How to Cut out the HR Middle Man

How to Cut out the HR Middle Man How to Cut out the HR Middle Man Career How to Cut out the HR Middle Man The Internet has certainly made life and work easier for job seekers and HR companies. You no longer have to pound the pavement submitting your resume door- to- door or send them via regular mail which would take time to get to the Hiring Manager’s desk. courtesy of D.Ratushny unsplash.com Today you can take advantage of social media and online job communities to help you find a job. All you need to do is sign up for these services, open an online profile and wait. Within a few weeks, you might receive an e-mail from a recruiter which indicates that YYZ Company is interested in hiring you based on the skills listed in your online profile. What you should know is that the recruiter who contacted you does not work for YYZ Company. He or she works for a recruitment agency which functions as the middleman; it matches companies with potential candidates for a commission. Recruitment agencies are consultants hired by various companies to help them find talent. Companies outsource recruitment work to these agencies because they do not have the expertise or the time to qualify the best people for their job openings. This is not the same as an employment agency. A recruitment agency connects you with a companies; one of which could be your employer. But with an employment agency, the agency hires you on behalf of the company. You may not have known it back then, but when you clicked “Send” in your targeted company’s website, your resume could have gone to the inbox of an agency. For companies, outsourcing to a recruitment agency is a more efficient way of getting things done. The company gets to save costs and focus on the core functions of the business. In the meantime, an experienced recruiter attends to its manpower requirement. For the job seeker, it widens the scope of the search. You can be matched with several potential employers. But does efficient recruitment translate to effective recruitment? Here are a few pitfalls of working through an agency: Recruiters are experts in the recruitment process; but they are not experts or knowledgeable in the job offered by the employer. For example, if the job opening is for a developer with experience in Adobe Dreamweaver, the recruiter may not be familiar with this program. So how would he or she qualify your technical expertise? They are expensive; if you are hired for $35 per hour, the recruiter is probably getting paid $70 for getting you that job. The $70 will be used to cover commissions, profits, insurance and taxes. They could be shady; wherever there are opportunities, scammers abound. At a time where unemployment levels are high and the job market is competitive, be wary of personalities who will take advantage of your situation. These scammers are out for the money. They will ask you for placement fees or upfront fees and you will never hear from them again. In the overall context of the recruitment process, going through an agency may not entirely be efficient. Why? Because your resume is not delivered to the person who can decide on your employment: The Hiring Manager. Thus, if you want to improve your chances of getting hired, cut out the HR middle man or the agency and find ways to send your resume directly to the Hiring Manager. Here are 2 ways you can eliminate the recruitment agency: Use LinkedInLinkedIn is the preferred social network of professionals. Even recruitment agencies use LinkedIn to search for talent. You may even have received invitations to connect from agency personnel.Here’s a step- by- step process on how to use LinkedIn and get your resume directly to the right person: Identify the company that you want to work for. Visit their website and find the name of the Hiring Manager. LinkedIn will require an e-mail address for you to connect. If it’s not on the website, use an app called Hunter. All you need to do is find the LinkedIn profile of the Hiring Manager and Hunter will provide an e-mail for you. Send a customized invitation to connect. Never use the default setting of LinkedIn! Your recipient will appreciate personalized messages. If your invitation to connect is accepted, he or she will expect to receive communication from you. Create a customized cover letter with a compelling subject title such as: “Award Winning Web Designer Wants to Work for YYZ Company” Attach your resume plus other relevant documents that will validate your qualifications. Hiring Managers know this is the reason they signed up for LinkedIn. They probably receive hundreds of invitations to connect and resumes delivered in this manner. It may take some time to get a response but at the very least you are assured your resume is in the right hands. NetworkSometimes you just need to roll up your sleeves and do old school networking. Identify the type of job you want and the companies you want to work for. Review your contacts list and identify connections who work in these companies or in the same industry. If you know them quite well, give them a call and invite them for coffee. If they are an acquaintance, send them an e-mail indicating your interest to find a job in their company or industry. Respectfully request if they could connect you with someone who can assist you. Attend job conventions, trade fairs and networking events. Human Resources people frequently attend these activities to source for talent. Make sure you have calling cards and your portfolio of work. Companies are also using technology to find talent. Programs such as Scaled Network match employers with candidates who fit their qualification guidelines. Theoretically, these automated recruiting programs are still “middle men” in the sense that a fee or subscription is paid for the service and it does not assure your resume will go directly to the main decision- maker. The bottom-line is if you want to improve your chances of getting hired, bypass the recruitment agency and bring your resume straight to the Hiring Manager. Submitting resumes is not just about efficiency; it’s about finding ways to get the job done. Author Bio Felix Tarcomnicu is the founder of ResumeOK.com, a website that helps job seekers find better jobs by writing professional resumes. You can get in touch with him on Twitter.