Working with Recruiters

November 1, 2006

Jason over at JibberJobber had a great post recently on working with recruiters. One of the best quotes from the article:

“A good recruiter extracts the best of the best. Their value, to the companies looking for people, is to find people the companies can not find on their own.”

That’s truly the difference between a great recruiter and most of the recruiters out there – if the person doesn’t take the time to get to know you, spend some time learning about your skills, your personality, and your long and short-term goals, you’re working with a bad recruiter.

I have had the amazing opportunity to work with two of the best recruiters in the security industry (One of whom I met in an elevator in Vegas… a great story for another day). The way that I know that they’re great recruiters is that I consider them both friends – when I’m in NYC, I always make sure to give them a call and see if we can hang out, because they’re just genuinely great guys.

I think of recruiters as a lot like Jerry Maguire – if they’re not creating a genuine relationship with you that can allow you to really work together to find the best fit, they’re probably not acting in your best interest. And someone acting from the context of a relationship will always be in a better position to help you move your career along.