In my previous post, Working With A Recruiter: Looking for a Job Can Be a Fulltime Job, I talked about saving time and maximizing your job search results by utilizing a Recruiter. While recruiters are an extremely helpful resource when it comes to your job search, only you know what you’re looking for.

Here’s how to communicate that to a recruiter.

Having a one-time, introductory, 20-30 minute conversation with a recruiter is the most important time you’ll dedicate to your search. This conversation will allow you to sell yourself and describe your skill-set, past experiences, jobs/roles, and give the recruiter a good glimpse into what your personality is like.  

You should elaborate on your experiences in as much detail as possible, because if you put everything you’ve done on your resume, it would be 10 pages long and I don’t know one hiring manager that reads past the 2nd, maybe 3rd page of a resume.  

The introductory call is also a good time to explain to the recruiter why you are looking for new opportunities and the types of roles you are targeting. Having this conversation will allow you to go over, what I like to call, the ‘4 Key Ingredients.’

What are your 4 Key Ingredients?

1. Skill Set / Role Itself – What do you want to do? What type of position you are targeting?
2. Type of Work – Are you looking for contract, contract-to-hire, direct hire or other type of work?
3. Location / Commute – What is a commutable distance and viable location for you to work?
4. Compensation – At a minimum, what are you targeting from a compensation standpoint?

Taking the time to jot down your ‘4 Key Ingredients’ and discussing those with your recruiter on an intro call at the beginning of your search will save you time and effort. The roles the recruiter will be presenting you, will fall into line with most, if not all, of the ‘4 Key Ingredients’ of your search criteria.

Rich Drennen, Senior Technical Recruiter at Talution Group brings more than 13 years in the industry to the Objective Paradigm team. Rich has immersed himself in the Chicagoland Tech Recruiting landscape, having supported clients that range from private start-ups to Fortune 500 global companies. Connect with Rich on Twitter @Talution_Rich