5 Secrets Recruiters Never Tell You
Photo by Sai De Silva on Unsplash
Just a few short months ago, the world was quite different. We weren’t using the word “furlough” often, but today is different. Today, you may know someone (or be that someone) looking for a new job - which brings us to the application process. Have you ever applied for a position only to sit and wait for what seems like forever? After a few months, you receive an e-mail letting you know that you were not selected for the position. All the time, you’re wondering what happened? Was I under-qualified? Was I overqualified? Did my resume even get seen? You get the picture. We’ve all been there before. It’s safe to say that you may never know the real answer to why you weren’t selected. But, there are some secrets that recruiters know, that may make you feel a teeny bit better! I’m here to share five of them with you!
One - Many recruiters have multiple positions on which they are working. I once knew a recruiter that had over 50 jobs to fill! And, depending on the popularity of the position, there could be hundreds of resumes for that recruiter to review. You truly could be a needle in a haystack. What that means for you is that it would do you well to try to be one of the first applicants. Usually, recruiters will work on all of their positions right away. The sooner they have a list of qualified candidates to show the hiring manager, the faster they can start working on the next job. There is the phrase, “the early bird gets the worm.” In this case, you want to try to be an early bird. One solution - subscribe to the websites of the companies in which you are interested so that you can receive positions of interest as soon as they are posted.
Two - Recruiters are trying to whittle down the number of resumes. As a former recruiter, I can tell you there were many times when the people applying, simply did not meet the criteria of the position. I’m not talking about needing ten years of experience, and a person has 9.5. I’m talking; they have two years of experience versus ten! With technology today, many of these individuals never even make it to the recruiter. Technology can quickly make 100 resumes, 20 by removing those that don’t meet the criteria. Afterwards, those 80 resumes can sit in a queue somewhere until the recruiter has the time to notify you that you were not selected. That notification could come after the entire process has completed, and the qualified person for the position is hired. Remember, recruiters are busy, and it’s easier to notify everyone at once. I’m not saying all recruiters take this approach, but it certainly could be a reason you haven’t heard anything. Anything the recruiter can do to limit the number of resumes that they have to review will make their job easier. What that means for you is, be qualified! Ensure you meet the required criteria of the position, and if you meet some of the preferred criteria, even better. Give yourself the best opportunity to be considered.
Three - Most recruiters have to interview candidates as well. That means in addition to finding the right resume from the potentially hundreds within the positions they have to fill; they also have to find a way to squeeze in time to interview. Remember me telling you that they were busy? Well, double that. They’re really busy! That means you have to make your resume easy to read. And, if you can make it stand out in an appropriate way, do so. Most of the recruiters I know are very dedicated. They’ll take the time to read through resume after resume to find the right candidate. But they’re human too! After the 50th resume, if one of them is in a small font, with run on sentences, misspellings, and five or six pages of seemingly endless information, they might skim a bit. That seems reasonable, doesn’t it? Therefore, make it easy on yourself and them! Use spell-check. Have a recruiter friend read your resume or go to an agency to help you. Summarize your experience in bite-sized pieces to that it be easily digested.
Four - Referrals can help. You should know that recruiters receive a boatload of referrals! Enough to sink a ship! Almost all of us have a friend that we know is the most qualified person for the position. So, we send a nice note to the recruiter and tell them how skilled our friend is. While it may not be the formal process and you still may need to formally apply to be considered; having someone in the company sending your resume can get you noticed. At a minimum, it at least lets you know the recruiter saw it. That knowledge can give you some peace of mind.
Five and lastly - You may do everything right and simply not get selected. Maybe you applied after the interview process already started. Maybe you were qualified, but just qualified, and there were many more who were really qualified. Maybe there were five great candidates, and you were the sixth. Sometimes it’s like that. In this case, what you can do is keep a positive attitude. Especially in today’s environment, you may never know if these were the reasons that you weren’t selected, but realizing it’s possible, might make you feel better when you apply to the next position.
There you have it! Five secrets that recruiters know that you now know. So the next time you’re applying for a position, you’ll know to apply early, be qualified, use spell-check, have a friend review your resume, and look for a referral who can try to get your resume in front of the recruiter and hiring manager. And before you hit “submit,” look at the qualifications again, do the math and realize - 9.5 years of experience rounds up to ten, right?
Your Career Coach,
Ha-Keem
