Here’s a quick sample of one the techniques we teach – how to get a recruiter to call you.
Recruiters usually get flooded with resumes and they are entrusted with the tough and thankless job of going through the pile of resumes to identify candidates for a phone screen interview.
Now, we’re hoping that you are NOT sending out your resumes to recruiters and expecting a response back. So here’s how to get them call you.
How to get a recruiter to call you
If you have started looking for a job lately, you might have noticed this trend – it’s your lucky day if a recruiter emails you or calls you back.
Things that you will need
- The basics – Computer, internet connection and printer
- Pen and highlighter
- Your favorite chair
- Phone
Let’s assume that you saw a posting on an employer’s web site or someone in your network has tipped you off regarding an open position and you think you would be a great fit for this position.
Here’s how to get the recruiter to call you:
- Ask yourself the question – “Why is this firm hiring for this position?”. That answer will help you understand the real opportunity or challenge that this firm is facing. This data point is invaluable because it sets you up as someone who will solve the problem rather than someone who’s ‘just looking for another job’.
- Take a hard copy (print) of this position and sit down in your favorite chair with a pen and highlighter. I’m all about the environment and saving trees, but make an exception for this one page because it will be worth it.
- Based on your knowledge and experience, highlight the areas that you think are WRONG about this particular position. Here are some example of inconsistencies or errors in job position descriptions:
- - For a sales position, there is no mention of responding to RFPs
- For a librarian job, the position does not mention classification of reference material
- For a User Interface Engineer job, the position does not mention integrating the user interface with backend database
- These are really simple examples, but I’m sure you’ll be able to find at least a couple of errors in a given job description. At the very minimum, you should be able to identify some issues around this job description.
- Develop a really simple script for this recruiter – “hello, my name is [your name] and I would like to highlight that there are some issues with you job posting for a [Position Name] on your website. I think there are some gaps in the description that may prevent you from hiring the right candidate.” Also include your contact info to this script.
- For all the issues that you identified earlier,have a quick rationale around why this is an issue or a gap in the job description. Now you are ready to call the recruiter
- Optional: Hopefully, you have the recruiter’s phone number. If you do not, dial that firm’s main phone during after hours, access the phone directory and use the recruiters first name and last name to leave him / her a message as described below
- Call the recruiter, using your voice mail script. Since recruiters have very limited information about specific job description, they will listen patiently to the issues / gaps that you are mentioning, they’ll make notes and most likely, they’ll say – ‘I need to speak with someone in [HR / department that is hiring]. Let me get back to you.’. Be sure to leave your contact information with the recruiter
- Assuming that you did a really good job with the upfront research, the recruiter will call you back with at least a clarification for the issues / gaps you had raised. This is a great opportunity to pop the question ‘It is a position that interests me and I’d like to apply’.
- The recruiter is already impressed – you are someone who not only has read the job description carefully but you are someone who knows a heck of a lot about this particular line of work (since you brought up issues and gaps with their job description).
So, no points for guessing who’s resume will surely be included for the phone screen.
That’s it. You made it through the first barrier of screening!
Are there any additional tips that you would like to add to have recruiters call you back?
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