Recruiters vs. Career Coaches
By Soozy G. Miller, CPRW, CDCC, CDP
There are a lot of angry unemployed people out there who are actively looking for jobs. Many of them are complaining about recruiters and the lack of feedback about why they didn’t land the job.
I’m here to tell you that recruiters and the hiring team are not career coaches. Recruiters and the hiring team have no obligation to you about resume and interview feedback. I don’t care how high up the corporate ladder you are.
I’m a recruiter and a career coach. These are two very different positions, with almost no crossover.
The only activity that they have in common is reading resumes. But the recruiter and the career coach read resumes for very different reasons.
As a recruiter, because there are so many applicants (these days 500 to 300,000 for each open position), I am very picky about who I interview because interviews take up a lot of time. Usually the resumes are so badly written that I have to figure out – read between the lines (guess, usually) – if the person has the skills and tools to do the job. And that’s just the beginning. We also want to try to figure out, before we spend time in an interview, if the person has the leadership ability and fits the company culture. 90% of the time it’s a hard NO.
When I have been a recruiter, it has been for smaller companies. I have received up to 25 applications per day, per position. That number may seem low (especially compared to the 500-300,000 mentioned above), but when resumes are badly written, and badly formatted, there is a lot of needless information to sort through. And when there are mass layoffs like there have been since December 2022, you can 5X or 10X that number of applications. Add AI writing into the mix and all the resumes look and read exactly alike. It’s mind numbing.
So, yes, as a recruiter, I use the dreaded generic “thank you for applying” email template as often as possible. I do not have time to compose a customized, special-for-you letter that includes a resume review to send to each person. Plus—and this is a BIG consideration—I’d say that up to 98% of resumes come from candidates who don’t work in the field. At my last hiring gig, for a marketing manager position, no kidding, I received resumes from IT specialists, event planners, and other unrelated fields. People were literally throwing their resume at me and hoping that I would find something in their experience that would land them work. I am certainly not going to waste my precious time explaining to a candidate from IT why that person isn’t right for a marketing management job.
Your ability to demonstrate how you can address the company’s needs determines the amount of time until your next excellent offer.
As a career coach, I help you through this frustrating, exhausting, stressful process. I explain how the recruiter and the hiring team are thinking. I give you lots of feedback and keep you on the right track. I read your resume and guide you to better, more appropriate positions so you don’t waste time. I help you understand that to get noticed means understanding and addressing the company’s needs for that job, and proving why they should hire you (instead of someone else) using your impact and results.
That is my job as a trusted advisor. That is not the recruiter’s job or the hiring team’s job.
I’m sorry that your situation is stressful. I’m sorry that you got laid off or you think you’re about to get laid off. I’m sorry that you’re struggling to figure out what to do next. But please don’t blame the recruiter and the hiring team because you didn’t land the position and you don’t know why. And please don’t publicly humiliate them or call them cruel or unprofessional because you have no idea what went wrong. While some recruiters might have extra time and be willing to help you, it’s literally not their job to tell you. It’s my job.
Instead, invest a little bit of money in a resume writer or a coach. I do resume reviews for $25. I guarantee that you’ll land the job sooner. And you won’t even need feedback from the company.
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Better job. More pay. More control.
For a resume review, please click here.