Agency recruiters are slightly neurotic, money driven, friendly, busy sales people. Neurotics build castles in the air. Psychotics live in them and don’t ask questions. Are you psychotic?
Should I trust an agency recruiter?
Only if they are honest.
There are a few recruiters who lie just to keep in practice. They are the same vile few who discriminate maliciously. They are a small minority of agency recruiters. One simple reason that they are so few is that it is bad business. People stop trusting liars immediately. They won’t do business with them. Discrimination based on anything besides actual ability and potential reduces the recruiter’s chances of making a placement. In other words, it costs a lot of money to be a horrible person.
There are a lot of recruiters who tell “white lies”. They try to ease their way through the day by avoiding bad news. They say, “I will find you a job,” when all they are really thinking is, “If I put your resume in the database there is a chance that someday we might get a matching job. Please leave me alone.”
And there are a reasonable number of recruiters who always tell the truth. They don’t sugar coat it. They just tell the truth.
How to get a recruiter to tell the truth:
Ask hard questions. Ask those questions often.
Try these:
- What exactly does that mean?
- Why?
- What exactly will you do?”
- Who precisely will you be presenting me to?
- What has been done in the last week?
- How many times was I presented last week?
- To whom was I presented last week?
- Did my resume go to HR or a hiring manager? Who?
It may embarrass the recruiter, but you are more likely to find out what was done if you interrogate him like a policeman would.
You are not psychotic if you trust a neurotic recruiter who you grill mercilessly. Recruiters want to be honest. Pin them down and you are taking responsibility. That is smart, not psychotic.
Your job search is really your responsibility. Get solid information about how recruiters are helping you. A few will lie. Most will squirm uncomfortably and tell you the truth. It is your life. Take the initiative. Seize the day.
Something to do today
Call all the recruiters who you submitted your resume to. Ask them exactly what they have done for you in the last two weeks.