How to Handle Recruiters Calling for Another Job

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Pat Goodwin with patgoodwinassociates.com. Today I'd like to talk about how do you handle recruiters calling you for another job. Recruiters calling you at work is often times very inappropriate. And you need to make sure that you get their name and number and call them when it's convenient for you. If you are getting a call from a recruiter and it's unexpected or you're not looking for another job, I want you to stop and think a moment. You don't need a lawyer very often, you don't need a doctor very often, you may not need a veterinarian or you don't get your hair cut very often, but when you need a good recruiter, they you begin to look at how do I possibly find a good recruiter. So if you are flattered and get a call from a recruiter about another job, again, take their name and number and their information and say, it's not convenient for me to talk to you now but I would like to talk with you, and then you call them off line. Many times within companies, phones are screened. I would encourage you to correspond with them at a personal email and not at a company email. So if it is intriguing for you to talk to a recruiter about another job, then some of the things that you want to do to screen the recruiter is to take control of the conversation. I would encourage you to say, before we get started I'd like to find a little information about you. Make sure you know their name, what is their company, and say, I have worked with recruiters before and I've learned, or I've never worked with a recruiter before but I would like to get some information about you before I tell you about my background and expertise. Ask them where they live, how long they have been a recruiter, are they a certified personnel consultant, what kind of training have they been in, how long have they actually worked in your area of specialty. So once you've determined that you are comfortable in speaking with this individual, then you want to make sure that you have some ground rules laid down. You want to make sure that they do not present your resume to any, any company without your permission, they do not speak to anyone else, another recruiter about you without your permission. So if they then engage you and you will have a professional working relationship, give them the phone number that you want to talk to them to or regarding and the email address that you would like to correspond with them. At such time that you release your resume to them, then you want to make sure that you put confidential on the top of your resume or you send a note to them, please do not forward to any company without my permission, please do not share with another recruiter without my permission. A recruiter can be an excellent advocate for you. But keep in mind that the recruiter is there to fill a job for the company that they are representing, the search assignment that they have to fill, not to find you a job. If you happen to have the skill sets that match the position that they're looking to fill, then you have a conversation going for that particular search assignment. If not, then they put you in their data base, you go on about your business. If they have something for you down the line they will contact you. I would ask them how often they contact you, how do they present you to the company, that you want to have dialog and feedback prior to going to the organization that they may send you to, that you would like to be prepped for the interview and that you would like to have feed back immediately from them if at all possible about how the interview went, what their time frame for hire and if you don't get that opportunity, would they be candid and honest with you about how you can improve your interviewing skills. So treat them professionally. You may need them in the future. They may want you to refer someone to them that would fit the job, if you're not interested, and they would appreciate that. And so that hopefully will give you some pointers and tips about how to work with recruiters who call you for another job."