Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter
How you deal with the initial recruiter outreach sets the tone for the entire relationship. Most professionals either ignore recruiters altogether or react with useless information. Both methods waste valuable relationship building opportunities.
When recruiters reach out, they not only try to fill in a specific role, but also evaluate you as the person they want in the network for future opportunities. Your response tells them about your professionalism, communication skills, career priorities and collaborative approaches.
This is what an invalid reaction looks like:
“Thank you for your contact. I’m not actively watching now, but will be interested in hearing what might be the right opportunity.”
This response is polite, but useless. It does not provide recruiters with any information they can use to evaluate the right information, nor does it prove that you understand the value of a relationship.
Here is a strategic response to building relationship values:
“Thank you for thinking about this opportunity for me. I am currently focusing on the $150,000 to $180,000 role in a senior business, and I am interested in learning more about the role in terms of manufacturing or logistics companies with over 200 employees – you can share the company, titles and general compensation parameters so that I can better evaluate this particular role, and even if I don’t match that, I can share opportunities with me and share opportunities with me, and I can align opportunities with mine.
This response accomplishes several things:
- It provides clear parameters for your search criteria
- It requires specific information to help you evaluate opportunities
- It indicates interest in building long-term relationships
- It demonstrates professional communication skills
- It shows you understand how recruitment relationships work
I mentored a client who just changed her recruiter relationship by changing the way she was initially outreached. Instead of a universal response, she began providing specific information about target roles, compensation expectations, and timeline flexibility. Within months, the quality of opportunities gained through the recruiter network has increased dramatically, and she ended up playing a role that has never been published publicly.
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About Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter
Large Hunter Jeff Altman is a coach who has served as a recruiter for a hundred years. His job involves career coaching, as well as executive job search coaching, job coaching and interview coaching. He is the producer and former host of “Base-free Broadcasting Station”, the first podcast in iTunes for more than 3,000 episodes of work search.
Are you suggesting 1:1 coaches, interview coaches, more effective connection building, how to negotiate your offer or leadership coach? sChedule free discovery phone.
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You can order a copy of “Diagnose Job Questions” for your Kindle on Amazon and get free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Suggestions” and “Interview Preparation” for free. If you want to start the search, order: “Prepare for the jungle.”
Do you want to have a conversation through the wage negotiations involved or potential negotiations? Order time with me and schedule time.
Do you have questions or want to know any aspect of the web or search? Order time with me and schedule time.
Do you want me to criticize your resume? Criticize from me
Jeff’s Kindle book “You Can Fix Stupid: No BS Recruitment Advice” is available on Amazon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt1xclu8yme
