From the course: Tech Career Skills: Searching, Interviewing, and Landing a Job

Tech hiring roles: The recruiter

From the course: Tech Career Skills: Searching, Interviewing, and Landing a Job

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Tech hiring roles: The recruiter

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- Before we discuss how to best work with a recruiter during the hiring process, let's understand the different recruiting models. The recruiter could be someone who owns the process soup to nuts from identifying candidates to scheduling interviews to working with the candidate after the interview. It may also be that the recruiter simply identifies the candidate, sets up the interview, and then hands off the candidate to the hiring team. Either way the recruiter is an excellent source to help prepare for the interview based on all the insights I provided so far. Now the power dynamic between you and the recruiter. It is important to understand the recruiter's stakes in the hiring process. The recruiter is assessed based on three key deliverables. First, sourcing candidates and selling the company, the hiring team, and the role. Filling the role by selecting quality candidates and preparing them for the interview. Providing a great candidate experience regardless of the outcome. A short while ago we reviewed the company's strategic interests in the interview process, growing the team, building relationships, gathering data, et cetera. The recruiter represents these key interests. This is where having a good recruiter can really help while having a lousy recruiter could really hurt. Some recruiters focus purely on filling roles and treat candidates as interchangeable. For them you are an entry on a spreadsheet and nothing more. These are recruiters that will take a long time to get back to you and often string you along even as things change at their end. If you see these signs it may be time to assess whether the role is worth the bother. Such an experience at the very start could be indicative of a bad culture. On the other hand, great recruiters could provide you with key insights so ask as many questions as you can early in the process. For example, what is the company culture like, is it top down or more decentralized? What is the team like? How does it fit into the larger org? Who are the key stakeholders for this role? What key problems is this role looking to solve? And how do you define success for this role? All of these insights will help you customize your resume and your pitch for the real interview. I mentioned earlier that the interviewing is a muscle. This conversation with the recruiter is like stretching before your workout. It is here that all the preparation we have been discussing makes contact with reality. Do not waste this touchpoint by merely using it to schedule dates and times. Use this low pressure opportunity to show that you care and gather information. Also, remember that this exchange is an assessment of your soft skills much like the interview itself. Low pressure is not the same as low stakes.

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