Love them or loathe them, recruitment agencies still play an important role in the employment sector and if you are a jobseeker, they certainly shouldn’t be dismissed. Whilst the recruitment sector itself often comes in for a lot of criticism, there are still many professional recruiters out there who may be able to give you the helping hand you need. It takes a little work on your part too though. Here are 5 ways to use recruitment agencies in your job search.

Register with the right agencies

There are so many agencies that you could register with so rather than simply sending your CV and registering with them all, do your research first. Most will have websites where they indicate the types of roles they recruit for, the market sectors they deal with and the geographical area that they cover. Don’t simply assume that they will see your CV and be able to help. Register only with agencies that deal with the type of jobs you are seeking – otherwise you are simply wasting your time.

Apply for relevant jobs

Some candidates make the mistake of simply applying for every job a recruiter advertises. Whilst that may be an unfortunate sign of the times, it also unfortunately does not do them any favours. Unless you have skills in every single discipline, it is pretty unlikely that you could be a viable and credible candidate for any role. Make sure that you apply for jobs where you meet the criteria – where your skills and experience is relevant and is a good match for the employer’s requirements. If you do this, you are more likely to be responded to by a recruiter and therefore more likely to improve your prospects of getting a job.

Ask for a face to face meeting

What you should always aim to do is to have a face to face meeting with the recruiter. If you send them your CV and ask for a meeting and they aren’t interested then it’s pretty likely that they have no suitable vacancies nor are they likely to. As part of their role, recruiters are expected to source new candidates regularly for potential employers for current or prospective vacancies. If there is real employer demand for your skills and experience, recruiters will agree to a meeting without question. During a one on one meeting with a recruiter you will be able to give them a much clearer indication of what you are about and what your career objectives are, than you ever could with a CV.

Build a relationship

So once you’ve registered with an agency and had a face to face meeting, it doesn’t end there. Yes, a good recruiter will be proactively trying to find a job for you, however they will also be doing that for many other candidates. It’s always best then to stay on their radar – call them, email them, update them with how your job search is going in other ways. That doesn’t mean that you should stalk them, but you should certainly aim to build a relationship and rapport with them. After all, you want to be the candidate they think of immediately when an employer calls them with a vacancy.

Be professional

As we mentioned earlier, recruiters don’t tend to get a lot of good press. That doesn’t mean however that you should treat them with disdain or contempt. There are plenty of good recruiters out there too. It is best to always be courteous, professional and polite in your dealings with an agency. That receptionist that you speak bluntly to on the phone will more often than not pass on her thoughts about you to the consultant and a negative opinion could be formed before you even get the chance to speak to the consultant yourself. Don’t ruin your chances – after all good manners cost nothing!

We hope that by highlighting these 5 ways to use recruitment agencies in your job search, we have helped a little too!