Ask Gill Career Advice

Q. I am about to start looking for another job, and want to engage a recruiter to help me, but I have never used one before.  How should I prepare?

A. I am glad you have felt able to ask this question, as we often take our relationship with candidates for granted, assuming that they know how the process works and what is expected of them.  The prime thing that you should consider is which agency you want to represent you, research the agency and make sure it understands your industry, and then approach them and have an honest and open dialogue with them as to what you are ideally looking for.

Embarking on a job search can be stressful, but this stress can be limited if you focus on exactly what it is you are looking for and that you have considered things such as job location, job description, salary level and type of firm you want to work with.

You should also make sure that you have prepared a fully up to date resume, that is well presented, easy to read and in a logical order.  You would be surprised by how many cv's we receive that have spelling mistakes, unreadable fonts and poor grammar (not a great selling document for a career in professional services!)

Above all, you need to develop a relationship with your recruiter that is based on a mutual respect and trust that a) they know the market; and where you should position yourself within it, and b) they understand your experience and are clear about what you want.

For more information about this subject visit the Careers Toolkit section on our website to read about how to put together a winning CV and to listen to our podcast 'Working with your Recruiter"