Why Top Talent Always Use a Recruiter

There are a lot of misconceptions about recruiters and what they actually do. I’ve had a lot of friends and ex-colleagues ask me “why would I want to work with a recruiter? I can just apply for jobs for myself”. To that I say, you’re not wrong, however when you go to court, need to fix your car or need medical attention, you always go and get help from an expert, so why would finding a job be any different. 

Here are my four top reasons why you should always use a recruiter:

Tip #1 – Recruiters get early access to roles

“I can never find the right role”. Does that sound familiar? That’s because around 70% of jobs are not posted publicly on job sites for people to apply to. Why do so few roles actually make it to the public domain? Because these roles have already been filled, most likely by a recruiter.

Recruiters get early access to a range of different roles before they ever get released publicly onto the market. So what does that mean for you? It means that if you work with a recruiter, they can put your resume in front of the hiring manager before anyone else even knows the role exists. So, instead of having to compete against several hundred people for a role, you might only need to compete against 4-5 people. Even if you’re terrible at maths, you can see that those are some pretty good odds.

Tip #2 – Recruiters negotiate the highest salary possible

When it gets to the pointy end of a job application process, you’re inevitably going to have to negotiate the salary. It sucks, nobody likes high intensity negotiations but at the same time you also don’t want to lose out on making more money. So how do you make the most money without having to negotiate? Simple, use a recruiter.

Recruiters are professional negotiators. It is our part of our role to represent you and negotiate the highest possible salary we can.

You might be wondering why a recruiter would want to negotiate the highest salary possible. Don’t we just want to fill the role? Let me be clear, it is 110% in our best interest to get you the highest salary possible, and here is why:

Happy candidates = a good thing 

If we get you an amazing salary package then you’re probably going to be really happy, and this will likely lead to you doing two things a) You’ll come back and work with us again in the future, and
b) you might refer your friends and colleagues. No amount of LinkedIn posts or TikTok videos can compete with some good old fashioned word of mouth.

You make more money = we make more money 

The second reason actually comes back to how recruiters actually make money. If you didn’t know already, recruiters make a percentage of your salary, which is paid by the employer (recruiters are free for candidates!). So it's in our best interest to always try and negotiate the very highest salary we can, because ultimately it means that we are both going to make more money!

Tip #3 – Recruiters save you a lot of time

The third reason that top talent use a recruiter is because of the fact that we can save you a lot of time when applying for jobs. In Australia when it comes to finding a new role around 60% of us say that it is a “huge task”. To be honest, I don’t disagree. Finding a new job can straight up be an absolutely painful process simply because of the amount of hours it takes. 

Here is the typical process of finding a role with two interviews:

1. Find the roles
2. Read the job descriptions
3. Find out the salary, the location, the perks.
4. Submit your application
5. Follow up if you don’t hear anything
6. Book the interview time
7. Write some preparation notes for the interview.
8. Send thank you notes
9. Follow up for feedback
10. Book another interview
11. Write more preparation notes
12. Negotiate salary
13. Organise onboarding

I’m sure I’m missing some steps but you get the point. Now try doing that process for several different roles. It is painstaking and the hours seriously start to stack up. Finding time to find a job can be extremely difficult if you’re balancing family life, a social life and work life while also trying to find a job. In reality, finding a job is a job in itself.

Now a recruiter can help support you with every single one of these steps above because they manage all of it for you. I’m not kidding, a good recruiter will literally help you with every single one of these steps.

Our job is to get you a job, and we do that by making the process streamlined and straightforward so all you need to worry about is nailing the interview.

Tip #4 – Recruiters know what the employer is looking for

The fourth reason, and arguably the most important reason as to why top candidates work with recruiters is because of the fact that recruiters are able to give their candidates the inside scoop on what it is that the hiring manager is ultimately looking for in their ideal candidate.

Now, if you think about when you're applying for a role by yourself all you will do is read the job ad, submit your resume and hope that you get asked for an interview. 

In reality, you actually know nothing about the role beyond what is in the job ad. You don’t know team structure, you don’t know about the culture, you don’t know about salary range unless mentioned, you don’t know how they’re measuring success and most importantly, you don’t really know what they will be asking you about in the interview. Pretty scary. 

As a recruiter, it is our job to find out everything about the role (way beyond what is listed in the job description). For context, a recruiter will spend around 30 mins with each employer when we are briefed on a new role in an effort to take a deeper dive into what the role is and what they’re looking for specifically in a candidate. What we then do is compile this information into a helpful set of interview preparation tips so you have the upper hand when you walk into that interview room. 

If you work with a recruiter, I promise you that you will be better prepared for your interview compared to any other candidate who has applied directly.

In summary

1. Recruiters get early access to roles

2. Recruiters negotiate the highest salary possible for you

3. Recruiters save you a lot of time

4. Recruiters know what the employer is looking for

If you’ve read this article and are keen to have a chat about how I can help you find your next role, please feel free to reach out, I’d love to have a chat and help you out!

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