Four realities drive the executive search industry. Understand how to work within them, and you’ll be much more likely to get on the recruiter’s radar.

1. Recruiters are consultants who work on behalf of clients to fill jobs. All actions support this goal. Candidates are a means to a end, i.e., filling the employer’s vacancy. Very few recruiters spend the time to cultivate ongoing relationships with a network of candidates, unless the candidates have specialized skills or experience the firm looks for regularly.

2. Recruiting is a sales-driven business. Recruiters are sales professionals-they sell employers on their capability to fill jobs, candidates on the benefits of a job, and employers on the firm’s recommended candidates. As a candidate, you’re both a seller and a buyer, with the recruiter as the middleman. Position yourself as an attractive “sale” for the recruiter by being flexible and open to opportunities they present. The recruiter can then help you make an educated “buy” decision, by sharing information on the employer’s hiring needs and strategic direction.

3. Recruiters structure their day around what’s most pressing with their project caseload. “There’s a cyclic approach to the recruiting business, like any sales profession,” says Bill Radin, president of Radin Associates, an executive search firm specializing in the sensor industry. For example: If the firm needs more jobs to fill, recruiters spend the bulk of their time marketing to hiring employers. Once they’ve got a client, the recruiter works with the employer to understand job requirements and identify important candidate attributes.

If the firm already has jobs to fill, energy focuses on completing the project by sourcing and qualifying candidates. On any given day, a recruiter might:

• Search databases and online sources for potential candidates
• Interview potential candidates
• Check candidates’ references and degrees
• Pitch candidates to the hiring employer
• Prepare candidates to interview
• Debrief candidates after the interview

If the hiring employer is interested in the recruiter’s candidate, the recruiter shifts focus again. Now the goal is to advise the employer on developing a competitive offer and facilitate negotiations. Once the offer has been accepted, the recruiter also helps prepare the hired candidate make a smooth transition to the new employer.

4. Timing is everything when targeting recruiters. If your application hits the recruiter’s desk when they are focused on selling business or closing offers for existing candidates, there’s a very low probability you’ll hear anything. As Radin says, “If I don’t get back to candidates, there’s nothing for us to talk about. I don’t have anything for them.” Recruiters may intend to get back to you, but in the recruiting world whatever is most pressing gets done first.

There are ways to make you stand out, regardless of the recruiter’s position in the sales and placement cycle. A few strategies to consider:
* Have an aggressive, well-written cover letter targeting recruiters specifically.
* Include keywords in your resume that can be searched through the firm’s resume database.
* Target your resume campaign to recruiters who specialize in placing candidates with your industry or functional experience.
* Ask the recruiter where the firm is in the recruitment cycle -e.g., selling business, sourcing candidates, negotiating placements.
* Stay in touch with recruiters with periodic email updates, to demonstrate your continued interest.

Know the recruiter’s business model. Contingency firms receive payment only when a candidate is placed, whereas retained firms are paid for conducting the search, not exclusively for the placement. Also, some contingency firms market candidates to employers, even if no known vacancy exists.

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Often times when you find yourself out of work, getting a new job is not as easy as you may have thought and you may then find it beneficial to begin working with recruiters in order to find employment. When you choose to work with a professional recruiter you are going to greatly increase your odds on finding a job as recruiters will be able to pinpoint your efforts to the most promising leads and opportunities.

The network of the recruiters runs very deep. That means that they will be in the know about positions that open up before anyone else will. Having this on your side can prove to be invaluable. Think about it; if you are working with a recruiter and they are giving you leads before the average Joe sees those leads in the classifieds, then who has the advantage?

As there are a wide variety of job fields there will also be a wide variety of recruiters as well. Be sure that you are working with a recruiter that is an expert in your chosen field. If you are in the business and finance field and you are working with a recruiter that has no experience in that field, what good will it do you? If you are not certain that the recruiter you are considering has the experience you need, then ask them.

It should be noted that recruiters are paid by the companies that they represent and you should therefore be able to use their services for free. If you find a recruiter you like and then find that they want to charge you, run the other way. There are plenty of high quality recruiters who will not take a penny out of your pocket and will do everything in their power to help you find work.

Once you decide on the recruiter that you want to work with arrange a meeting so that you can discuss the biggest asset that you have; yourself. The recruiter needs to know everything about you so that they can adequately represent your best interests and arrange for interviews with companies that will best fit you. Be open and honest in this process as lying will not help you out and only hinder the recruiter’s ability to help you find the job that is right for you.

Because recruiters are around the ins and outs of the business world on a daily basis it is important that you follow up and communicate with your recruiter after each interview that they set up for you. Sharing your experience can tell the recruiter where to go next in the process and will give them the opportunity to tell you anything that may be bettered on your next interview. This of course will be a moot point should you get a job thanks to an interview that the recruiter set up for you, but in that case you should follow up with them just to say thanks.

Above all else, show some patience with your recruiter. Yes they will increase the odds of you finding work very significantly, but they will only lead you to the most promising of opportunities. These types of opportunities sometimes take a bit of time to find. However, if you are working with a trustworthy and experienced recruiter, it certainly won’t be too long before you are once again gainfully employed.