So, the time has come for you to take the next step. For whatever reason you have decided to leave your current job and change into a new role. You update your CV that night and upload it to some recruitment platform, then open your freshly updated LinkedIn to new opportunities and go to bed feeling satisfied you are off to a good start.

Fast forward 24 hours and you realize what a big mistake you just made. You now have 15 emails regarding a variety of front-end JavaScript roles that someone thinks you would be great for because of your expertise in Java. On top of that you have another ten voicemails wanting to discuss your interest in a position based in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle, because you have previous experience from working abroad (in a coffee shop one summer when you were at university…).

Unfortunately, the cowboys and the ambulance chasers are here to stay, so it is down to you as the rock star in the center of the stage to identify the good, the bad and the ugly and make this work to your advantage. A few things to look for in a recruitment consultant are, their Niche, Industry Understanding and Geographical Focus.

What is their niche and how does it relate to your experience?

Niche: are they focusing on managers, project leaders, senior developers or junior developers? It takes a different skill set to understand the different roles and you want the recruiter to be able to give you their best.

Industry Understanding: if you are a back-end developer, you will have a much better choice of clients working with a recruiter that focuses on your field of expertise than someone who recruits everything from a brain surgeon to a bus driver. Be specific, if you are mostly interested in working with ML or Data Science, make sure you work with a recruiter who understands and specializes in this field.

Geographical Focus: “We are the global leaders…”. Nine out of ten times, this means the company have a too wide range of clients and candidates to care about You! By finding a recruiter that is not only focused on the niche and understand the industry that you are in but also work the market where you are looking to find your next job, you give yourself the best possible chance to find those rare gems that larger international recruiters often miss. Unless you are looking for the multinational companies that use the larger recruitment companies, of course.

Do not forget, the company is looking for you as much as you are looking for a new them.

I say this over and over again. Candidates are the rock stars in the recruitment process. Especially in the IT industry, where there is a major shortage of Talent and therefore you as the candidate have more control.

Transparency is key. When you know who your good recruitment consultants are, be open and honest with them throughout and they will return the favour. If you know that their client is going to make an offer and you know you would like to wait for others, let them know as early as possible. – More examples

If you do not tell the recruiter, it is only going to look like you have used that offer to get a higher counter offer (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/counter-offers-why-you-should-question-motives-behind-banerjee/) from another recruiter that will affect the relationship in the future.

To summerise …

In essence, the same rules apply to all aspects of professional life. It is better to work with a good boss that will give you reason to grow, it is better to work with good colleagues that will inspire you and it is more efficient to invest time in recruiters that understand you and your next step professionally. Choose wisely and be transparent with your recruiter and update them regularly on your thoughts about work. It will be worth the effort.

Just a little bit about Korp Talent

Korp Talent is a recruitment agency that works with both the candidates and the client to realize both side’s full potential to make sure we connect the best Candidates with the most interesting Clients. Our niche is foremost senior developers but we also deal with junior developers when they are extremely talented.

Our industry understanding or technology focus is on Digital, Data and Immersive and we focus geographically on the Nordic countries with most of our business in Sweden. We aim to be the most personalized recruitment agency with the highest quality Candidates our Clients can hope for and the most interesting Clients our Candidates wish for. Therefore we take the time to understand both Candidates and Clients to make sure we introduce the right people to the right places at the right time.

We grow organically, ensuring our Ravens have the right background and training to match our very high standards.