2011 presentation for local job seekers. Focus is working effectively with agency recruiters. Many tips also relevant for in-house HR and corporate recruiting staff.

1. Top 10 Ways to
Make a Recruiter Smile
Tri-cities Unemployment Group
May 9, 2011
Elyse Williamson
Staffing Consultant for Frank’s Employment

2. Staffing terminology
 Sourcer – finds names, credentials
 Recruiter – develops professional
relationship with individual
 Sales – develops relationship with company;
takes the job order for the active search
 Staffing Consultant – sourcing + recruiting
+ sales
 Headhunter – may charge you $
 Temporary or contract; temp-to-hire, direct
hire; full time or part time

3. Staffing professionals all dance
along the bottom line.
This affects:
 How we network with you, short term and
long term;
 How we assess your credentials and
qualifications;
 Whether and how we respond to your interest
in a specific opening;
 How we are involved in each step of the
placement process.

4. Staffing professionals work with
applicants, but ultimately for our
client companies.
 Hiring company sets criteria for each
search. Staffing professional works within
those criteria.
 Recruiters want to be able to say “yes” to
your interest in a specific opening. “Yes”
is what makes money.
 You are the only person working full-time
to find you new employment.

5. Most employers hiring right now
have very specific criteria for
qualifying candidates.
 Improving local economy and job market.
 Businesses still really under pressure.
• Not quite ready to hire in terms of confidence
about their bottom line, but they need to hire
in terms of their product/service demand.
 Employers expect that new employee will be
productive immediately, with shortest
possible learning curve.
 Hiring focuses on present and immediate
need, only secondarily on future need.

6. The employer’s staffing need
drives the search for an agency
professional. This has implications
for you.
 Your résumé must convincingly show that
your expertise is a bulls-eye match.
• The phrase “it’s not on my résumé but” must
vanish from your vocabulary for now.
 Every interaction you have with an agency
staffing professional is an interview –
every email, phone call, skype exchange,
in-person chat.

7. The job market is still filled with
people who are unemployed, but
also increasingly with employed
people who have postponed a
career move.
 Customize your résumé, cover letter, and
interview preparation for those positions
that strongly match your career goal.
That’s what your competition will do!
 Pay attention to the content of the ad,
especially the instructions for applying.

8. #1: Submit an error-free résumé.
=(
 Easily 90% of the
résumés we
receive have more
than one error:
• Typographical,
grammatical,
punctuation
• Formatting
• Content
=)
 An error-free
résumé shows that
you care about
the quality of
your work.
 It makes it
easier for the
recruiter to
visualize you as
representing
him/her well to
the client.

9. #2: Target and customize your
résumé and cover letter.
=(
 90% of the résumés we
receive are too
generic.
 Most résumés present
only tasks, not
successes or
accomplishments.
 Recruiters are using
components of the ad
to prescreen – 99%
ignore this!
=)
 Your résumé and
supporting documents
must persuasively
“sell” you for this
kind of position.
• Details
• Quantification
• Accomplishments
• Successes

10. #3: Resist the temptation to reveal
personal information.
=(
 Marital status
 Age
 Religious convictions
 Political activity
 Financial burdens
 EEOC issues must
be fully
documented,
taking time away
from dancing on
the bottom line!
=)
 Focus on the
aspects of your
personality and
interests that
are relevant to
the workplace.
 The staffing
consultant is
friendly, but is
not your buddy.
We are HR.

11. #4: Make the contacts yourself,
just as you would in the workplace.
=(
 Not your spouse
or partner
 Not your parent
or child
 This looks lazy,
ill-prepared,
lacking in
initiative
=)
 You are
interviewing with
every contact!

12. #5: Be truthful about your work
priorities.
 Truthfulness gives the recruiter
confidence that you will represent him/her
well with the client.
• Money
• Benefits
• Commute
• Portfolio of responsibilities
• Long-term priority of full time or part time
• When priorities change

13. #6: Treat your interview with
recruiter as “remote” meeting with
company.
 Dress as you would for interview at the
company.
 Be on time, no more than 10 minutes early.
 Be prepared: familiar with job description
+ résumé.
 Bring supporting materials, such as
portfolio.
 Answer questions directly.
 Send thank you by email next business day.

14. #7: Respond to rejection as
information.
=(
 Argument
• Especially when
a requirement
is stated in
the ad
 Insult
 Threat
 Applying over and
over for the same
job
=)
 Respond as you
would in the
workplace:
proactively, not
defensively.
 Every interaction
is an interview,
including how you
respond to “no.”

15. #8: Focus your public brand for
the job search.
=(
 67% of employers use
or plan to use social
media searches as
hiring tool
 Recommendations: 52%
 Comments: 36%
 Affiliations: 32%
 Pictures/videos: 23%
 Friends’ comments:
21%
=)
 Double-check your
privacy settings
 Multiple searches
(google, bing, yahoo)
 Use this to your
advantage
• LinkedIn
• Website
• Blog

16. #9: Represent the recruiter well in
your contact with the client.
=)
 You represent the recruiter and the agency
when you have contact with their client.
 When you are well-prepared, it shows that
the recruiter is doing her/his job in
saving the company’s time.
 Follow recruiter’s lead about contact with
the company after interview.
• If you contact the client directly,
without the recruiter’s consent, you
make it seem that they’re not doing
their job.

17. #10: Great referrals build bridges
for the long term.
=)
 Refer people whose work you respect.
 Post positive feedback on yelp and other
sites when you meet a great recruiter.
 If you work with a great recruiter, send
business their way once you’re employed.
 Initiate a long term rapport via LinkedIn
or other professional networks.

18. Remember: recruiters are people,
not computers.
 We usually work on 10-20+ active searches
at a time.
 We work 2000+ hours per year and most of
us have 5000+ active applicants.
 Every contact must be documented.
 We have bad days too.
 We are under pressure from demanding
clients and demanding candidates.
 We want to say “yes,” not “no.”

19. Elyse Williamson
Staffing Consultant
Frank’s Employment
elysew@franksemployment.com
http://www.franksemployment.com
http://elysew.wordpress.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/elysewilliamson