Why don’t recruiters find me a role? Call me for an interview?
By Mandar Erande | Monday, September 07, 2015
As a job seeker or a new migrant, you send out a lot of general job applications from online job boards and ad lists, expecting interviews. You feel reading the job ad you are an ideal candidate or a close fit for the role. You expect a big flood of interview requests; at best maybe you get a trickle of feedback, maybe one or two calls. You get back slow or no response from recruiters and then you start disliking recruiters in general as such. Sounds familiar?
Recruiters get a lot of bad feedback, especially in slow market. Not all of them deserve that. Most new migrants and job seekers expect immediate response in the form of an interview. But they don’t get anything, sometimes not even a call back! Unfortunately, some of this feedback about recruiters is true, but not all of it. I know some hard working, old style, seasoned recruiters who are excellent in their work and do look after their candidates.
Traditionally most recruiters are in a sales role and have big targets to reach, for which they are under serious pressure to make it happen. They may be getting hundreds of job applications per ad depending on the industry sector they work in. Sometimes they call you for a general enquiry, as it meets their KPIs of calls/week, but then it doesn't lead to anything. The reason being recruitment consultants work for their clients who are corporate/industrial employers. Most of them focus on finding best candidates for the role, not the other way round, finding the best role for you. You cannot blame them. Not many of them work for you or with your next dream job goal in mind. That’s the task of a Career Coach.
In other words recruiters are focused on filing certain immediate roles at hand within a definite time frame. That’s why if you ask them to meet you as a candidate looking for a role in one or two areas, a lot of times, the response is negative. They are keen on meeting someone who is most likely a close fit for the role that they need to fill immediately, right now! For recruiters, all roles are perishable and have a use by date, if they don’t fill those in time, another agency will.
So as a jobseeker, its best you contact a Career Coach to assist with your job search if it seems to be going nowhere. Ideally a Coach who has a hands-on background in recruitment, understanding of the local job market and works with job seekers/new migrants. Then the response will be different. They will create a road map for you. Things will get moving.