Job Seeking vs. Career Recruiting November 21, 2008

Finding out you’re not coming back to work on Monday can be scary.  From there you have one of two paths that you can choose to go down.  Which path would you choose?

 

Job Seeker Path

• As a Job Seeker, you spend countless hours searching and reviewing jobs that interest you.
• As a Job Seeker, you tweak your resume and compose compelling cover letters to accurately reflect your strengths as it pertains to the job you’re trying to ‘get’.
• As a Job Seeker, you quickly become disgruntled after you hit “submit” and wonder for the next few days if anyone saw your resume and application that you’ve just spent 30 minutes concentrating on.
• As a Job Seeker, you just want the opportunity to get the interview so you can ’sell’ yourself and ‘get’ the job.
• As a Job Seeker, you say all the right things in the interview even if you know it’s not what you agree with or if you even feel comfortable speaking about.
• As a Job Seeker, you’re doing all the wrong things and wasting too much time.

 

 Career Recruiter Path

• As a Career Recruiter, you should be seeking out the companies, a.k.a. Teams, that you want to join.
• As a Career Recruiter, you should be networking with key individuals within that company, long before you have any plans of making a move.
• As a Career Recruiter, you brand yourself within your industry and surround yourself with people who’ve been successful in your field.
• As a Career Recruiter, you should be interviewing companies and asking probing questions. 
• As a Career Recruiter, you should be asking to interview with more than one person.
• As a Career Recruiter, you should be conducting research about the organization and try to network with former employees to find out the inside scoop on the company and culture.
• As a Career Recruiter, you should be asking for a tour of the workplace, where would you sit should you get the job and talking to other current employees to find out why they love working there.
• As a Career Recruiter, you should be making sure that the position you accept is a right fit for your qualifications, career expectations and work environment.

 

Recruiters often forget they aren’t the only ones interviewing. Candidates need to remember that they have every right to interview the company.

 

If you don’t consider yourself a Career Recruiter, you’ll end up ‘getting a job’. It’ll be a job that you don’t love. It’ll be a job that you grow to despise and become disengaged because you’re surprised often by things you weren’t prepared for and didn’t forsee. Pretty soon, you’ll be starting the process all over again.

 

If you consider yourself a Career Recruiter, you’ll end up making an informed decision that you’ll feel good about everyday when you walk through the door. It’ll be a spot on a team that you are rooting for and want to see win. It’ll feel right because you know it’s right.