When you are a mid-level individual contributor or manger, the jobs become a little harder to find. The higher on the pryamid you go, the fewer open spaces are available. Recruiters make it their business to be super connected in the career community. A great recruiter will certainly try to make money from an employer by placing you, but a great recruiter will not miss an opportunty to help you for free. That is one reason why great recruiters are so well connected. Once they have exhausted any opportunity they may have for you, they will make selected introductions for free.
Use the introductions to get your resume personally in the hands of a hiring manager. You have a 95% chance of getting a job interview if your resume is delivered by a trusted source to the hiring manager.
Sending your resume to companies will cancel out any help that a recruiter might be to you. And the goal here is to work with a few great recruiters because when you find a couple of great recruiters, they are worth their weight in gold, if you know how to work them them.
Become recruiter agnostic. Don't be afraid to work with two or three or even a dozen recruiters to start. After a bit of time you will know the ones who are connected and who are willing and able to be helpful.
Be honest. Tell the recruiters you work with that you plan to work with more than one recruiter. In short order, you will narrow the field. Recruiters want your business because they don't get paid unless you get hired. Telling them that you are working with more than one will begin to show you which ones will be the best to work with.
Also, be up front. Tell them if you've already sent your resume into a company or not. It's a big waste of their time and a big trust buster if they have to find out from the HR department that the company already has your resume on file.
Recruiters who answer your emails will likely be working on a position or positions for which you may be a good match. Our experience show an average of 2% - 5% response rate. For evey 1,000 recruters you send you resume to, you will get 20 to 50 emails or phone calls. Out of those numbers, you will get between 1 to 4 hot prospects.
At any one time, a good recruiter will have contracts with a half dozen companies. If they've been in the business for a few years, they will know key people at hundreds of companies for which they do not currently have contract or for which they are looking to get a contract.
Recruiters are always looking for business. One avenue into a company where they want to establish a relationship and build goodwill is by introducing good candidates, probono.
When you find a job you really want, don't ever send your resume through normal channels, if you can help it. You are 99% more likely to get an interview if your resume lands on the hiring manager's desk from a someone the hiring managers knows.
Recruiters are impressed when you ask for this favor, because getting your resume on a hiring manager's desk is the #1 way to get hired. period. Bar none.
Not only are you doing what 99% of job seekers do not do or do not know how to do, but you will gain the respect and trust of a recruiter who knows if you get hired, you will likely advocate on their behalf when you yourself need to do some hiring.
For jobs you really want, using recruiters, your LinkedIn network, and your personal network, you are about 90% assured of finding someone who can get your resume onto a hiring managers desk.
For more tips on how to job prospect and how to get company insiders to help you, read about job prospecting.
Get your resume out to as many recruiters as you can by using either the free version or the commercial version of the resume blasting. Be sure to opt-out of sending your resume directly to companies.
The best way to find recruiters is to get them to come to you. Short of researching and finding thousands of recruiters to contact, the most effective and time saving method is to use the best commercial service to e-mail your resume and cover letter to 1,000's of headhunters and recruiters. It's best to choose one that doesn't have a lot of limitations to the number of industries or geographies you can choose from.
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