Resume Digest Blog

When was the last time you have been intimidated or abused by so called recruiting agents? If they treated you like a commodity rather than a unique human being could you do better than them? After all you know the product intimately well.

Welcome to the real world. Finding work is entering into a relationship where you trade your time and knowledge for cash. If someone is going to take a cut along the way and do a lousy job at it - fire them!

What is a recruitment agency after all and what prevents from doing for yourself what they are supposed to do? Agencies claim to companies they have a database of experts at the ready who can jump into a role with no training and no induction. You feel at a disadvantage because your database has only one person on it - you!

But wait a minute. Since you are a talented, versatile, articulate, knowledgeable, fast-learning professional that could count for as many aliases of yourself.

Another thing agencies do is to unearth job vacancies before they get advertised. Sometimes they even advertise vague roles on their books and you wonder whether there was really a role there in the first place. It is like the case of the real-estate agent with pretty photos of properties that are not really for sale. They are there just for the sake of not having an empty window...

Ever heard of LinkedIn? Can you be recommended by former work colleagues? Another drawback with agencies is their blind date approach to matching candidates. You have to tell everything about yourself first only to find out the job is with a company you don't really want to hear about.

Just like a sales professional you are only as good as your network of connections. Luckily it is not a static thing and you need to swap business cards where ever you go. When is the last time you went to a trade show in your industry? Have you heard of BNI, Toastmasters, Rotary, etc... don't kid yourself. You won't find a job on facebook but you might re-kindle with an old acquaintance.

The idea of maintaining your network of connected people will be a glaring need when you are looking for a job but that's something you should be doing year around.

The irony is that you might be able to find a job for someone else before the compliment is being returned!

Yes job hunting is a full-time job, but don't despair. Why not use an online tool like Resume Digest to do it like a professional?