Learning how to work with recruiters is an important part of helping
recruiters to help you. Over the past couple of years there is a trend
expressing itself in the behavior of job candidates towards the recruiters they
work with. That trend is a tendency towards playing both ends against the
middle; telling the recruiter what they want to hear in order to gain the value
of their -- usually free -- services.
Most recruiters work for and get paid by their employer clients, not job
prospect candidates. Understanding that jobseekers are often eager to find new
employment that matches their requirements, they will most times actively pursue
job positions on their own as they work with recruiters. No problem. The
problems arise when candidates work with recruiters then report to the recruiter
only what they want the recruiter to hear, often times even if the report is not
exactly true. That gives an advantage to the job candidate to work their own job
opportunities or job opportunities with other recruiters as they manage
recruiters by only sharing partial accuracy as to their real status. That sort
of behavior is unfair and dishonest towards the recruiter and doesn't benefit
the candidate.
A recruiter needs to know a job candidate's exact status, if they are to be
effective on behalf of the candidate. Most recruiters don't mind, and
understand, that candidates will work with other recruiters and pursue their own
sources of opportunity. But when a candidate inaccurately reports to a recruiter
that they remain interested in a job the recruiter is working -- only to keep
that option open, when the candidate really prefers a different job -- then the
recruiter is at a disadvantage, encouraging their client towards a person who
will likely not take the job. It isn't so much that the recruiter is perceived
by their client as being inaccurate. Most employer clients assume that the
recruiter is only reporting what the candidate shares.
So such inaccurate reports to a recruiter by a manipulative candidate only
reveals the dark strategies of that candidate and established that part of the
candidate's character within the confines of the very industry the candidate
wishes to seek employment. It's a small world. Help your recruiter help you by
delivering fair and honest reports of your job search status towards a specific
job. You may be surprised that if you tell your recruiter that you really prefer
a different job, they may offer advice to you to help you secure that position.
Believe it or not, most recruiters are upstanding, professional individuals of
good character
Most take the long view that whether they make a fee on a candidate today or
not, that they serve their respective industries well by being honest and fair
themselves in all dealings.
GOOD LUCK IN YOUR JOB SEARCH.