Kieron O'Connor: Getting the Most out of Head-Hunters and Recruitment Consultants

When searching for a new job one of the best things to do, particularly if you have a few years' experience under you belt and are forging a reputation for your skills and expertise, is to consult with a Head-Hunter or Recruitment consultant to help with finding your next job.

Here are a few tips I put together in order for you to get the most out of head-hunters:

1. Be very specific in the Recruitment Company / Head hunter you work with; make sure they have a good reputation in the market place. Meet with them face-to-face and make sure you are happy with them, and they with you, as this relationship is crucial. They need to understand you, your background and your aspirations for the future.  Moving jobs is one of the most important things you will do in your life - make sure you take the time to find the right partner.

2. Make sure that you are working with somebody (a) who you trust - you want a recruitment consultant who will be honest with you, even if the message is not positive; it will be constructive and will certainly help you; (b) who understands what you want and matches effectively to your requirements, ensuring a perfect match; they may also suggest something that you may not have already considered, and they will also understand the market and what jobs are currently available and also those coming up; (c) who will respect the confidentiality of your CV and your right to choose where your CV can be sent; ensure that they will actually give you the name of the company to which your details are being sent to (it is amazing how many candidates don’t know where their CV has gone) which is fraught with danger and causes issues in duplication by other agencies which looks unprofessional; and (d) Ensure they have the roles that are appropriate to your next step.

3. The ideal scenario is to work with a recruitment consultant in a partnership - the key word here is partnership. You should also try and be a good partner in terms of meeting up, returning calls in a timely manner, making yourself available for interviews, being honest and truthful... there needs to be mutual respect and trust, and if there is, you will get the very most from your recruitment partner. 

At KR Recruitment we work exclusively with many candidates who trust us. This makes for an efficient and easy process from which both sides gain a lot of benefits.