Finding a job through a recruiter can be a great opportunity, but only if you know how to play the game. There are some fatal mistakes possible when working your way into a company through a recruiter, so it’s important to be aware and avoid blowing your chances.

Stick with One Recruiter

If you think your chances of landing a job are going to be increased by giving your resume to multiple recruiters for the same company, you couldn’t be more wrong. Why? The problem is, recruiters are paid a commission for finding employees. If more than one recruiter is submitting your resume to a company, the boss isn’t going to want to deal with the issue raised by who should be paid for finding you. Basically, to avoid conflict, your resume is going to be ignored completely. Now you’ve got no chance at being hired by the company.

Always ask a recruiter which company they’re representing, because you’ll run into a problem if the company already has your resume, as well. The problem with this scenario is the fact that you’re already being considered for a job, but, should a recruiter submit your resume, the client is now obligated to pay the recruiter if you’re hired. You could have been hired for free if the recruiter hadn’t submitted your resume, so you don’t want to get into the issue of costing a company money.

Stand Out with Keywords

Recruiters usually don’t supply you with a job description, which can be extremely useful in landing an interview and a job. Insist that a recruiter at least email you a copy of the job description, so you can be better prepared with a resume catered to the specific position. Companies are focusing more than ever on keywords, so you’ll want to pad your resume with keywords that will be determined by the information you’ve been provided by your recruiter.

Never let a recruiter get away with simply telling you what a job is about. It puts you at a disadvantage, and it doesn’t take them much effort to forward an email to you.

Don’t Get Bogged Down By Numbers

Chances are a recruiter is going to ask you to give a history of your past salaries, which is a request that you should almost always decline. The reason is that this information is going to be relayed to the company, and the company will look at your salary history and determine what to offer you. They may have a salary range in mind for the position, say $40,000 to $45,000, and your salary history could dictate that they offer you $40,000. Obviously, you want to go for the higher end of that range, so keeping your past pay under wraps could mean a big difference in your paycheck.

If the recruiter insists that you give a salary history, be vague about it by giving a range over your entire career, not an itemized list of what each company paid you. This leaves you some space to negotiate, as those salaries were likely spread out between different amounts of experience, years with a company, and possibly even job titles.

Recruiters can be a valuable tool in your efforts to land a job, but you need to know how to beat a recruiter at his own game.

Nicole Rodgers has been blogging for three years. Another way she exposed herself to recruiters was by using a free website builder to create a site to promote herself and her abilities.

Some of my good friendss and colleagues are outstanding recruiters. If you are currently looking for a job, there are a few things you need to know about what recruiters can and cannot do for you.

1. One of the most common misconceptions is that recruiters help people find jobs. While it is true that recruiters do place people in some very excellent positions, recruiters are primarily responsible to the clients they represent.
2. It is the job of a recruiter to find a candidate to fill a position.  As such, recruiters seldom market candidates to companies, and when they do, they only select the most ideal candidate based on what they know about the role and the hiring employer.
3. Roughly about 5% of the revenue a recruiter makes is from placing a candidate into a company.  95% of the revenue is from finding a good candidate to fill a specific open role.  Recruiters either work on contingency or are on contract by the employer.
4. If you are in career transition, have changed positions frequently, or if you have worked in multiple industries, it is less likely that a recruiter will be able help you. The recruiter may want to help you, again the recruiter is bound by the restrictions given to them by the company they are filling for. It’s best to talk over all possible options with a recruiter if you may fall into this category.
5. Networking with recruiters who are in your niche market is a very good idea. There are many industry specific recruiting firms, especially in major metropolises. For instance NeoHire.com, a partner with us at ResumeBucket.com recruits on contract specifically for the tech/web industry in the state of California. If you establish a positive relationship with a talented recruiter, they will remember you the next time a suitable opening does come across their desk.

Recruiters can be an important part of a search strategy, which should also include networking with people in and outside of your network, participating in related industry groups or social networks on the Internet.

When you are submitting an application or a resume online often job seekers are left in doubt as to whether or not the employer received their information because of the absence of human interaction. This can add anxiety and stress to an already pressure intense situation, so what do you do?

Jessica Hernandez, president and CEO of Great Resumes Fast and a former HR manager says the following. “When I was a hiring manager, applicants would often call to check on their status. It was frustrating and daunting, I didn’t have enough hours in the day to speak to every single person.”

In the current job market you definitely don’t want to risk bugging anyone who has the power to hire you.

Steve Kobs, a Human Resources Manager offers a solution. “If you call me on the phone and ask if we’ve made a hiring decision, you put me in an awkward position if I have to tell you bad news … or if I’ve forgotten who you are. Candidates who follow up by e-mail show respect for my time, which I appreciate.”

You want to avoid sending a follow up e-mail immediately after the application. Hiring managers already have overloaded inbox’s and if they see that you’ve submitted an application and right above it have another e-mail from you asking “Did you get my application?!?!” you are likely to leave a bad taste in their mouth.

The safest way to follow up on an online job application is to wait about a week then politely send a brief e-mail asking about the status of your recent application. Include the date and time you originally applied so they can easily search for you. Then just be patient and wait for a reply and refrain from following up more than once.

Survey Reveals What Employers and Recruiters are Looking for in Q4 and Beyond

LOS ANGELES – Oct. 13, 2010 – ResumeBucket, the fastest-growing free online employment service, today announced the results of a study revealing what recruiters were searching for in the third quarter of 2010 (Q3). Compiled from a two-part study, ResumeBucket first reviewed the top 100 typed keywords most searched by recruiters looking for candidates. The top keywords and the industries they relate to were then categorized as follows:

Armed with the keyword results and top industries, the second half of the study included a survey sent to 1,500 HR managers and recruiters of the employers that currently use ResumeBucket’s services. The 10 question survey sampled recruiters’ plans for hiring in Q4 and into 2011; what stands out in a resume; and what tools they use to find candidates. Some of the key findings include:

• 93.5% of respondents plan on hiring in Q4 2010
  • 46% of those looking to hire 1-5 employees
  • 41.4% looking for 10 or more employees.
  • 51.6% of employers said that “Results stated in the candidate’s experience” was the most eye-catching aspect they looked for on a resume – several times the second most common result, the list of Previous Employers, at 17.6%, and the third most common, tailored content for the job, at 13.2%.
  • Only 2.2% of employers identified a candidate’s school as the most important area of a resume.
  • 87.4% of our employers primarily search for candidates on online Job Boards, as opposed to newspapers (4.6%), Trade Publications (2.3%), and professional recruiting or staffing services (5.7%).
  • 15% of Employers had made a hire through ResumeBucket within the past 3 months.

For more information about the study, or for a detailed results breakdown, contact ResumeBucket at info@resumebucket.com.

About Resume Bucket

ResumeBucket is the fastest growing free online employment service. Helping job seekers build a personal brand and better represent themselves to future employers, ResumeBucket provides each candidate their own website where they can easily post, edit, share and track their resume online. Nearly 300,000 people have already taken advantage and published their resume using the free service.

ResumeBucket is also a resource, accessed for free, by more than 1000 top employers to regularly search qualified resumes and post open positions. ResumeBucket is currently used by companies of all sizes, from SMBs to Fortune 100s, including Accenture, CBS, Dell, Ford/Mercury, GE Healthcare, Intel, Sears Holdings, Time Warner, Twitter, Waste Management and Yahoo!

For more information, please visit www.ResumeBucket.com.

Ask Our Recruiters

Working at Neohire I am connected to some of the top VC funded start-ups. Not only do we work with top companies on immediate hiring needs, but we are in constant communication with various industry leaders on the future goals of their companies. I know what they need now and what they will need in the future so I am always looking for the best of the best when it comes to talent.

Being on top of industry trends and needs makes the difference between proactive recruiting and reactive recruiting. An important part of recruiting is not just knowing what your clients need now, but the organizational goals for the future and how they plan on getting there. Who will they need and when. Who will succeed on their team.  It’s important to know what your company wants to achieve and who they will need to help them get there.

Good tip for candidates- hiring does not slow at the end of the year. Most of the companies we work with want to finalize hiring decisions now to get great employees on board and ramped up for the beginning of the new year. Recruiters are constantly looking for top talent. Make sure your resume and profile are updated on the tools we use such as ResumeBucket and Linked-In. Talk with recruiters about the companies they work with and ask them to get you visibility to companies you are interested in. They could have an immediate role to fill or may need someone like you in the future. Keep making those connections and getting visibility to the right people.

…And if you ever are looking for a tech job in the greater Los Angeles area contact me, Gemma via Linkined or Gemma@Neohire.com

Ask Our Recruiters

More companies are using recruiters to play the middle man.  Sourcing, arbitration, screening … more and more you’re going to find that recruiters are your foot hole into a lot of networks, and can be a job seekers best friend.  So what should you know about working and talking with recruiters?  Here’s a few simple Do’s and Don’ts for when talent hunters are knocking at your door:

-DO utilize the internet.  Put your resume on sites like Linkedin and Resumebucket.  Get it out there where recruiters can find it.  Make sure it has all the important and pertinent keywords surrounding your career/field.  Make your resume and contact info as visible as possible if you want people to find you, and if you’re job hunting, you definitely do.

-DO NOT misrepresent yourself.  Recruiters want to find the best fit for the candidate and the company.  Give them the tools and facts that will help them find the best fit for you.

-DO ask questions.  You know what you want/prefer out of a job and workplace.  “How big is the company?”  “What is the work atmosphere like?” “What would my role be?”  “Who would I report to?”  If it’s important to you, make sure you know.  Again, it’s all about finding the perfect fit … plus, being proactive makes you stand out.

-DO NOT apply for the opportunity outside of the recruiter.  A recruiters job is to hype you up and give you exposure.  if you work around them, you’re up against a larger pool with no one in your corner.

-DO fix up your resume.  Get a list of the requirements and how the company operates from the recruiter.  Then do a little homework … look at the company’s website.  Make certain that if you have experience that lends itself to the position and company, that you add to your resume.  Ask your recruiter if you should fix it up .. they should have pointers.

-DO NOT be a flake.  Be responsive to your recruiter.  if you’re remotely interested, keep pursuing it until you hear negative feedback, or discover you don’t want the position.  If you DO want it and you’re not responsive then you may miss out .. and worse yet, the recruiter may not ping you with future opportunities.

-DO call NeoHire … and ask for Patrick Dorsey if you’re a tech in the LA area … I heard that guy is the bomb!