Struggling to relocate? Why can’t recruiters help? #shorts

Recruiters are hired by companies. I’ll start with emergency recruiters. It really doesn’t make any difference whether it’s an accident or a reservation, but reservation I think people understand; most people don’t encounter accidents.

The mistake many job seekers make with contingency companies is that they think that because they talk to them, they work for them – contingency recruiters work for the candidates. This is not the case. Contingency recruiters are paid a fee based on completing tasks and filling vacancies with people who meet the client’s requirements, and the client has agreed to pay them a fee.

Now, that’s the structured answer. Simply put: they are hired by companies to fill job openings, and unless they fill the job, they don’t make any money. Their job is not to house you. After all, what are you paying them? Correct? You didn’t pay them any money. The result is that most people expect recruiters to work for them, but that’s not the case. You work for the people who pay you, but that’s not the case here.

So, what should you do if you find yourself in a situation where you want to move? Frankly, the answer is that you start contacting recruiters who seem to have jobs in your area (the specific geographic area you’re looking for). You might notice that they have two or three ads – I’ll just use a general one, say technology, accounting and finance, operations, whatever it is – and you contact companies in that area, knowing that they probably don’t have openings.

Just very simply send them a message (either via LinkedIn or via email) and say, “I noticed you happen to have a few job openings. I don’t see any that fit my background. Can you please accept my resume, add it to your database, and contact me when openings become available?”

This is indeed what you can do. Then you start building relationships with companies that hire people with your skills. Now, the reality is that recruiters and job ads may fill 30% of positions. The rest is filled online. Depending on the statistics you see, I’ve found that only 50% of jobs are filled online, while up to 70% of jobs are filled online. So, where do you think you should be spending your time? The answer is to connect with companies and decision-makers who employ people like you.