By Jason Kay

One of the best resources in your quest for a new job is a professional recruiter, also called a headhunter. And despite a commonly held misconception, headhunters arent only for executives; they recruit everyone from truck drivers to doctors. Companies with open positions often turn to recruiters to save themselves a lot of time and effort, so headhunters may be looking for someone exactly like you right now. If you stick with the tips below, youll automatically put yourself head and shoulders above many other candidates because most people simply dont know how to work with a headhunter.

Act the part. Perhaps the biggest mistake people make when working with recruiters is not going all out to impress them. A headhunter isnt finding you a job out of the goodness of her heartshes getting paid to supply quality candidates to a client company. And shes not going to put you in front of top-dollar clients if shes unsure about your ability to present yourself professionally. So act like youre on a job interview when you meet with a headhunter because you are. Be professional. Dont meet with her in your sweats, with two-day stubble, and wearing a ball cap.

Sell your accomplishments. To help recruiters do the best job for you, you need to demonstrate how great you are so that they can pinpoint a job thats a perfect match for you. Sell yourself and what youve accomplished. Your headhunter wants to know the answers to these two questions: What have you made? and What have you saved? As in, how much money have you made or saved for your company? This is a business, and youll go to work if you can demonstrate results.

Dont get too comfortable. Job hunters often make the mistake of thinking that a recruiter is their friend. Hes not. Act the same way you would in a traditional interview: dont bash your current employer, dont blame other people for your mistakes, dont make excuses, and dont come across as angry about your current job situation. A headhunter isnt your therapist or your mother. Good recruiters represent the best interests of the clients whove hired them to fill a position. So to get them to work hard for you, you need to be the best candidate for the job. Period.

Be prepared. Youll waste both your time and the recruiters time if you show up unprepared to discuss your work history and provide documentation of previous employment. Are you vague about how many years you spent at the company you left to join your current firm? Look it up before you go. Have you written down the contact information for at least three professional references? If not, do it!

Ask questions. You probably have a million questions about how this whole process works, and thats actually a good thing. As any other interviewer would, a recruiter welcomes questions because it demonstrates that youre interested. Ask the headhunter if he has experience in recruiting for positions like yours, how long hes been in the recruiting business, what some of his successes have been, how long he anticipates the search taking, what you can do to speed the process, etc. The most successful headhunter-job hunter relationships are two-way streets: you need to be a good candidate, and he needs to be a good recruiter.

Bring your own ideas. If you have a very niched job, its probably best to work with a headhunter who only recruits for positions such as yours. But most headhunters recruit for a wide variety of positions and for many companies, which makes it difficult for them to stay on top of every single job possibility for plumbers through scientists. If youre a hair stylist, for example, salons and spas are going to be where your recruiter will probably look first for you. But if you know that cruise ships employ thousands of stylists and may be a good route to try, speak up. Remember, collaboration is the secret to finding you a great new job.

Pump your headhunter for information. Once shes secured an interview for you, make sure you receive as much information as possible from your recruiter before you go in front of a potential employer. Your recruiter likely not only knows pertinent details about the companywhat their products and services arebut also something about the person or team who will be interviewing you. Ask, too, if other people have interviewed for this job and what mistakes they may have made.

About the Author: Jason Kay recommends that you learn more job search strategies at JobGoRound.com. Read customer

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