Here are some good qualities to look for.

How can you ensure you’re only working with the good ones?

I won’t bother mentioning the really obvious ones except in passing but for completeness you clearly want honest recruiters who you can trust and who aren’t going to fire your resume all over the place without your permission. That should be a given.

Here are the qualities of a good recruiter who in my experience are are most likely best-suited to help you find a new job.

1. They have a good relationship with the employers they deal with: Good recruiters deal with employers who they’ve placed people with before. When you have a recruiter who has placed multiple people in a company you’re interested in, chances are this means the company is happy with the recruiter and probably has staff who you might be able to speak with to learn more about the company before you commit to working for them. You obviously want recruiters who have a good relationship with the employers they deal with but I mention this with one proviso…in recruitment it is common for recruiters to deal both with employers and candidates and for recruiters to work on each other’s jobs so you might find that in some cases the recruiter you deal with isn’t actually the account manager for the hiring company but one of their colleagues is. The recruiter you’re dealing with should be able to answer questions you have regarding the job and employer but if they can’t they should get the answer from the account manager or put you in touch with that person directly. That way you’ll ensure this recruiter has the proper information to help you decide if the job is really of interest to you, which leads to quality #2…

2. They give you the proper information to help you do your best during job interviews: This means they give you more than just a job description too. Recruiters should be be able to tell you a number of things about the job and company you’re applying to that you wouldn’t necessarily know had you applied directly for the job yourself otherwise why would you bother working with a recruiter in the first place? Among other things they should be able to tell you why the job is open, what it pays, who the job reports to, the culture of the company you’re interviewing with and anything special skills or experience that the job requires (i.e. hot buttons) that the hiring manager is looking for. A lack of this information might suggest that the recruiter doesn’t have a very good relationship with the company.

3. They make you aware of jobs you didn’t otherwise know about: Many recruiters work on the same jobs other ones are but in some cases, you might be working with a recruiter who is a preferred vendor to an employer and in some rare cases might be the only recruiter working on the job. The last thing you want to do is waste time having 2 or more recruiters telling you about a job you already knew about which can increase the chance your resume gets sent for the same job and company more than once. You want to be dealing with recruiters who tell you about jobs that you didn’t otherwise know exist.

4. They don’t waste your time with positions that don’t match you: Sometimes in recruitment it can be difficult to determine 100% of the time whether a job will be of interest to a candidate and in some cases you might get presented with jobs that don’t interest you or fit you and you have to say no. If I wasn’t sure, I’d tell a candidate I wasn’t entirely sure but wanted to float a job past them just to be safe. But if you’re regularly getting jobs put in front of you that don’t match your skillset, experience, monetary requirements, etc it might be a sign that the recruiter you’re working with is no good. I recall working with some recruiters who would show me the resume of a job candidate for a job I was working on and in some cases it was unbelievable because the person in no way, shape or form fit the job and yet they were trying to tell me the person was a perfect fit. This stuff does happen. Not all recruiters know what they are doing.

How did you find my name?

One of the things that people often want to ask a recruiter is “how did you find out about me?” In other words, where did they find your name? In the old days before the Internet and social media it was harder to find people but these days most of us have some track record online so it’s a lot easier to find people than previously so perhaps this isn’t such an important question afterall. When I first got into recruitment in 2000 I recall many people asking how I’d found their name and mostly I think it was because they wanted to ensure their current employer didn’t know they were looking for a new job. As time went on fewer and fewer people seemed to ask this question because many already had their resume posted online, used LinkedIn, Facebook, etc and were already easy to find.

As I’ve spoken with and met with more and more people during my time as a recruiter, it is interesting to see how some of the same sorts of things often pop up during the course of a conversation.

Specifically, people often think about things related to their career and to job searches that aren’t necessarily correct. Here are some of the common myths:

Recruiters get paid to help you get a new job: You don’t pay a recruiter so they’re not working for you. If you are paying a recruiter, you’re getting ripped off. Just like the person selling the house pays the real estate fees, the hiring company pays a recruiter, not the job searcher. Recruiters don’t get paid to help you get a new job. They get paid when they help someone – anyone – get a job with one of their clients. It could be you, or someone else, it doesn’t matter. Their job is to fill the job, not help you get a job specifically. If they help you get the job, great. If it’s another of their candidates who gets the job, that’s great too. Obviously that not great for you of course but the recruiter is happy.

Education can make up for hands-on experience: In my experience mostly as an IT recruiter, this isn’t the case. I’ve lost count of how times I’ve asked someone if they hands-on experience with a particular skill or platform and they respond by saying that they don’t have this experience but they took a course on it or they can learn it. Employers typically want someone who has the experience they are looking for unless such a person doesn’t exist. Taking courses and trying to learn it on the fly often doesn’t cut it.

Offering quantity over quality is preferable: Whether it’s on your resume or in the interview, written or verbal diarrhea – where you go and on and keep talking, hoping that something you say will catch the hiring manager’s attention – is a common way that people lose out on interviews and jobs. Listing every single course you’ve ever taken on your resume or just talking and taking up air in an interview but not actually answering the question that was asked are two common ways that people offer quantity over quality. These rarely help your cause but they often hurt it.

Instructions don’t matter: When applying for jobs, one of the easiest ways to eliminate yourself is by not following instructions. If the job ad asks for a cover letter, send one. If the application process involves answering 5 questions, answer them. If the job application deadline is in two days, try to get your application in the day before just to be safe but don’t miss the deadline. Not paying attention to simple instructions is often a sign to the hiring manager that you don’t pay attention to details.

Spam is good: Applying for 3 different jobs with the same company that have completely different skillsets and experience isn’t a great idea but this is something that happens frequently. I recall cases where I was looking for (as an example) a Network Administrator, Project Manager and Customer Service Representative with a particular client and get people applying for all three jobs even though the jobs should clearly attract different candidates. The thought that there would be someone who would legitimately qualify for all three jobs is absurd and yet people will email their resume over for all three when in fact they qualify for none of them. Typically all three of their emails end up in the deleted folder.

Incompetence is something you will face during your career and during job searches. Let me give you a personal example.

I kept a copy of an email I received unsolicited from a recruitment firm that was contacting me to enquire about my interest in speaking with them regarding jobs they have with their clients. I got the following email message, the body of which I’ve copied and pasted below but taking out the name of the company who sent it. I’ve bolded the comments in the email that I found most interesting:

[start of email]
Good afternoon,

I am contacting you after a thorough review of your online resume. Your background and qualifications match those of individuals we have been most successful in working with, and we would like to meet with you in person.

ABC Company is the only company working with professionals to obtain their ideal position amidst the most uncertain times of our generation. We specialize in traditional and growth industries in all disciplines.

Our firm deals specifically with positions from $100,000 up to the most senior levels, as well as the very specific needs of both people and companies at this level. We have direct access to a majority of the companies and recruiters that will want to discuss the knowledge and experience that you can bring to their company, or to their clients.

In case you are not familiar with ABC Company, please visit our website at [company's website] prior to our first discussion.

Please attach an updated copy of your resume, and review your calendar so that we can schedule a meeting, and further discuss your career opportunities.
[end of email]

Good afternoon,: I’m always suspect of people who contact me without addressing the email to me personally. Afterall, they did go on to say that they’d done a “thorough review” of my online resume which I presume means they’d have learned my first name at least.

ABC Company is the only company…: This statement is mindless and clearly untrue. So they’re the only company in the whole wide world who could possibly help me find a new job if I was looking for one? I don’t think so. Whatever credibility they had at this time is now gone with this silly statement.

We have direct access to a majority of the companies and recruiters that will want to discuss…: First off, how would the person sending this email have any idea about which companies would want to speak with me when this person hasn’t even spoken with me yet? As mentioned above, they don’t even seem to know my name. There are what, millions of companies around the world, and they claim they have access to “a majority” of them? Please.

This is a typical form email that the person and company sending it apparently don’t realize looks and smells like one from a mile away.

On a whim, I responded to the person who sent me the email and said the following to them:

Hi [name removed]

Thanks for your email. Having worked as a recruiter, when I saw your email I noticed that you didn’t refer to me specifically by name in your opening so I can’t tell if this is a generic email that gets sent to everyone or if you do see something in my background that might interest a specific client(s). Perhaps you could confirm.

Thanks.

Carl

I never did hear back from them.

Bottom line: watch out for incompetence during your job search and career. Read carefully what people email you and don’t be afraid to ask questions up front to avoid wasting your time and getting your hopes up for no reason.

In this case, the company who sent me the email was on a fishing expedition probably just trying to collect resumes but I didn’t fall for it.

Be careful of recruiters who seem more than willing to fire your resume off to all sorts of companies without first meeting you or without your permission.

I recently heard from a friend who had just got a new job so I was interested to see how he’d found this job. He told me that he’d received a call from a recruiter out of the blue saying that he’d seen my friend’s resume online although my friend couldn’t recall posting his resume anywhere. The recruiter told my friend about a job they had available and asked if he’d be interested to apply and my friend said that he was in fact interested.

A few days later, he received a call from the recruiter saying the company wanted to interview him for the job. The first interview ended up going well because he was immediately invited back for a second interview at which time a job offer was made which was promptly accepted by my friend.

When I asked my friend for some details, here is what I found out:

1. He didn’t meet the recruiter until after he’d received and accepted the job offer despite the fact that he and the recruiter are located in the same city. Recruiters who don’t ask to meet with you before offering to help you with your job search tend to be the ones who are just looking for resumes to fire around which tends to be a low impact way for you to look for a new job. If the recruiter hasn’t met you and doesn’t even know what you look like, how can they properly market you to potential hiring managers or help you get ready for interviews? You learn so much – about each other – by meeting in person. That’s why job interviews are done in person!

2. My friend didn’t know the name of the company his resume was being sent to until after they had requested he come in for an interview. What if he didn’t want to work for this company upon hearing who they were? He didn’t even know what industry they were in until he was told that they wanted to interview him!

3. He still doesn’t know how the recruiter “found his resume online” as the recruiter had told him. My friend probably needs to do a better job remembering where they sent their resume and what job boards they posted their resume to. Maybe the recruiter got his resume from another recruiter and just didn’t tell him.

4. My friend suggested that the recruiter had also sent his resume to other companies as well even though he never expressly gave his permission to the recruiter to do so and to this day, he doesn’t know exactly who these other companies are. Again, why send a person’s resume to companies that the person may not even want to work for!? What if the job his resume was being sent in for didn’t interest him?

Now, this story ended happily and worked out for my friend since he got the job but I’d say this is the exception rather than the rule. I’ll bet you’ve probably dealt with recruiters who say they’ll help you with your job search, get a copy of your resume, and then you never hear from them again. And then you wonder how many companies they sent your resume to without asking you first!

I’ve found that as the job market tightens and becomes harder, people tend to take more shortcuts and recruiters aren’t necessarily any different. I can’t imagine some successful recruiters ever sending someone’s resume to their client without having first met them in person.

If the hiring manager asks you in the middle of an interview if you met the recruiter who sent your resume in and you haven’t met them, it certainly doesn’t look good on the recruiter, does it? It could make your chances at getting the job suddenly more difficult if the hiring manager starts wondering what other shortcuts your recruiter took…

Bottom line, I’d be careful with recruiters who are in the same city as you but who never suggest or request that you meet in person to discuss your job search.

Look at it this way. If you were hiring someone and a recruiter called you to tell you about a job candidate for your job, what would you prefer to hear the recruiter say:

“I just found a resume online and wanted to send it to you for consideration for the job.”

or

“I just met Joan Smith and found her to be a really well-presented professional who makes a great first impression. In particular, she comes across as someone with a great deal of presence. I really think you need to interview her.”

A recruiter who has met you should be able to do a much better job helping you.