Ruth is Team Leader of the
marketing, communications and PR division in Aquent’s Sydney office.
She is a seasoned recruiter with over 10 years experience in the
industry. Ruth recently moved across the ditch from NZ with her family
(one husband and two children) and has the combined experience of
working with recruiters and being one.

As a marketing specialist looking for work, you may know exactly what you are looking for and just need the contacts to make it happen, or you want a change but are unsure about where to start.

You may be logging onto an online job board (Ed: hey, we have one of those!) and looking in the paper where there are so many new roles registered each day. The key is to find the ideal one – and that’s where the advantages of using a good recruiter come in.

A good recruiter is similar to using a sat nav system. Not only do they direct and refine your search process, they assist with strategies and provide feedback and guidance along the way.

So, what will a good recruiter do for you?

• Provide you with information about the market, guidance around salary levels, about roles and companies you hadn’t thought about and inside information around a company’s team culture, values and opportunities.
• Listen to what you are looking for – not just what a company wants you to do. You may have a long list or a shortlist of things you want to see in your next position – this could be anything from values and culture, to flexible working hours, the opportunity for growth and challenge, development and having access to a mentor through to exposure to specific industries or opportunities.
• Be a matchmaker. The essence of a recruiter’s role is to match talent to organisations and roles. A good recruiter knows the industry, they know where the opportunities are and where they will be in the future. They will be able to tell you if you need to sit tight and gain experience in specific areas before moving on to the ultimate role or that the time is right to make that change. Your recruiter will do the legwork for you and will put you forward for the right opportunities.
• Provide personal feedback. Guidance around your presentation, interview style and how you are selling yourself. After all it is all about you! It is in your recruiter’s best interest as well as your own best interest for you to be the very best you can be during the interview process.
• Manage the process for you. This includes arranging meeting times that suit, getting key feedback and insights into the interview process and progress. Provide you with the opportunity to have honest conversations and to pose queries and voice concerns through out the process.
• Bring it across the line! This is includes negotiation and coordination of the offer process. Which is sometimes a tricky minefield.

It’s all about the relationship – shop around to find a recruiter that ‘gets you’ and is a specialist in the market you are looking to get into. They will arm you with the tools, the roadmap and the guidance to get there.

If you’d like to know more on finding your ideal job, respond to this blog or post a question on our discussion forum How do I go about landing the ideal job? where we’ll be able to answer all your questions.