Getting on Recruiter's Good Side, or a Least Call You Back

Give a recruiter a reason to call you.

By David Still - A common comment heard during candidate phone screenings, "I have tried contacting recruiters regarding posted positions, but seldom do they return my call or email."

So tell me why a busy recruiter should call you?

1) I think I am the perfect match for the advertised role.

2) I just lost my job and the recruiter can assist me in developing my resume and presenting me to opportunities

3) I need to talk with someone interested in my extensive job history. My direct recruiting efforts are not working.

Recruiters are time managers. They have a limited amount of time in the day devoted to filling current job requisitions. Recruiters are not career coaches. There are qualified career coaches that will charge a fee to develop your bio and provide job search instruction.

Recruiters are also focused on locating a "most marketable candidate." This is where a recruiter locates a highly skilled candidate that the recruiter can promote during their sales call. Sometimes, this results with an interview and hiring of the presented candidate. Most of the time, it simply assists the recruiter in obtaining a different job order for the recruiter can fill.

So, how do you get a recruiter to respond to you?

Recruiters rely on the following candidate sourcing avenues:

1) Candidates captured from a job posting ad

2) Candidates located through recruiter's network or public resume databases

3) Candidates obtained through referrals. Someone that can recommend another for the role

Since you have access to the job postings on the recruiter's or employer's Career Page, you become knowledgeable of the job openings the recruiter needs to fill. If a position is not a match to your qualifications, but matches a friend of yours, why not send an email to the recruiter or employer stating you may have an excellent match for one of their roles and share your friend's name and LinkedIn profile. The recruiter will appreciate your efforts. They will remember you for future openings.

Once the recruiter understands your sincerely in assisting with their openings, the recruiter will begin contacting you for help with similar positions.

Using this technique, I successfully secured a contract recruiting position at Korn/Ferry Futurestep. I assisted the Talent Director with available contract recruiter names, then, one day the Director called me stating he had a 60-day recruiting engagement that suited me.

I interviewed for the role and started at my new desk the same morning. I completed the 60-day assignment and was offered a nine-month engagement. This was followed by a 13-month engagement. At the end of two years, I was asked to become US Practice Leader of Technology and Southeast District Manager. I accepted.

Remember, recruiters live on candidate referrals. They also remember (and record) where the referrals originate. Get noticed by recruiters by sharing candidate referrals. It will lead to your own successful employment.