I’ve been working in the recruitment industry for over 9 months now, so I guess for some I can still be considered a baby – however, already a one that has learned first steps and now is curiously wandering around. Over half a year went by ridiculously quickly and I’ve spent most of my time on the talent side rather than client-facing. This gave me the opportunity to meet and chat to A LOT (and when I say A LOT, I really mean A  L O T) of completely different people in various stages in their lives, looking for next step in their career or a complete new direction. I’ve talked with graduates straight outta university and experienced creatives earning £70k a year. I’ve talked with producers working on small budgets for their five-people production house and with producers who were at the time producing global campaigns for huge brand names. I can’t say I covered it all, but I can guarantee my job presents to me all range of diversity.

But sometimes it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in the industry, what type of role you are doing or where exactly do you work. Some people just don’t get how dealing with a recruiter works.

So welcome to Magda’s beginner’s guide to talking with your recruiter. Please don’t get offended, I’m actually trying to help here.

ONE. PHONE CALLS 

It’s twenty first century and people still react very defensive when it comes to phone calls. They try to make the email conversation last forever and are pushing away the call until it’s an absolute necessity.

Please stop doing that.

First of all, if you are honestly keen on the job you are discussing with your recruiter – the call NEEDS to happen, sooner or later. Sooner, gives you a bigger chance of getting closer to sealing the deal and getting an interview. Later? Well, that means that five other people jump in front of you and therefore you may end up at the end of the queue and miss the opportunity.

Scheduling the call as soon as possible should be your priority. It will literally take 10-15 minutes of your time (shorter that queuing at Pret at 1:30pm to get an overpriced sandwich) and will definitely give you a clearer image of the situation, as you will get more detail about the job itself, which will help with deciding if it’s something for you or not. And if you are happy with what you hear, you get the benefit of having your details sent to the client as one of the first candidates.

TWO. CONVERSATION

Don’t be afraid to be chatty – if the recruiter talks more than you, the conversations isn’t going in the right direction. Remember, we are here to help YOU. Be clear about what you are looking for, chat about your experience, state your ideal salary, ask lots of questions. The only time your consultant should be saying more than you is when they are explaining the role or describing the company – otherwise you should fill the space with your insights, relevant experience or by talking about your goals and ideal workplace.

THREE. PERSONALITY

Show your personality – as lame as it sounds, it is as important as your experience, or in some cases even more. Sometimes I chat with people, then meet them in person and it seems to me like I’ve just spoken to two completely different human beings. I know it seems quite hard to make a great impression through a quick call, but it really isn’t.

If the phone calls stress you out – take three deep breaths before jumping on one of them. Again, we are here to help you so there really is nothing to stress about. Treat your recruiter like a friend that you haven’t seen in a while so now you need to update them on your current life situation.

If you are genuinely excited about the position – show it! Tell us if you are excited to hear about it in more detail, ask questions about the future employer, mention why this position seems like a great opportunity to you. We can use all of your enthusiasm when presenting your details to the client and that changes the view of your application completely. Remember – companies are looking for passionate people, so that’s what we need to show them!

FOUR. ‘YES’ AND ‘NO’ ANSWERS

Please, please please… Avoid ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers. I get that the phone calls can be awkward and uncomfortable for some people, but short answers like that won’t lead you to securing a new role. If a recruiter asks you ‘Have you done X and Y before?’ – elaborate! Yes, I did it when I was in company Z and I spent this and that much time on that. I really liked doing X and even though I never worked in the company that would require Y, I’d love to learn it. Couple of sentences and you are already perceived in a completely different way.

It is also a good way of practicing before a potential interview, where – again – you would be required to do most of the talking.

FIVE. BE HONEST

I think this is the most important point that I’m mentioning in this post. The relationship between you and your recruiter needs to be based on HONESTY.

If after discussing the role you feel like it may not be the best fit for you, tell us! It will save your time, ours and the client’s as well. There is no point in pursuing the position which is not a match for you, just to cancel your interview last minute despite all the hard work we’ve all put into that.

If you have any doubts at any stage – express them! Maybe we have the answers, or maybe we can find them out for you.

I hope those five tips showed you our perspective and will turn out helpful in your future dealings with recruiters. We are here to help you with finding your dream jobs, but we can only do it if we work on it together.

Have you found my tips on how to communicate with your recruiter useful? Do you have anything that you would like to share? Start the conversation by messaging me on my LinkedIn profile – Magda Kania

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