Job hunting is easy, right? All you do is find a recruiter, comb through their ads and apply to the jobs that suit you. How’s that for simple?

Well, if you’ve ever had to spend a while canvassing the job market, you’ll know that it’s anything but. There may be a trillion job sites out there, each with upwards of 10,000 listings, so finding the right one to suit your job search can be an absolute pain in the proverbial. If we’re not careful, we can find ourselves wasting time on unsuitable or badly-run websites, or simply overwhelmed with the rush of information.

However, help is at hand. We’ve put our heads together and come up with a perfect plan to help you find the right recruiter and save yourself a major job hunter’s headache:

What NOT To Do

Locating the right recruiter is almost as much about what you don’t do as what you do, so we’ve compiled some easy mistakes to watch out for. Here are three big mistakes to avoid when looking for a recruiter…

1. Don’t Assume Bigger Is Better

We tend to assume that the ‘big name’ recruiters are the ones who will serve our needs best, but this isn’t always the case. Although the largest job sites carry hundreds of thousands of ads per day, you may be better off utilizing a smaller, boutique site, depending on your field. These have the advantage of catering for a specialist area and thus often root out fantastic opportunities the bigger sites are missing.

2. Don’t Spread Yourself Thin

While you don’t want to search only one job site, you equally don’t want to spend days trawling through the first 50 searches to pop up on Google. Find 3-5 sites that work for you and check them regularly, using the extra time you save to really refine your search.

3. Don’t Neglect The Real World

Know what can impress a potential employer? You having the gumption to show up on their doorstep smartly dressed, CV in hand. We tend to assume that all hiring takes place online these days, but a good employer will be open to talented people with the initiative to simply drop in uninvited. Try abandoning your keyboard for a day and see what happens!

What To Do

Here are a few things you SHOULD do when looking for a recruiter…

1. Set Up Alerts

Job alerts are vital tools for securing the position you want, whether in the form of nightly emails from your recruitment sites, or a simple Google alert. Set them up with multiple recruiters to start with then slowly kill off the ones that are offering you nothing. This should leave you with a small handful of ‘ideal’ recruiters whose alerts will stand you in good stead.

2. Know What You Want

This is a tricky one, as often we feel we don’t want something specific from our next employment, but rather a set of nebulous criteria nowhere could possibly fulfill. This means we waste time looking at recruitment sites that are hiring way above our level or in areas where we only have a tiny bit of experience. Don’t let this be you. Make a list of the specific sort of jobs you’re looking for and select recruiters who specialize in these areas. Don’t spend your time fretting about what you might be missing on other sites: know what works for you and trust something will come along.

3. See What They Can Do For You

Most recruiters offer excellent advantages with their sites, from CV surgeries to face to face chats to improve your interview technique. Don’t be afraid to take full advantage of these, especially if they’re free. Remember, it’s not just you looking for a recruiter; recruiters are looking for fantastic clients too. Make yourself into that client and they’ll do everything they can to find you a placement.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock