Your Own Personal "Jerry McGuire"

Whenever it comes to negotiating the next "bank-breaking" sports contract, a professional athlete always utilizes a top-notch sports agent. Athletes realize that agents are specialists in the art of negotiation, however they also go a long way in crafting an athlete's image. Wouldn't it be nice if you could have a top-notch agent representing you the next time you consider a making a career change. Well, agents do exist for star performers in the business world......they are called executive recruiters. So how can an executive recruiter be your "Jerry McGuire"?

First, consider the fact that many resumes never reach a decision maker's desk. The internet has signicantly changed the way a company's Human Resources Department seeks out talent. Through utilizing the mega job boards, a company recruiter can receive countless resumes in a very short period of time. The bad news for you is that the sheer volume of resumes prevents people in many cases from ever knowing that you applied for the job.

If a candidate is represented by an executive recruiter, the recruiter will know who is actually making the hiring decision and be able to get your resume in their hands. Also, it makes your candidature look much more impressive when a hiring authority is informed that you are being "represented" by a top recruiter. Put yourself in the shoes of a hiring manager, you have two candidates:

Candidate#1) Spent the evening looking at job postings online and your company was one of several that were sent a resume.

Candidate #2) You receive a phone call from an executive recruiter who states, "I am representing an absolute superstar and they are happily employed where they are, yet they told me to call them if an opportunity ever became available at your company." So which candidate would you be more interested in hearing about?

There are also other significant advantanges to using a recruiter:

1) A recruiter can provide additional details to a decision maker about your professional experience that cannot be addressed in an email. Sometimes a candidate will be overlooked because something was confusing or not mentioned on the resume and a recruiter can help overcome an objection or clarify the matter over the phone.

2) People can "expose" themselves to an industry when they send out a resume. You might be surprised at how sending out a resume can get back to the boss. A recruiter knows this so they will focus on outlining your sucesses without providing your name or present and past employers if they do not have a retained agreement in place with the company. The last thing you want is a recruiter to call everyone in the industry telling them you are interested in pursuing other opportunities.

So how can you be represented by a recruiter, well there are two ways:

1) In speaking with a recruiter and sharing with them your resume and career objectives, they can come back to you later on with what you described to them as your "perfect" job.

2) If you are really special with a documented history of success and strong references, a recruiter may be willing to call a few companies on your "wishlist" of employers. There may not be an open position with the employer yet if a company can get a "Tiger Woods" on their team they will make room. So keep in mind a recruiter is not going to call companies on behalf of an average or above average performer, you need to be special.

Finally, although nearly all recruiters have their fee paid for by the company it is important to clarify this point with the recruiter. As a result of a recruiter's fee being paid for by the company, recognize that a recruiter will always act in the best interest of the client first.