Network Computingwww.networkcomputing.com

By Scott Spradley .

How did your coworker achieve that $15,000.00 raise, get a sign-on bonus, and have his relocation paid for and get the promotion? Believe it or not, people make career moves that are similar to this everyday. But How?

• Years in The Business
• Local, Regional, or National?
• Questions about You
• Rapport
• Defines the Procedure
• Confidentiality
• References
• Willingness to Work With Your Schedule
• While You are Working With a Recruiter
• Staying in Touch
• Author Biography

Head hunters, recruiters, career consultants are responsible for some of the most confidential, critical, and lucrative staffing situations in the industry. If you have a relationship with a quality head hunter, chances are, you will be one of the first potential candidates called for the unbelievable opportunity. But do you have a relationship with a head hunter? Do you know how to find a good one? Where do you start?

From large corporations to small business, the trend of using recruiters or head-hunters has grown tremendously in the 90's. The demand for quality talent is growing even though we use buzz words like downsizing, outplacement, and layoffs. The a mount of hiring done through recruiters has reached all time highs. Suppose that you have decided you need to make a career move. Do you know a good recruiter? Have you any idea what to look for in a recruiter? This article is a compilation of the most important qualities to look for in a recruiter. Although, my speciality is placing software development professionals, the principles outlined in this article should be applicable for other specialties.

Years in The Business

A good recruiter can learn what it takes to be good in no less than four years. Four years means:

• They are in the business for a career. Many rookies try recruiting because they heard it is lucrative, but fail within one to two years.



• They have made enough mistakes to learn not to make them again.



• They know people. Consider if a recruiter makes 15 placements with 15 different companies per year, by their fourth year, they know 60 companies, at least. Also in four years, a recruiter should have a very strong network of hiring managers who were candidates.



• The recruiter has been able to learn what are valuable skills and can help you market these skills correctly.

That old adage, ``the more the experience, the better'' is not necessarily true. Some of the experienced (but old-school) recruiters do not know the software development industry at all.

Local, Regional, or National?

If you live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area, do you want to work with a recruiter from Philadelphia? The answer to this question is NO , unless the recruiter in Philadelphia does 90% of their business in the SF Bay Area.

What you want is a recruiter that knows things about the companies and knows people in the companies that you have heard about. Some recruiters will tell you ``I work the National Market!'' Beware of this recruiter! What does this mean? It can mean several things: either the recruiter is excited that you called and needs to have a quality candidate or the recruiter has made placements all over the country and can actually prove through references that they are indeed a National Recruiter. Ask for some references in your desired area.

Questions about You

You need a recruiter that can best represent you. A recruiter should know what you want in your career as well as what you do not want. It is important that you expect the recruiter to ask you questions that will give him the most insight as to what you would like out of your career move. Beware of recruiters that give you the ``Fax me your resume, and I will call you back'' line. Before you fax your resume to any recruiter, ask yourself, ``Does this recruiter know anything about me or what I want to do?''

Some recruiters are so happy that you called or that they have gotten you o n the telephone, they fail to qualify you. Look out for these recruiters. The recruiter that you want to have on your team, will carefully scrutinize why you are considering making a change, what you are looking for in your career move, and, is it possible to find what you want?

Remember the more questions the recruiter asks that are about you and what you want, the more likely that you have found a respectable recruiter. The recruiter you select needs to take a potential move as seriously as you. You need to expect the recruiter to ask you questions like:

• Why are you looking?



• Have you discussed this with your spouse, domestic partner, or family?



• What do you want in a company, position, boss, and environment?



• What do you NOT want in a company, position, boss and environment?



• Are you willing to relocate?



• What kind of money do you want to make?



• What are you mak ing now?



• Where have you interviewed recently?



• What are some companies that interest you, and who do you know there?



• And most importantly, ``How long have you thought about this and have you prepared yourself for a transition?''

The recruiter should take considerable time learning about your experience and skills. Beware of the recruiter that tells you they can learn about you from your resume. This is generally either a rookie or a veteran with bad habits. Expect the good recruiter to ask you:

• What platform do you develop applications/systems on?



• What development tools do you have experience with?



• What kind of applications/systems have you developed or worked on?



• What kind of dollar value has been placed on the projects that you have worked on?



• How many people besides you worked on these projects?

Rapport

Rapport, I feel, is important. A recruiter that can develop rapport with you means several things. First of all, it means that he or she has probably enjoyed learning about your needs. Secondly, the more rapport that you and the recruiter have--in most cases--transcends itself into a more honest and ethical working relationship. Thirdly, you will enjoy working with the recruiter.

Fourth, and most important, if the recruiter was able to build rapport with you, it means he/she probably has been able to build rapport with hiring managers or human resource personnel. This means a great deal. If the recruiter has good rapport with you and the hiring manager or human resources person, then they are generally able to create a more productive working relationship. This is very important to your career move.

Try to take notice of the recruiters listening skills. Do they talk too much, are they listening, taking notes on what you say? A good recruiter should be listening, ask ing questions, and definitely taking notes.

Defines the Procedure

When you are talking with a recruiter, you need to know what and how the recruiter plans to market you and what the process will be. Many recruiters are sloppy in this area, but the best recruiters will generally always give you a detailed plan on what and how they will be working.

The process of finding your next career move is very detailed and requires a great deal of strategy and planning. Make sure that you know what the recruiter will be doing before you fax a resume. Ask the recruiter to lay it out for you.

Confidentiality

When you are considering leaving your current place of employment, are you going to tell everyone or anyone at your office your intentions? Most likely, if you are smart, you will only confide in your spouse. This is a vulnerable time--be careful. A good recruiter will also protect your confidentiality. An inexperienced or poor recrui ter could jeopardize your situation. I have personally received calls from some of my clients in the past asking me to begin a search immediately due to the following circumstances:

1. Candidate at ABC company decided to work with a recruiter. Recruiter did not properly examine the candidate's work history. This sloppy work resulted in the recruiter faxing a resume to a manager at XYZ company. Manager at XYZ used to be manager at ABC company and was best friends with manager at ABC. Manager at XYZ called manager at ABC and told him that one of his engineers was interviewing.
2. Candidate at 123 company decided to work with an inexperienced recruiter. Candidate was a high-level manager, in a very competitive market. Recruiter never asked candidate if it was okay to call at work. Recruiter called candidate at work, left message with ``someone'' who picked up the phone. Someone turned out to be candidate's boss.

What happens here is simple. By not protecting the candidat e, the recruiter endangers the candidates current situation without a bird in the hand. Most bosses, no matter how good you are, will begin the search to replace you as soon as they learn the loyalty has been broken. Your recruiter needs to understand and demonstrate the confidential relationship. You should be able to ask your recruiter to call you at home, and in emergencies, have a system worked out for calling you at the office.

References

Some recruiters almost never check references. A recruiter who does not check your references is not doing their job (and what else are they not doing?).

The recruiter that you choose to represent you should check your references. There is a benefit to you in this: If you give references to a recruiter and he/she checks those references, he/she can then use the references as testimonials to your abilities in presenting you to prospective hiring managers. Testimonials are a powerful way of increasing your value. If a prosp ective hiring manager reads a testimonial that basically reports you are or were a top performer, that hiring manager will have more fire power to lobby for your hiring.

Willingness to Work With Your Schedule

Some recruiter are not willing to work with your schedule. Unless you are unemployed, you probably have to attend to deadlines, meetings, and work. A recruiter should keep this in mind and respect that you have not made the change yet, and adjust their schedule accordingly.

Expect that the recruiter always gives you the option of calling you at your home in the evening. You generally can speak more freely, and are also more relaxed. This generally provides you with the confidentiality you should demand. A recruiter who will not give you this option is either lazy or crazy.

While You are Working With a Recruiter

You should expect a recruiter to respect your current situation. This means the recruiter should expect that yo u have a need for confidentiality. Also the recruiter should prepare you for the upcoming events--all of them. Expect the recruiter to do the following:

• Discuss companies that fit your demands. Some recruiters will not tell you that they are presenting information to companies until after they have already done so.



• Assist you in tailoring your resume for the presentation. A good recruiter can help you build a valuable resume. By building the value and front loading the presentation to the hiring authority, the situation reverses itself. You are now the wanted , instead of the wanting .



• Prepare you for the initial and all subsequent interviews. This should include directions, who, what, where, when, why, what to discuss, what not to discuss and other protocols.



• Debriefing you after the interview. Good recruiters demand that you call them immediately after the interview. This is wh en your thoughts are most fresh. The recruiter wants and needs to know your interpretation. Also the recruiter should counsel you on the follow-up procedures.



• Negotiate any salary situations. The recruiter does this for a living, you develop applications for a living. Who do you think is better qualified?



• Prepare you for the offer. The recruiter should counsel you on the proper protocol for acceptance and provide acceptance letter models.



• Prepare you for a counter offer from your current employer as well as provide you with resignation counseling. A recruiter who does not discuss a counter offer with you is a fool. Ninety-five percent of all resignation situations involve a counter offer.

Staying in Touch

A good, experienced recruiter should have no trouble delivering bad news to you. Inexperienced recruiters hesitate to call and report that you were not the ide al candidate. After a placement is made, you should expect to hear from your new-found recruiter regularly. The recruiter should be sure that you are happy with your move, should be asking for referrals and more importantly asking you if you got what you thought you were getting.

Author Biography

Mr. Spradley has been recruiting in the hardware and software engineering fields since 1990. Mr. Spradley has been a public speaker and writer addressing recruitment issues, strategies, practices and career building. He has received numerous awards and certifications in the areas of recruiting and career management. Since 1996 Mr. Spradley has been employed with Intel Corporation where he is currently managing a Strategic Search Group focusing on solving business critical senior level positions. He can be reached via e-mail at:
scottspradley@yahoo.com