3 things job seekers must know when dealing with recruiters in Singapore

Know what you want. Know where you are being represented. Know how to nurture your relationship with your recruiters. Nearly every job seeker knows these tips. Or they thought they knew.

Ronald Lee, Managing Director of PrimeStaff Management Services, in his SBR article on the 7 recruitment trends, advises job seekers to “sell yourself to as many recruitment agencies as possible. This is because many of the bigger companies only use recruitment agencies for their hiring needs these days.”

Job seekers in doing so increase their recruitment chances as recruiters have the insider industry knowledge, can represent them to multiple opportunities and guide them throughout the recruitment process especially during the final negotiation stage.

How do you sell yourself to the recruiters though? You as a job seeker, to successfully sell yourself to the recruiters to clinch the job you aspire to, must:

1. Know what you want.

Contrary to what a lot of people think, recruiters do not create opportunities for you. They find opportunities available in the market and represent you to the ones that match what you want to what the company requires.

To help recruiters do this match better, know what you are looking for. A lot of people, even at senior management level, are unsure of what factors they will consider before making the first move. Not knowing what you are aiming for does you a huge disservice in the priority list of the recruiters.

Knowing what you want also makes it easy for you to decide which role to go for when you have the welcoming problem of multiple offers. After all, recruiters are salespersons and some may be biased towards roles which profit them the most – better commission, breakthrough with a new client or servicing an existing client better. Hence, it is important that you have it clear in your mind as to what you are looking for to make the right decision.

2. Know where you are being represented.

Very few people know about where their precious profile has been sent to. Firstly, when your CV is represented by too many recruiters, your chances of getting the role are jeopardised. Secondly, your CV represents important and confidential information about you. You need to keep track of where it is going.

You need to emphasise, re-emphasise and over-emphasise to your recruiters that your profile can be represented only after your consent. Cut down the number of recruiters who send across your profile to clients without prior consent.

Just recently, a top-notch candidate that one of the authors of this article knows of, who was a perfect fit for the role, was turned down as his CV was represented by other recruiters and the company didn’t want to share the cost of his hiring.

3. Know how to nurture your relationship with your recruiters.

Honesty is the best policy. Tell your recruiters if you are going for other interviews. Whether you reveal the name of the company depends on your relationship with them. Tell them how the position they are handling compares with other opportunities. If they have represented you for a position that does not match what you are looking for, let them know what is missing.

Build a trusting relationship with them and they will put an extra effort to get you a job. One of the authors has had extremely honest candidates who would tell her when she had failed at putting their profiles to the right role. These are also the candidates whom she has put as her top priority and has represented them to the right job thereafter.

Finally, it is in the interest of your recruiters to get you the best available job. Some amateurs do look for short term gains but recruiters who have been in the industry for a couple of years or more understand the importance of their role.