How to work with recruiters

We think it’s really important that you know how to work with a recruiter, especially during this time where lots of people are looking for jobs and there are fewer roles available.

So in this blog post, we discuss what it means to be a recruiter and what our job is, as well as what you (both as a job-seeker and a business) can expect from us.

If you are a job-seeker:

Do your research

If you are looking for a job in a particular industry, spend some time researching local recruiters who are specialists in that area. There is no point working with a recruiter who does not know your industry and is not local to you, as they are unlikely to be able to find a job that will suit your skill set and requirements.

Assess the registration process

If you phone up a recruitment agency letting them know you are looking for work and all they do is request your CV, ask you to sign a form for GDPR purposes and tell you that they’ll let you know when they find a job for you, they might not be the recruiter for you. Building a rapport between a candidate and a recruiter is really important, and speaking one-on-one about your job search will tell a recruiter a lot more about you than your CV. A recruiter will spend more time trying to find the right job for you if their registration process is thorough.

Build a rapport

There needs to be an element of trust between you and your recruiter, because we spend more time at work than we do with our families, you need to make sure that the job you go for ticks most (if not all) of your boxes. Building a rapport with your recruiter will help to give them a good understanding of what you’re looking for.

Work with no more than 3 agencies

Ideally you will be able to find just one recruiter who you work with exclusively to find you the perfect job, but in the current climate, you might want to register with a few agencies so your chances are better. However, we would recommend working with no more than 3 agencies at one given time. The more agencies you are registered with, the more times your CV is likely to be presented to a company when they are hiring, which could make you look desperate and unorganised. Good recruiters shouldn’t send your CV to a company without asking you.

If you are a company looking to recruit:

Form a partnership

It’s important to build a partnership with your recruiter where the needs of both parties are put first. Sometimes it’s best to work on a retained basis so that your recruiter promises to prioritise filling your vacancy over others, which can be very beneficial to you as a business. Exclusivity works in a similar way but doesn’t involve an upfront payment.

Choose one or two agencies to work with

The process of recruiting is a much quicker and smoother process if you’ve chosen fewer agencies to work on your job. If the reason why you’ve chosen to use a recruiter is because you’re short on time, having one or two meetings with recruiters about the ideal candidate is a lot easier than six or seven. Even if you’re not short on time, using multiple agencies actually increases your workload as well as the amount of emails flooding your inbox, so think about how many agencies you choose to get involved.

Think about the credibility of your brand

If you are using multiple agencies to recruit for a job vacancy, more often than not, you will receive the same CV from more than one of those agencies. This can make the decision process very complicated for you, particularly because you are likely to have to choose the agency you use on a first-come-first-serve basis. Be aware that using different agencies could also damage your brand, because if a candidate sees your job advertised on five or six sites, they may wonder why you can’t fill the job role.

Give time to your recruiter

It’s important for a recruiter to know exactly what you’re looking for, what the job role entails, and if relevant, why the predecessor is leaving. Your recruiter will want to make sure that any candidate they put forward for your vacancy will enjoy the job and want to stay, and they need to work with you to do this. During the pandemic, we have been video calling with hiring managers as well as asking for videos of their offices so we can gain an understanding of what their company is like before we put a candidate forward. As a company, it is important to invest this time into a recruiter.

If you’re looking to take the next step in your career, or are thinking about recruiting for a job vacancy, please get in touch with our Recruitment Specialist, Ruth Davies, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..