew add. This type of firm will almost always operate with a separation of duties, meaning that one person at the firm is the recruiter, who interfaces with you the candidate, and there is another person who interacts with the client and that person is called the Account Manager, or Sales Executive, etc… When working with the Big Boy, make sure you are aware of your specific recruiter’s skill level, as they will typically have very high turnover and hire a lot of greenhorns. The advantage of working with the Big Boy is their coverage. If you get with a good recruiter, they have a very broad view of the local employment market, and may be able to market you to many companies, increasing your odds, if you get with a bad one, it’s a crap shoot.

Next you have the Disadvantaged vendor. These are the firms that are designated as either women or minority owned and they are highly sought after by larger employers through their diversity supplier programs, so they are on all the vendor lists. They will range in size and makeup; they may resemble the Big Boy, however, they may not even have a representative in your town. If they have a local presence, the standard rules apply when working with them, if you get a call from their recruiter across the country, or even across the globe, all bets are off.

Next is the Regional Player, they are a lot like the Big Boy, but will typically do a lot of business with small and medium sized businesses. The large employers know who they are, but haven’t added them to the “vendor list” because they aren’t a national vendor or aren’t a Disadvantaged business. However, they will still work with the large employer as a “sub-vendor” through the Big Boy, or the Disadvantaged firms. They will typically have a good relationship with the person doing the hiring especially if they are working through the non-local Disadvantaged guys. Their recruiters will more than not, know a good bit about the specific jobs, and should be able to have an appropriate conversation with you about your background. The advantage with the Regional Player, is that their real target market is typically the small and medium sized employers, and right now in our current economic and employment situation, these are the companies that are doing the lion-share of the hiring.

Last but not least is the Boutique Firm, which is the small specialty or niche provider. This provider may separate duties, but more than not, these guys run a “full desk”. That means that the same person that is recruiting is also courting the local businesses for opportunities. These guys will typically only recruit for specific skill sets or technical expertise, and they will have very specific clients. They will know their clients well, and you will find that they will typically be versed in your area of expertise, because that is all they do. If you end up on the phone or in the office of one of these recruiters, its for a reason, they probably have a job for you. The only catch with these guys is, size; they may only fill one or two positions per month, so relationship and timing are key when dealing with the Boutique.

Read about how to work effectively with recruiters in Part II.

About the author:
Jeff Jefferson has successfully helped to grow multiple staffing and recruiting companies into industry leaders in their respective markets. Throughout his career he has focused on only two things, his clients, and his contractors. Check out his linkedin page at www.linkedin.com/in/jeffjefferson, and you will find numerous recommendations from both. While building his “book of business” Jeff has always taken the mindset that if you focus on solving your customers’ problems by providing the most qualified candidates possible for their hiring needs, you will be successful in the staffing business. The beauty of that mindset is that most people in the business do not share the sentiment, and it has helped to make Jeff one of the most successful staffing executives in the business.