The value of building a relationship with a recruitment agency

Searching for your next role, whether permanent or contract can be incredibly time-consuming and often demoralizing. Especially when things don't happen as quickly as you would like. This is why it's important to look at all avenues of securing your next role, including building relationships with recruitment partners. 

Like all relationships, finding a good recruitment agency can be challenging, but don’t worry, there are some great ones out there. Here are some tips for success.

Where to start

The first thing is to reach out to your existing network and ask them who they would recommend, or who they have used in the past. The best ones are usually the ones who have provided great service to a friend or colleague. A known quantity is much less risky than someone for who you have no evidence of their capability. 

Find out who they are, introduce yourself, drop them an email, send them a LinkedIn message or better still give them a call to see how they can help you.

Be clear about what's important to you

A good recruitment agency will want to know what's important to you about securing your next role. Whether it's a contract role or a permanent position, you will need to be very clear about what you want. In turn, they will need information about your skills and experience, your achievements, and the kind of organizations you want to work for and engage with.

Your financial expectations are also very important, as well as any personal circumstances that you need to make the role work best for you. 

Don't use too many

Be specific about who you approach and don't use too many. A scattergun approach will dilute both your and the agency's effort and will be too difficult for you to manage effectively. Less is more in this area.

Keep in touch

You may have reached out to a number of agencies and you may not hear anything back, but it might be that they don't have the right role for you at that time. Don't be afraid to reconnect with them once in a while. Provide them with an updated CV and make sure they are aware of your LinkedIn profile.

Be proactive and don’t forget to probe and ask them what they've heard on the market, any information that they're hearing about, news and organizations that are hiring and any that they may be working well with. 

Following these steps will allow you to build a better relationship with your selected partner agencies, allowing them to think of you first the next time they get a role that is a great fit.

Happy job hunting!