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Sorting The Wood From The Trees

Sorting the Wood from the Trees

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Sorting the Wood from the Trees

​The new year has come, bringing that itchy feeling in its wake, with many determined to wave goodbye to unfulfilling jobs.

My experience as a recruiter who speaks and deals with the most prestigious developers has given me valuable insight into how good candidates can avoid the headaches and time loss that usually accompanies job searches. 

Job seekers within my market are the coveted commodity and with roughly 30,000 recruitment agencies in the UK the good candidate is spoilt for choice. With so many options available to assist the candidate in finding a new role it can be hard to see the wood from all the trees. We’ve all seen the LinkedIn agency-bashing, much of it fair but most of it based on unpleasant dealings with impersonal and ill-informed recruiters trying to hustle their way to a quick buck. But there are some of us who offer a thorough but more boutique, personalised service in recruitment.

From the two-way feedback that candidates I’ve worked with and I have shared it’s clear there are certain steps that should be taken or avoided to prevent a job search turning into a bad job itself.

All about the Ads

I speak to an abundance of job hunters who strongly regret uploading their cv onto the job boards. This is largely because every man and their dog will call three times a day for the foreseeable future. Applying to informative and well written job adverts is less time consuming and is likely to put you in contact with efficient recruiters who will do all the work for you.

Quality over Quantity

Invest in one or two trusted and reliable agents. Many candidates I speak to make the mistake of working with numerous agents on various different potential opportunities. Any consultant who is half good should be able to offer at least three options worth pursuing.

Face to Face time

Once you have identified and started the process with an agent who seems to know what they’re doing it is worth meeting them face to face. It might seem unnecessary but it will allow for a smoother process. There is far less likelihood of someone not understanding your current situation, preferences or limitations after you have given them an opportunity to meet you face to face.

Honesty and transparency

For many reasons it is in everyone’s interest to be completely transparent in terms of salary expectations, interview availability and feedback. Being unambiguous about your desired starting salary and your reasons as to why this is fair leaves little justification for a low ball offer. Setting out a realistic time scale to complete interview processes deters the 'rush-rush' approach adopted by some agents and speaking the truth if an interview put you off or gave you doubts manages the expectations of the interested parties.

Konstantinos Koukourakis- Frontend Developer @ Clarksons Platou

“Ricky got in touch with me directly, after taking time to understand my skillset, and put me forward for a role which was exactly what I was looking for. He was very honest about everything and answered all my questions. He ensured a friendly and speedy recruitment process, talking to me on the phone, updating me very often. He was a true professional from start to finish and helped me receive a great job offer for which I am very grateful. Thank you Ricky!”

Sergei Larionov- Global UI Lead @ Experian

“It is a great pleasure for me to recommend Ricky as an elite recruiter. He gave me a transparent and correct picture of the job market whilst explaining every step involved in the process and making sure I was never uninformed regarding the status of the interview.

He went above and beyond to resolve every issue in a timely fashion and provided both professional and approachable service, securing a great role for me.

At any time, when my company is hiring new staff I would always recommend him as a recruiter.”