The Other Side of Life 24/7: The Cynical Girl: Do You Know Any Good Recruiters?

Friday, July 27, 2012

The Cynical Girl: Do You Know Any Good Recruiters?

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 03:45 AM PDT

Got this note from a former colleague of mine.

I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired at work. And I’m even more tired of telling myself I should be grateful to have a job! Do you know any good recruiters that can help?

I know good recruiters but I don’t know anyone who can help. Recruiters don’t get jobs for people. Third-party recruiters can connect people with opportunities. It’s then up to you to make the sale. They can coach you, they can prep you and they can teach you. They cannot make it happen for you.

And almost every available job on the market can be found on your own — and almost every corporate recruiter can find you — if your resume is on LinkedIn, Monster and CareerBuilder.

My advice to anyone looking for work? Instead of asking people if they know of any recruiters, I would ask if they know of any positions, companies or hiring managers who need my skills. I would put my resume on the corporate website. I would try to connect with hiring managers by using a combination of personal networking, Rapportive, Peepmail and Google.

And then I would count my blessings that I have a job — even a crappy one — because I know that there are 4-6 unemployed people out there for every available job on the market.

One more thing. I would get a hobby or volunteer my time to distract myself from my awful job. It’s just a job. It shouldn’t define you as a person despite what anyone tells you. Need a suggestion for a distraction? I recommend starting a blog. Worked for me.

And ditch the codependency on recruiters.