Recruiters’ Top Five Mistakes When Job Searching

As a recruiter of recruiters I am amazed that recruiters don’t know how to present and sell themselves when it comes to looking for a new position. Coming from 12 years in IT recruiting and having the understanding that most IT candidates may not understand how to write a resume or “walk and talk” when it comes to presenting and selling themselves over the phone or in person to potential managers. Because of this knowledge, I am OK with coaching or guiding IT candidates and take these mistakes with a grain of salt. But recruiters are sales professionals, and I expect them to be able to present themselves on paper, over the phone and in person. After all, this is what recruiters do every day while vetting candidates for the open positions we are working on. Think about what you look for in a candidate and apply that to your presentation. Below are my top 5 mistakes recruiters make while job searching.

Mistake #1 “Resume Should Be Well Written”
As a recruiter we see resumes every day. If a resume is not well written it will be deleted more often than not. Your resume should be formatted correctly, have job specific and pertinent information and free of spelling and grammatical errors. See my last blog “Recruiters, Lean How to Write Your Own Resume.”

Mistake #2 “Linkedin Profile Needs To Be Complete Reflecting Your Resume”
I have had mangers reject candidates due to their resume and LI profile not matching. As a recruiter, this is the first place I “kick tires” to learn more about a candidate. LinkedIn profiles should have an engaging, friendly picture, descriptive headlines, custom public profile link, essential company links and a detailed summary. I feel it is also a good idea to add media when possible and have recommendations.

Mistake #3 “Constant Communication and Follow Up”
As a recruiter of recruiters, I am assessing candidates from their initial e-mail through feedback after an interview. Recruiters should be good at communication. This includes response times, following up and feedback. If a candidate can’t exhibit these qualities during my process of finding them a position, it is a “red flag” of their overall recruiting skills.

Mistake #4 “Presenting/Selling What Makes You Good Recruiter”
As a recruiter, you need to know how to sell yourself. Be ready to talk about your process and how you go about finding candidates. Talk about your attention to detail and your ability to dive deep to find the most difficult candidates. Understand matrices and how you track your progress from sourcing to hires. Have your greatest recruiting successes and failures with examples ready to discuss. Most of all give DETAILS AND EXPAMPLES so you can set yourself apart from the other candidates.

Mistake #5 “It’s A Small World”
This may be the most important mistake that recruiters make and I think I could write a whole blog about it “It’s a small world”. With LI, social media and recruiting being a small community I most likely have a connection to someone who you have worked with and knows your work ethic and habits. Between my connections and my clients, be sure that I will be reaching out to my network to see what peoples’ opinions are of you. Your reputation and how others perceive you is very important when companies are considering hiring you.

John Motley is the Director of Professional Services at NSS RPO, a consulting firm that provides on-site and virtual recruiting professionals. Contact NSS RPO to learn about how we can help your organization meet and exceed it’s hiring goals.