Lindsay Olson

Be Your Own Headhunter on PRNewser

My latest column on PRNewser is up. Here's an excerpt... or see the full article here.

Lately, I've been receiving a ton of calls from candidates who call to "enlist a recruiter" to help find them a new position. It makes me wonder if some of these people think that by speaking to an industry recruiter, their job search woes will be answered.

Recruiters work for their clients - the hiring company, not the other way around. I'm not saying job seekers shouldn't connect to a recruiter. Recruiters can and will bring opportunities to your attention you might never find otherwise, but it's important to keep the expectations realistic.

The job market in its worst condition in years. If you are actively job searching or unemployed, don't rely ONLY on job ads or a recruiter. These days it takes much more work to seek the opportunities out. Become your own headhunter and use some of our strategies to propel your search.

Have a plan
A good recruiter tends to be very organized and an obsessive planner. Recruiters don't only rely on job postings they see on the internet to create new business. We target the top companies we want to represent in our industry and develop relationships with the decision makers, even when they are not hiring.. Make a list of the top 50 companies you want to work for and assume there are opportunities for you in each, even if there isn't an open position posted.

Read the rest at the PRNewser blog.

Date: February 19th, 2009 / Author: Lindsay

Posted in Recruiting / Tags: headhunters, job hunting, job search, prnewser, recruiters