Should you use recruiters during your job search?

First, let's take one step back.

I began working as a recruiter in 2000 and I quickly realized that not everyone knows exactly what a recruiter does or what the protocol is when working with one.

Recruiters get paid to help companies find new staff.

Recruiters work on jobs that companies can't find staff for and attempt to locate a small number of job searchers to put in front of the hiring manager for consideration for the job.

A recruiter needs an open job to work on and obviously then needs to go out and find a great candidate (ie. you!) to fill the position.

If you decide to work with recruiters, I usually suggest working with a small handful of them, perhaps 3-4.

Keep in mind that recruiters are paid by the hiring company, not the job searcher so I always suggest using recruiters to supplement your job search as opposed to relying on them to find a job for you.

A recruiter's job is to fill the job, not to get you a job specifically so keep this in mind.

Recruiters good ones can put jobs in front of you that you might otherwise not have heard of and can also assist you with preparing for interviews with their clients and can often add value in ways you don't realize the value of, until you get a job through one of them!

In order to get the most value out of recruiters, have an up to date and professional looking resume ready, have a list of references in mind that you can use during the reference check phase, and keep an open mind with regards to considering various jobs and eventually, job offers, that come your way through a recruiter.

A good recruiter will also help you negotiate a job offer and will help you resign from your current employer once you get a new job through them.

Carl Mueller

My name is Carl Mueller and I'd like to thank you for learning a bit more about me!

I feel that I have numerous relevant experiences during my career that come in useful when helping people with their careers:

I know what it?s like to work internationally, having worked overseas (in New Zealand, from 1994-1998).

I've survived several corporate downsizings while many of my colleagues were being laid off.

I have also experienced being laid off twice myself during corporate downsizings.

I know what it?s like to be self-employed.

I've helped many people find better jobs. I started to work as a professional recruiter in 2000 first as an Information Technology (IT) recruiter and then in general recruitment across many industries including IT, manufacturing and marketing. Since this time, I have helped many people find their dream career and it?s a great feeling.

I experienced one of the slowest hiring periods in recent memory especially during the general hiring slowdown that followed the Y2K frenzy in 1999, the bursting of the dot com bubble in early 2000, and then the employment market bottoming out following September 11, 2001.

These were certainly not great times to be a job searcher in most industries nor was it a particularly good time to be a recruiter.

Following this, I began running the day to day operations of an Internet-based company in early 2003 that focused on developing online software and subscription-based websites for consumers. It was then that I fully realized the power, usefulness and potential of the Internet which really spurred me to set up my own website which you can view in my Personal URL section below this bio.

I?m also a Platinum Ezine Articles Expert as recognized by EzineArticles.com, one of the most visited websites on the Internet. This special designation is earned by having consistently high-quality articles published and viewed on their website. All of my submissions are related to helping you find your dream career and many of my articles get reproduced on other websites by their webmasters.

Good luck with your career and I hope I have been of assistance to you!