Jill Hohwald, Executive Recruiter, The Wellington Group, LLC

In today’s crazy job market, it can really help to have a good recruiter working for you.  They already have the resources, the network, and the know-how to get you in front of decision makers.  If you are working with a recruiter that you are comfortable with, congratulations, you’re half way there!    A good recruiter can help you work through the following steps – so don’t be afraid to ask for input. 

 1. Know what you’re looking for so that your recruiter knows how to market you!

• a. Industries – What industries do you have experience in? What industry would you like to move into?
• b. Locations – Not only your current location, but also target locations and locations that you would not consider
• c. Titles – Current or most recent title as well as the title(s) you’d be interested in
• d. Compensation – Look at your current salary, benefits, and bonus and consider your circumstances to come up with a compensation range you would be happy with in your next position.

 2. Set up an Indeed Alert – Indeed ‘crawls’ through thousands of career sites by keyword and location and gives you all of the results in one place!

• a. www.indeed.com
• b. Use the above list of what you’re looking for to design a custom search of job opportunities that can be e-mailed directly to you daily.
• c. Review these opportunities and forward those that you are qualified for and interested in to your recruiter – they can help you get in the door!

 3. Make a great LinkedIn profile – Linkedin is my favorite networking tool. You will be amazed at how many of your old friends and colleagues have profiles too!

• a. www.linkedin.com
• b. Set up a complete profile, the more ‘key words’ the better – recruiters who use Linkedin search by specific keywords.
• c. Invite your recruiter to be in your network – if you are working with a strong recruiter, they should have a pretty extensive network to share with you.
• d. Ask past colleagues and business partners that you’ve had a good relationship with to ‘recommend’ you on LinkedIn.

 4. Send list of target companies to your recruiter for a more targeted search.

• a. What companies would you love to work for and why?
• b. What companies in your niche are in your desired location(s)?

 5. Request a weekly ‘check-up’ with your recruiter to discuss progress and road blocks.

Remember, recruiters WANT to help you make the perfect career move!  If you can help them by following these 5 steps, you will be helping yourself tremendously!

For assistance with your Job Search from Jill and others on the staff visit The Career Store or Get in Touch.