What is a Recruiter?

Sometimes job seekers think they can hire a recruiter to help find them a job.  Perhaps some recruiter somewhere does that. But I’ve never met one who works for (and is paid solely by) the person looking for a job

Now there are many recruiters who are helpful to job seekers. But it’s good to remember that helping job seekers is not how they earn their living. At least for some, that makes a difference in how they treat you.

What type of recruiter is it?

Recruiters are paid by the employer to help them find the best candidates for those open jobs that the employer is looking to fill.  Consequently, pleasing the employer is the recruiter’s primary goal.  Especially since they can get repeat business.

External recruiters, also known as ”independent” recruiters, do not receive an actual paycheck from the employer with the job openings.  They work for someone else (often a company) and are paid by their employers in one of two ways:

1. Contingency — Recruiters receive a commission IF someone they have referred is hired by the employer. .
2. Retained — Recruiters are paid a flat fee to keep looking for good people, usually senior level, whether or not their referral is hired.

Internal recruiters, also known as “corporate” recruiters, actually work inside the employer’s organization. And they usually collect a paycheck (salary) from the employer who has the jobs.

Some internal recruiters are “contract” recruiters who work inside an organization for a contracted period. And they’re paid by the organization that has the contract with the employer. That was me, although I was an independent contractor and had other types of consulting work also.

Research recruiter if you can

Working with each kind of recruiter has advantages and disadvantages. So it’s a good idea to know who you are working with. And to get a feel as to whether they’re really pulling for you.

You can usually find information about them on LinkedIn. Or simply by googling them and / or their firm. The more you know, the less surprises later on.

One more thing

Some recruiters will put you up as contrast (or second choice) while pushing another candidate. My best advice is to work with recruiters as PART of your job search strategy. But keeping looking elsewhere — and networking, networking, networking!

⇒  EXTRA:  Why Networking Matters So Much

 

Check out more career definitions!