Potential Dangers of Applying Direct (and Bypassing Recruiters)

Potential Dangers of Applying Direct (and Bypassing Recruiters) A lot of thought  goes into searching for a new job. And if it doesnt, it should. Apart from deciphering what career direction you want to take, updating your resume and crafting bespoke cover letters, you need to  shape your approach to getting noticed by the decision makers who matter. Ideally your game plan will  be far more sophisticated than  clicking apply now buttons willy-nilly and spamming your CV about the town. An early decision  youll need to make is  whether to enlist the services of a  recruitment consultant or apply direct to organisations of interest, through open roles online or otherwise. If you ask anyone whos opted for the latter and seamlessly scored the role they wanted, that approach would be recommended every day of the week. After all, recruitment consultants have a reputation of chasing the fee and not always your best interests not to mention  if a company can avoid paying hefty agency fees for employees, they will! However,  for those thousands of job hunters who  put their heart and soul into direct company approaches only to  never hear back, the  testimonial would likely be very different. Constantly being ignored and rejected not only crushes confidence, but can also bring some  very real, irreversible repercussions which will make your life  harder in the long run. Before you bypass recruiters and apply direct, consider these points first: 1.  Missing out on interview insights When you work with a recruitment consultant, you will be  guided by someone who has a wealth of inside information about your process. Recruiters  have direct access to hiring managers,  HR and other candidates who have interviewed before so can  properly  prepare and guide  you along the way, making sure youre  best placed  to make a lasting impression. When you apply direct, youll likely be given limited information about the interview process and youll be at potential risk of going up against candidates who have had an expert recruiter in their ear coaching them towards success, with the inside knowledge of exactly what the hiring manager is really looking for. 2. Being  sold short The salary conversation can be a very difficult one to have. On one hand, you dont want to come across money hungry and driven by your bank account, but on the other hand you dont want to cheat yourself out of cash all for the sake of being humble and wanting to leave the perfect  impression. Lets be honest, negotiating more money for yourself can be a little awkward and theres a likelihood youll sell yourself short here. When you work with a recruiter, theyll take  this responsibility off your hands, and can push for  a bigger pay packet! Theyre incentivized by fees, too. 3. Getting lost in a sea of CVs Recruiters want to place you! Not only will they get a fee, but theyll help you achieve your dreams and this is largely what they love about their job. Furthermore,  working with a recruiter allows you to leverage their industry relationships and get recommended into a particular organisation. Where they are great at their job, theyll be a trusted business partner of your dream organisation, and can give you the exposure you need, putting in a good word to the people who count. When you apply online, theres absolutely no guarantee your resume will land in the right place. You might even be weeded out by a machine looking for key words and not the suitable, transferrable skills and experience you can offer. When you apply direct, you run the risk of  being just another name on a piece of paper, in a pile of thousands. 4. Unknowingly opting out of future representation Being lost in  your dream organisations system can  have even more serious consequences than simply not scoring the job you wanted. If you try to work with a recruiter in future to get you noticed by that company, you might  find consultants wont  be able to help you. Why? Because when they find out youve already applied direct, theyll tell you they cant represent you because the organisation will already have your details on file, meaning theres no introduction to be made. Put simply, if your resume is already  registered on the organisations system, theres little incentive for the recruiter to represent you, given  the company can easily say we are already aware of this candidate, invite you in for interview (having just been brought to their attention) and turn the recruiter away, robbing them of any fee for their work. On top of this, if you end up getting the role (well done), that recruiter also loses out on the potential business of filling that role with another candidate. In summary, make sure you do your research before diving into your job search. Having a no-strings-attached conversation with a recruiter about how they believe they can help you  will assist in your decision  about what to do. While recruiters are driven by fees, they also are the ones who have an in depth understanding of the jobs market, from a range of different client perspectives. Genuine recruiters will tell you to go at it alone if they think thats best for you. Dont forget this fact: a recruiter will only want to work with you if they think they can get you a role,  otherwise it would be pointless for them. If thats not a vote of confidence for you, I dont know what is.