Re: Recruiting Story

[Jeff Hanvey <jewahe -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> I have a recruiter story to tell that represents the
> lowest form of
> recruiter, the one out for a short term sale at any
> price. 

I guess I've been extremely lucky in my dealings with
recruiters...

I landed my current job through a recruiter. She
called me after finding my resume on Net-Temps and
told me about the position.

At first, I had serious reservations about going on
the interview. For one, the job description required a
senior-level technical writer with skills I did not
have (reading blueprints and schematics among others).
In addition, I had several bad interviewing
experiences with this company before (hiring freezes,
lost budgets, dissolved departments). 

So when I went to talk to the recruiter, I asked her
point blank what my *real* chances were. She felt
fairly certain that I'd land the job, enough so that
she was having me fill out the paperwork to get on the
payroll.

I went to the interview and, sure enough, I had the
job.  I lucked out even more because I actually like
the people I work with/for and will gain a variety of
writing skills - everything from policy and procedures
to engineering and software.

Although two of the main factors that go me the job
were that I was available immediately and didn't have
to relocate, I maintain that it was my honest
presentation of my skills on my resume and at the
interview that helped me land this job. The managers
saw that I have the ability to learn and that I have
solid writing skills and decided to give me a chance.

But, then, when it comes to recruiters, I have always
taken a wary approach - and taken control of my resume
and interview, delegating the recruiter to the level
of an intermediary. I let him/her do the hard work
(negotiating the exact salary, et cetera), but don't
let him/her touch my resume to "beef it up."

You have to do this, or else the recruiter will
misrepresent you to the hiring company. After all,
his/her bonus is on the line.

JMHO,


=====
Jeff Hanvey
Memphis, TN

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