Lots of applicants have gone through recruitment agencies in order to find jobs and if you speak to anybody who has dealt with a recruiter they’re likely to tell you a variety of different stories. Some really like recruiters because they put them forward for a job which they eventually got, while others will tell you to steer well clear (probably because they didn’t get put forward for whatever reason – be it their own performance in a meeting with a recruiter or a lack of experience for instance).
Whichever side of the fence you fall on, without recruiters a lot of us wouldn’t know where to start with our job applications. For some reason it becomes incredibly difficult for us to list all of our academic achievements and qualifications on our CVs and the covering letter is nearly impossible for us to get right without sounding like we’re in love with ourselves – despite them being the platform to ‘sell’ ourselves to the potential employers.
Recruiters like www.lucas-blake.com are able to go through our applications and meet us before putting us forward for a meeting with the employer themselves. In many ways it’s an endorsement for the company because it shows that they’re looking for the right employee for the role and they don’t want to waste their own time, or that of the applicant, if they’re not a good fit for the position.
One of the things that the recruiters look for is personality. A lot of companies will employ them to find someone who would fit into their company seamlessly, showing that they’re a sociable person but also someone with a good work ethic.
There are lots of people who impress on paper, but let themselves down in the eyes of the employer by being so nervous that they don’t show any signs of humour during the interview. By meeting the recruiter first, however, the whole process is much more relaxed and they will be able to see that sense of humour and inform the potential employer accordingly.
Another thing that they look for is your subject knowledge. Anyone can have skills which can be transferred from one niche to another, such as qualifications in ICT or English, but they need to filter out those who have the credentials on paper but no knowledge of the actual industry they would be working in.
While some employers would be willing to take people with relevant qualifications and teach them everything about a specific industry, others want people who are able to hit the ground running having worked in the sector before or having shown (at least) a basic understanding of the industry.
Finally, recruiters look for candidates who are enthusiastic about the position, seeing it as a real opportunity to enjoy the role and to bring something to the company. There are lots of people out there looking for work, but there are people among them who are wanting to work and that’s the real difference.
People who are passionate about a specific career are much more likely to stay at the company for a long time, progressing through the ranks and helping to improve the reputation of the brand along the way – and that’s what the employer wants more than anything.