Career Counselors or Recruiters

First off, it's very important to understand that Career Counselors and Recruiters offer two different services.

Career Counselors are known for helping clients make a successful career transition, even if their degree or experience might not totally match up to all the "requirements" requested. Career Counselors can help you identify where you've detoured from your career map and build a route to get to your desired destination.

Recruiters typically look for the degree and the list of your skills in order to get you in front of the decision maker for an interview. However, recruiters often don't have the skills to help clients transition into new or different careers, much less prep for and ace their interview or negotiate the best offer. Here are four things Career Counselors provide that recruiters typically do not:

1. Career Counselors provide a holistic approach to measure the correct career fit.
2. Career Counselors provide a systematic, step-by-step career approach that works beyond one specific opening.
3. Career Counselors partner and walk through each stage of the career transition together.
4. Career Counselors help manage their clients' tides of emotion during the career campaign.

Recruiters can be valuable allies for those seeking to advance their careers - but they're not Career Counselors. However, here are 5 things to consider as to how recruiters can be utilized to your advantage in a career search strategy:

1. Understand their incentives.
   It pays to remember that recruiters don't make money by providing career counseling (although, hopefully, that is a result of their work). They make money by finding suitable candidates for client companies. Job hunters are not about the customer - they are the product.
2. Make sure you are a viable candidate.
   Companies won't pay big fees to recruiters unless there's a good reason:
   1. The candidate they want can't be found through a help-wanted ad.
   2. They want someone who has many years of experience in their specific industry (not career changers).
   3. They want to raid a competitor.
   4. They have high-turnover positions and want a fresh stream of bodies.
   If your skills are rare and in demand, you have substantial experience in your field, or you want to work for a competitor, then recruiters can be helpful.
3. Use your network to find good recruiters.
   Ask friends and colleagues if they have used recruiters in the past - either to find their own job or to hire someone else - and get their recommendations.
4. Know the types of recruiters.
   
   1. Retained Recruiters are hired as the employer's exclusive agent to find the desired candidate, generally for higher-level positions. Because the employer has already committed to pay the recruiter's fee, working with a retained recruiter will not make you more expensive.
   2. Contingency Recruiters get paid only if they present the candidate the company hires. These recruiters can be useful allies in finding positions and reaching companies you might not find on your own. They can also be an obstacle to being hired because using these recruiters adds a middleman to the hiring process, not to mention thousands of dollars to the employer's hiring budget. This could cost you the job or handcuff you in salary negotiations. Clearly communicate with contingency recruiters about the connections you have made on your own so you won't have an extra fee attached to you unnecessarily.
5. Be proactive and in control.
   Whether you're employed or not, maintain visibility in your field. The things that get you hired also get recruiters to notice you. Be active in your professional association, keep your network vital and participate in committees.
   
   Some job hunters find it so tempting to take "the easy way" when job hunting by letting recruiters do all the work. Talk to recruiters, but be proactive and maintain control of your search. Do all you can on your own to uncover other opportunities so that:
   1. If the recruiters don't come through, you're not sitting around waiting.
   2. You're not limited to what a recruiter offers. Through your own efforts and the help of a Career Counselor, you can uncover more - and perhaps better - options, and have more choice in terms of your next position.

From Cornered To Corner Office: Overcoming The Most Unexpected Obstacles That Stand Between You And Your Career Dreams.

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