What do recruiters actually do?

Through our adventures in Slack communities, tech events, co-working spaces, and the tech sector in general, we’ve realised that people don’t really know what we do. All jokes aside (“lol, spam everyone, amirite?!!), there’s a few core things we do day to day.

Find people for jobs

The key error people make about recruitment consultants is that we are not here to find you a job. We find people for open jobs.

It might sound like the same thing but it really isn’t. Our clients send us their open roles and we source for people who fit those requirements. We do not search for jobs which fit people.

If you email me your CV, we’ll compare it against current open roles to see if there’s a match but we don’t go out to the entire market looking for a list of jobs that might suit you. If it turns out that you’re super niche or very strong and, like, we don’t have something open at that moment but usually would, I’d probably send a few mails to clients we have a good relationship with to see if they’re looking.

That all sounds super harsh and it’s one the reasons people really hate recruiters. People who are not a strong candidate for a job apply for the job and then they do not get it. This is the recruiter’s fault.

People who have very few skills randomly email their CV to a recruiter’s inbox and get a “yeah, ok, I’ll be in touch if we have anything” response. Candidate hears this as “I’m going to contact you in 1 day with your perfect job”. Recruiter meant it as “omg, please go away.”

There’s nothing wrong with having few skills. Everyone starts somewhere and everyone starts knowing nothing.

However, companies do not pay recruiters thousands of money to source a candidate that is easy to find.

The lower the skill level, the less likely the job is to be found on a recruiter’s desk.

Scour the earth for the right people

Nearly everyone that we place already has a job.

But if everyone we place already has a job – how do we ever manage to fill empty roles?

…It’s a lot of work. Like, a LOT of work. Even only contacting people who have the appropriate skills for the job in hand, on average, we’ll get a 50% – 60% response rate on outbound messages. About 1 in 5 will convert to a CV sent into our client.

Lots of recruiters just slam out 200 emails blindly. This doesn’t really work. If you throw enough mud at a wall, some of it will stick but you’ll get very dirty and no one will want to talk to you.

We get to know our market and our clients in depth, and then go into every corner of the internet and our personal networks to find someone who will fit. A Python script could search for profiles but can’t find the right cultural fit or pitch a job at someone just the right way.

Help candidates through the interview process

Everyone needs to prep for interviews. It’s a universal truth. We don’t care if you have 25 years of experience or if you last interviewed yesterday. This is a new day, a new company, and a new interview. Part of the bonus of using a recruiter is that we give you the inside scoop on what you need to know. We’ll have qualified our client and the role in hand so we can advise you on the format of the interview, how to prep, and anything else that’s likely to help.

You should definitely listen to us, our knowledge comes from experience.

Offer market information and advice

We spend all our time obsessing over what is going on in the tech market. Is there a rumor of redundancies in that company? Have salaries gone up again? Is someone else opening a new office? What technologies are in demand?

Even if you’re not actively looking, you can ask us for a bit of perspective on the market – whether you’re an employer or employee. Admittedly, we’re totally going to try to convert you into a candidate or client but you’ll still get the advice and we will take no for an answer…

So, recruiters are there for every part of the job hunting process. Answering questions about anything career related is about 90% of what we do when you boil it down.

If you have questions, are looking for a job, or are looking for a person for your job – get in touch on info@ninedots.io! We’re looking forward to helping you.