The Joys of Working with a Recruitment Agency to Find a Job

Ahh, job hunting.

Can you really be bothered to sift through hundreds (if not thousands) of job ads, spend more time perfecting your resume, and then sit around picking the skin off your thumbs, waiting for the phone to ring?

Working with a recruitment agency will make the process easier, quicker and a lot less stressful. Because when you work with a recruiter, you’re not alone, you have experts by your side every step of the way.

Other than that, why use a recruitment agency to find a job? Well, let’s find out.

Recruiters save you time

Research shows it can take six months of searching for the average person to find a new job. That’s a lot of hours looking through job ads, tweaking and sending applications and crying into your lap after the 25th rejection. And it gets even tougher if you’re looking for a new job while working.

Working with a recruitment agency frees up some of your time to do more of the things that make you happy. And because they spend eight hours a day (at least) trying to find candidates for vacant jobs, you have a better chance of landing one. Recruiters just know exactly where the jobs are, and they’ll do everything they can to fill them with people like you.

Recruiters can help you through the process

When looking for a job, all the emotions will come up and slap you on the cheek. Stress, anxiety, frustration, fear, elation, hopefulness — they’ll all make an appearance. If you work with a recruitment agency, they’ll have your back every step of the way, helping you deal with these emotions and normalise the ups and downs of the process.

Whether it’s jazzing up your resume, coaching you on interview techniques or helping you decide which role to accept, your recruitment consultant will support you from applying to accepting an offer.

You can network on a much larger scale

Unless you’re friends with the Kardashians, you’ll have fewer connections that can help you get a job than a recruitment agency. Most recruitment agencies have been in the game for a very long time. And throughout this time, have built up a solid network of people, tens of thousands of times bigger than your LinkedIn profile with 238 connections. By working together, you can take advantage of this, and get the most out of your hard work job-seeking.

Another thing. When you send your resume to a HR department, you rely on them looking at that document and loving it so much, they ask you in for an interview. Things are different if you work with a recruitment agency. You have someone in your corner. Someone who has a relationship with that hiring manager and who can boost you up in their eyes. A hype person, in a way.

You stay on the database

Recruitment consultants play the long game. They value long-term relationships and often feature in your career many times throughout it’s course (in some cases, with you as their client rather than as a candidate).

That’s because it’s not over once you’re sitting cushy in a role. Far from it. If it’s okay with you, the recruitment agency will keep your resume on their system for any future roles you might be interested in, and they’ll give you a call when one comes up.

Access to more job opportunities

Only using job-search websites to look for a job is like having the same meal every time you go to a restaurant. Think of all the other things you could try — think about what you’re missing out on.

It’s the same when you’re looking for a job. You see, it’s not uncommon for companies to avoid job-search websites and instead, advertise on their website and social channels, or ask current employees for word-of-mouth referrals. Just like you’re missing out if you order the same plate of food at every restaurant, you’re missing out on great job opportunities by limiting your search to job-search websites.

But where do you start? Well, recruiters are pros at finding the ‘hard-to-find’ jobs. Just like they can send you roles that aren’t yet advertised online. With more jobs to pick from, you’re more likely to find one that suits you.

Recruiters want to place candidates

Let’s not shilly-shally here. If a recruiter finds you a job, they get to send a bill to their employer client, it’s as simple as that. So the more candidates they match with jobs, the more money their business earns. This is just one of the reasons recruiters are super passionate and competitive about finding roles for their candidates, which can only be a good thing, right?

But remember, rather than leaving your career in their hands, you’ll see the best results if you work with them. Whether it’s continuing your search on job-search websites or networking on LinkedIn — the more you do, the better your chances of success.