How do I get recruiters to look at my resume?

In order to attract the attention of recruiters you must first: contribute as much as possible to the success of your employer, accept responsibility, and put the interests of your employer and customers first.

Recruiters earn their fees finding exceptional individuals, so the first step is excellent on-the-job performance. If you are not an above-average employee, getting your resume in front of recruiters is probably futile. On the other hand, excellent performance by itself may attract the attention of a recruiter. Recruiters frequently ask the question: “who are the top performers in your field?” and those top performers then become recruiting targets.

Is it a good idea to contact recruiters directly? Yes, this is the best way to get your resume seen. Forward your resume to the recruiter as an email attachment. In the email message, briefly state: why you are looking, what career goals you would like to meet in your next position, where you wish to work (are you willing to relocate?), and what general compensation requirements you have. Keep it brief, or it won’t be read. Include a cell number so you can be reached during the day.

The recruiter may or may not respond to your emailed resume. Recruiters are busy trying to fill jobs that are open now and don’t usually have time to respond to each unsolicited resume received. Rest assured, however, the recruiter will enter your resume into his or her database so any search matching your experience will prompt a review of your resume.

As you may be aware, recruiters tend to focus on one or more specialized business sectors. There are sectors in which many recruiters are active, and others in which you will not find even one recruiter. It is a complete waste of time to contact recruiters who do not work in your industry.

There are two ways to learn about recruiters working in your field: 1) a recruiter seeking candidates in your industry contacts you; 2) search the web for recruiter lists, websites and job postings using keywords to narrow the results to your area of interest (for example, Google: recruiting jobs “free market” organization).

If called by a recruiter, ask about the areas in which they work and get a phone number and email address for future use. When the future arrives, it will be too late to get contact information from the recruiter who called two years ago.

When searching for recruiters in your field, don’t stop when you’ve found one or two. Some industries have hundreds of recruiters and each one works with just a small number of firms. Build a list of potential recruiters, then narrow the list by evaluating each one. Keep those who have been in the business the longest, whose positions and client companies are the most desirable, and whose specialty is the closest to your field. Drop those whose positions are consistently lower paying or much higher paying than your current level, whose clients are not well-regarded in the industry, or who seem overly aggressive about getting information without providing any in return.

There are other strategies to attract recruiters who work in your field. Make use of networking sites such as LinkedIn, where you can provide information about experience, qualifications and interests, that a recruiter will need. Recruiters often use LinkedIn to find candidates, and to learn more about candidates. (See “What is the most common mistake job seekers make“.)

Place your resume online at Monster and CareerBuilder; don’t wait until you need a new job, as months may pass before a recruiter with the right job finds your resume.

Finally, keep in mind that recruiters you’ve contacted will call more often if you are helpful to them. When starting a search, my first calls go to contacts whose past candidate recommendations have been valuable. Not only do these contacts get first crack at any opening, more frequent conversations enable me to become better acquainted with them and their career goals.

Michael G Smith