Franck Wang 
Imagine it, if you haven’t already lived it. You see a recruitment agency post a job listing that you would be a perfect fit for. You send in your resume and application. You then wait for the email or phone call back from them, and you never hear from them? What is going on? Keep reading for 10 tips on how you can avoid the pitfall of not getting noticed by a recruitment agency looking to fill the position you want and can slide into.
1) Timing Is Everything
When you see a listing, you need to pounce on it. Any email or telephone call you get from an agency needs to be responded too immediately or as quickly as you possibly can. Positions don’t usually stay open for competitive positions more than a day or two, as other candidates are looking to come in too. Also, many agencies might be sharing listings with rivals, and they all want to be the first one to the finish line.
2) Toot Your Own Horn
Customize your resume to match the position you’re applying for. Agencies love candidates that are obvious picks in specific roles, since your previous work history, skills, and education become selling points for them.
3) Be Careful Of Changing Careers This Way
Agencies are looking for the best candidates to place because then they win the fees that come with that. That means your chances of pulling off a career change this way are not so great since more obvious candidates have more relevant experience than you do. Your background is going to have to be transferable and sterling.
4) Make Your Resume Pop
Agencies get flooded with resumes every day, some for listed positions, and some just out of desperation. Many resumes look bland or even have poor structure. Yours has to be attractive just to get looked at in all the slush. For that matter, you might have to use the right keywords in it just to get it past scanning software that chooses which resumes get looked at and which don’t. Make sure to pick a quality recruiter such as Orion to find your work also.
5) Be The Answer
When you apply for a certain role, it means someone has a problem, or even multiple problems. They have things that need to be taken care of, and they’re looking for someone to come in and take care of them. Be sure that your cover letter directly addresses any points raised in the advertisement. They’re quizzing you on why you can handle the role, and you need to convince them that you can, and then illustrate why in every way possible.
6) Look The Gift Horse In The Mouth
Some job adverts are going to sound simply too good to be real. If that’s the case, it likely is. Don’t be shocked if you get told a job is filled only to see it pop back up later. Some agencies use fake listings to make contact with good candidates they can poach later privately. In fact, some job listings are just desperate attempts to get sales leads on potential students for career schools, such as IT education and the like.
7) Put Your Wallet Away
You shouldn’t ever have to spend any money to work with a recruitment agency. They make their money by getting fees from companies when they successfully find candidates for them. If they’re relying on their candidates for revenue, they’re not doing their work right. Having said that, there might be exceptions in for entertainers and models, when professionals might be trying to promote you actively.
8) Go For What You Want
No matter how badly you might need work, try to stick with positions and roles that you actually want. A recruitment agent might try to pressure or persuade you to take something that doesn’t quite work for you, so they can fill a spot and get their fee. If you don’t intend to accept or stay in that position, it wastes everyone time to even consider it.
9) Be Honest
Make sure everything on your resume is accurate. While you want to make yourself look good, you never want to fudge numbers or facts or lies. Inconsistencies will get caught in an age of digital background checks, and the agency might lose their faith in you and not call back about future vacancies.
10) Know Your Salary Requirements
You might need to be really flexible here, but know what you won’t settle for, and talk to the agency about how realistic your numbers are. They might know the market rates better than you do.
