I was just reading a blog for candidates entitled “Why finding a recruiter/headhunter should not be your first move”. I wondered what he was saying about my industry, so I read on. You can read the blog by clicking here.

While I agree that calling a recruiter probably shouldn’t be your first move, it should be near the top of the job hunting to do list. BUT, even before you consider placing a call, make sure you know who you’re calling and whether they will be helpful. How do you find that out? Call other candidates you know and ask for referrals.

While Lavie is correct in saying recruiters are paid by the employer and we are not in business to help candidates find jobs, a good recruiter will spend time with candidates who are referred to them by candidates/clients in their network. These are the recruiting partners you need to find. At STRe, we know we can’t place all the candidates who come through our doors, even if they are qualified for an open job order we’re working on. But we do know we can usually provide some bit of advice or guidance to most candidates–and that’s what we strive to do. Not only does it feel good to help out, especially in this market, frankly it makes good business sense. Candidates often become clients and if they have a good experience with STRe they will often tell others. We frequently have new clients tell us they heard about us from a candidate who had a good experience with us. And clients want their potential candidates for a job to be treated well by the recruiter that represents them and their company.

The article goes on to say that if a recruiter is not working in your field, it’s probably not a good person to work with. I agree. You need someone who can understand your qualifications and even highlight the skills and experience you have, but may have inadvertently omitted on your resume.

And lastly, unfortunately I have to disagree with the advice to apply for a position directly and Lavie says “because when you use a recruiter you add an extra layer to the screening process.” That’s the whole point! If you work with a recruiter who knows your field, interviews you in person, checks your references, this adds value to the hiring manager and you. At STRe, we use a presentation spreadsheet in addition to the resume for our Select Contingent Searches. This highlights the candidate’s skills and experiences as compared to the hiring manager’s key criteria. It improves the likelihood of the candidate getting hired and reduces the amount of time that hiring managers spend assessing and evaluating the candidates we present.

As a former CFO I understand the need for companies to lower their cost of hire. Unfortunately I have seen firsthand too many examples where well qualified candidates have submitted their resume for a position, never hear anything back from the company, and then can’t be represented by a recruiter because they’re already in the database. And sadly, even in this high tech age, it happens all too often. Candidates need to learn which companies have a good screening process of resumes from their website and which don’t. Because the reality is, you’re a finance professional, not a marketing guru. And sometimes your resume isn’t going to be an obvious fit through the “key word” parsing and you could get left behind.

Bottom Line: Take charge of your job search, work all angles, find trusted partners and you’ll be successful in any environment.