How To: Use an Agency
How To: Use an Agency
Last Updated (20/04/12) Written by Sinead Smith 20/04/12
There have been a number of recent media articles which have discussed the workings of recruitment agencies. Reading the feedback to some of these pieces, it becomes obvious that many jobseekers don’t know how agencies work and so, are unnecessarily wary of them. We thought this would be a good opportunity to explain how agencies work and how the candidates can make the most of the agencies services to secure the best job for them.
How We Work
It’s no secret how agencies work, it’s just rarely discussed. A company comes to us with a role and we advertise it and tap into our database of candidates who we think might be interested and suitable. If the company makes one of our candidates an offer and the candidate accepts, we charge the company an agreed percentage of the candidate’s first year’s salary. That’s it!
We’re Free
It’s free for you, the candidate, to register with an agency. If you want to be kept in the loop with the employment market, you simply submit your CV; let us know the types of roles you’d be interested in and we do the rest. It costs you absolutely nothing and you’re under no obligation to make a move from your current role.
So, with that cleared up, how can you get the most from your relationship with an agency? Here are our Top 5 tips;
1. Make Contact
If you’re starting to look at the employment market, step one is to make contact with the agency. Submitting your CV is the first step to this process (we have a “Submit CV” box on our homepage to make this as simple as possible for you). Always, without fail, accompany or follow-up your CV with an email, briefly outlining who you are, what roles you’re interested in and when you’re available for an initial chat.
Nowadays, it has become more acceptable to make professional approaches via social media platforms. As we said in our post on Job Hunting 2.0, following, liking and interacting with recruitment agencies can increase your visibility and keep you in the mind of the recruiter as roles become available.
2. Meet Up
Without fail, you should organise a meeting with the agency. Communicating face-to-face will give the recruiter a better idea of who you are as well as the type of roles and companies you would work well in. It’s important to remember that it’s the recruiter’s job to sell you to a company and get you the best package so, making a good and lasting impression from the outset will work well in your favour.
At this meeting, you should have a clear idea of the types of roles and companies you would be interested in working with and, equally, those roles you don’t want to be approached on. This will give the recruiter a better idea of what opportunities to contact you with.
3. Follow-Up
Keeping yourself in the mind of the recruiter will, ultimately, help you in securing your ideal career move. You should follow-up after the initial meeting and then check-in with your recruiter once every two weeks or so. Not only will this keep your name on the tip of the recruiter’s tongue but, it will also give you an opportunity to check-up on the market and get an idea of what kinds of roles are out there.
4. Have Multiple CVs
Our post last week focused on our top tips for making the most of your CV. Here we recommended that you have multiple versions of your CV on-hand that would suit a variety of different roles. If, for instance, you are interested in working in either financial services or industry and you have the experience for both, have one CV that focuses mostly on your financial services experience and another that highlights your experience in industry. This will help the recruiter sell you and your relevant attributes to the client.
If you are unsure where to start when reworking your CV, we offer a free CV preparation service. Just drop one of us a line and we can advise you as to the main selling points you should play up and where you can cut the fat to produce a more streamlined, effective CV.
5. Maintain a Database
Most agencies work off a database of candidates, building it up over the years and tapping into it when a new role comes in. Similarly, candidates should compile a database of recruiters; agencies worked with, roles applied for, interviews carried out. Having this back-catalogue of your job application history to hand will help you get the most from your recruiter in that you’ll be in a position to follow-up on roles, highlight to the recruiter which opportunities you’ve gotten the farthest with and also which companies you have met with in the past.
Agencies are there to be used by discerning jobseekers. Many recruiters have spent years cultivating strong and lasting relationships with top companies and can often present you with opportunities that you wouldn’t necessarily have access to yourself. Using an agency takes much of the legwork out of jobseeking for the candidate and, best of all, it’s free!
However, it’s important to remember that you won’t be relevant for every role and, so, you won’t be considered for every role. A recruiter may call you every day for a week or there might be months between suitable roles but, rest assured, once your profile is in the database, you’ll be among the first to hear about relevant opportunities. So, what are you waiting for? Submit that CV!
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By autson.com