Working With Different Types of Recruiters

A quick rundown of some of the different types of recruiters and hiring managers you may encounter in your career.

The recruiting world can seem like its own special corner of the HR world, complete with its own lingo and norms. If you’re not careful, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by all the new terms and seemingly endless acronyms. That’s why we’ve put together this quick rundown of some of the different types of recruiters and hiring managers you may encounter in your career.

Reactive recruiters

Often, your hiring manager will come to you at some point during your job search and ask whether or not you’d be interested in taking on a new position. This type of recruiter is essentially reacting to what they’ve seen as an issue with staffing at their company—they want someone to solve a problem.

As such, they’re focused on speed, not fit. Companies need people who can start quickly and won’t stress too much about cultural fit—so they often turn to candidates who are already employed, who don’t have another offer, or who are ready for a change.

While these positions are great if you’re unemployed and looking to fill out your resume or if there’s something that immediately catches your interest, they may not be ideal if you’re looking for long-term career growth.

The companies that use reactive recruiters tend to have very little patience with onboarding processes and are unlikely to provide detailed information regarding benefits; it’s all geared toward getting someone on board quickly so they can make sure they’ve solved their staffing needs (or at least taken care of any potential problems).

These types of organizations tend to emphasize project work over teamwork—it’s usually very clear from day one where exactly everyone fits into that scheme, which means even working remotely isn’t out of the question.

Proactive recruiters

These recruiters will approach your manager or someone on your team, if necessary, to find out what type of talent your company is looking for. While proactive candidates have a leg up (they’re already interested and have researched), it’s still important to find out what they want to do in their next role. Many times, candidates are just going through the motions until something better comes along.

To win them over, it’s important to understand how they want to grow at their next company, and that requires some thorough research from both sides: Who are they talking to? Why? What does each option offer? If a candidate knows how much time you’ve spent getting information about him or her, he or she will be more likely to accept an offer if one is extended.

There may also be other positions available that align with where they’d like to go career-wise. Ultimately, not every recruiting experience can be pre-planned; sometimes you simply connect with people who aren’t necessarily seeking employment but would make great hires if there was a position available that aligned with what they were hoping for—and all it takes is being patient enough to listen and finding common ground.

Recruiters might not always reveal themselves as such, so keep your ears open whenever anyone expresses interest in learning more about your organization or upcoming hiring plans. It could even help solidify future partnerships!

Interactive recruiters

Like many people, when I was looking for a job, I wanted to be approached by an interactive recruiter. These are recruiters who ask me questions about my life (what’s my favorite book? What do I want to achieve?) and then use that information to help them find roles for me.

Unfortunately, as someone whose job it is to find candidates for jobs, there is no time left over at all in our day-to-day lives for chatting with people (and definitely not strangers on LinkedIn). In reality, hiring managers or agencies with quick turnaround times on new positions tend to be where many job seekers end up finding work.

You know what they say: It’s better to beg for forgiveness than ask permission. And if you’re eager to get back into work sooner rather than later, talking directly to hiring managers can make a huge difference. If nothing else, it will get your foot in the door quickly and effectively. Just remember that most headhunters have little sway in getting companies to agree to your terms; their only goal is getting you into an interview situation so that they can collect their fee.

A few tips on working with recruiters

The best way to work with a recruiter is to be open and honest, but there are a few things you should do when it comes to dealing with recruiters.

Follow these steps and make sure they’re on your side:

1) Define your expectations upfront. Recruiters are just as busy as hiring managers, so don’t treat them like a second set of eyes or ask them to take care of all your tasks for you.

2) Don’t reject good candidates because they lack experience—they may be better than another candidate who does have experience (especially if that candidate is overqualified).

3) Look beyond credentials and try asking about soft skills or even hobbies that could translate into their ability to perform well at your company.