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You and Your Recruiter

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27 Aug 2014

Do not text your recruiter

By melanie

I have already covered this topic but felt the need to reiterate as candidates continue to text us. Today, for example, a candidate texted me to cancel an interview one hour before they were supopsed to be with one of our clients for an interview. I nearly missed ithe text which would have resulted in a bad situation when the candidate did not turn up for his interview with the client this morning. Last minute interview cancellations are bad enough but sending the cancellation via text is extremely unprofessional and potentially detrimental to the client-candidate relationship as well as to the candidate-recruiter relationship. Texting your recruiter about any topic is a huge “no no”. It does not get captured by our database so our correspondences go unrecorded and it is just very unprofessional for many different reasons. So don’t be surprised if we stop responding to text messages as, from our perspective, this is a cardinal sin amongst candidates. As an aside, even if we are friendly and have hung out in the same social circle one time and are now working together in a professional capacity, still do not text regarding anything work related.

27 Aug 2014

When it comes to salaries, don’t shoot for the stars

By melanie

Candidates often make the mistake of expecting and asking for salaries which are far too high as a next step in their careers. Unless you are being overpaid (which is sometimes the case), we do not suggest that you should make a lateral move but rather ask for an increase when you make the move from one company/role to another. It is always encouraged to rise up the ranks both in title and salary as you make transitions in your career. However, candidates sometimes get too big for their britches and ask for way too high of an increase when negotiating their terms with agencies. Perhaps you did not get the raise you were expecting during your last review—this isn’t the fault of your next employer. Perhaps you took a year off to travel and this has affected salary increases—this isn’t the fault of your next employer. Maybe you’ve even been performing at a level above for the past year and feel extremely disgruntled in your current role—this isn’t the fault of your next employer either!

I realize that many times you feel overworked and underpaid, but part of our job as recruiters is to guide you regarding salary and keep you grounded and objective. As recruiters, we not only know the “going rate” for particular levels of experience, types of experience, and industries/roles in general, but we also know our clients’ budget ranges and what they are able and willing to pay for particular positions. We obviously want to negotiate the best and highest salary for you, but we will always be honest in terms of what we feel you should and can realistically ask for during offer stage.

I’ve been faced with the difficult task of bringing candidates back to reality when it comes to salaries, in hopes that they will agree with me and not box themselves out of a great opportunity because they want to negotiate a higher salary or strongly feel they deserve more. There is usually someone with a similar skillset and comparable years of experience who is asking for less, so it is in your best interest to listen to your recruiter when it comes to salary negotiations and follow his/her advice so as not to appear too expensive, unrealistic, or money hungry.

Being a dreamer in life isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but you really need to come back to reality when discussing and finalizing salary expectations with a potential employer. While salary is important, the most crucial thing at the end of the day is to secure the position that is truly the next best step in your career. All the money in the world can’t buy the happiness you feel when  going to a job you love every day, and monetary success will most likely follow this feeling of personal and professional contentment.

27 Aug 2014

Make time to prep with your recruiter before an interview with a company!

By melanie

A very important part of the recruitment process at our agency is prepping candidates before an interview with one of our clients. It is sometimes difficult for us to get in touch with candidates in order to prep them which is always extremely surprising to us that candidates would want to show up to an interview with a company unprepared. Candidates should set aside five to ten minutes to prep via phone with their recruiters before an interview. And don’t leave this until the last minute when you are jumping on the subway or in a taxi to the interview – we are busy too and may not be available. What does an interview prep call include? – Critical details such as the name, title, and any other details regarding the person(s) with whom the candidate will be meeting. This would have already been provided to you in an email, however we will be able to offer insights into the people that you will be interviewing with. In some cases the recruiter has been working with the hiring manager for a long time and is very familiar with the managers interview style and demeanor. – Advice on how to best position the candidates’ experience (i.e. reason for wanting to leave current job, reason why this agency is the next best step). – The appropriate dress code for the interview based upon the particular company and role (trendy vs. corporate). – Specific strengths and skillsets for the candidate to highlight in order to be relevant to the role at hand. And MUCH MUCH MORE. A prep call between a candidate and a recruiter prior to an interview is essential and extremely helpful in not only preparing the candidate, but also in providing a sense of confidence and ease.

27 Aug 2014

Candidate Desperation is a Turn Off to both Recruiters and Clients – Do not be a stalker

By melanie

It is wonderful to be eager about finding a new position during the job hunt and to really fall in love with a company or a role. Also it is completely fine for a candidate to follow up with a recruiter to see if a client would like to schedule an interview or has provided feedback following an interview. However, there is such thing as TOO MANY follow ups. As a recruiter, my job is to liaise between candidate and client and to manage the entire process from start to finish. While some recruiters are not great at following up, our agency prides itself on being very good about keeping candidates in the loop. However, in the case that there is no update to provide, a candidate will most likely not hear from us. One of the worst things a candidate can do is to continually follow up as it is a turn off to the recruiter and it does make a candidate look a bit desperate. Candidates should trust that a recruiter will follow up with them and provide updates throughout the search anytime there is information to provide. A recruiter will often stop reaching out to a candidate with great opportunities if the candidate goes into stalker mode. A lot of our in-house recruiter friends discuss with us that they have stopped approaching stalker candidates about roles for these reasons.

LESSON: Do not stalk your recruiter. Trust that he or she will keep you in the loop and update you throughout the process.

27 Aug 2014

Candidates- do not text or facebook message your recruiter

By melanie

It is not appropriate for candidates to text, facebook message, or reach out to a recruiter in any way other than the phone or work email. Although modern day communication has evolved, we do encourage a more professional way of corresponding with your recruiter. Even if a recruiter and candidate have formed a close relationship over time, correspondences regarding a job search should remain professional.

In our case, we have an extensive and thorough database which captures all emails and also allows us to note all phone conversations. Text messages are not picked up by the database so these conversations are completely lost.

Also texts in general can easily be overlooked if your recruiter is not checking his/her phone, or misread as texting is typically reserved for personal correspondence. The same can be said for Facebook. While often times a recruiter will post a job listing on FaceBook,, a candidate should not email the recruiter via FB, and most definitely NOT send instant messages via FaceBook but rather send messages to the recruiters work email.

Lesson: even though most of us are avid texters and facebook users, candidates should stick to email and phone when communicating with a recruiter.

Jodi Shapiro

27 Aug 2014

Why candidates should make a great first impression when interviewing with their recruiter

By melanie

While the impression made when interviewing for an actual position is extremely important, candidates should also realize the importance of giving a great interview to their recruiter.

A recruiter is the middleman between candidate and client and screens candidates to ensure there is a nice match between the candidate’s skillset+ personality and the role+ company.

Some candidates have had a great skill set but have literally walked into our office and worn their “chaotic or bad days” or their “dreadful managers” or just an overall negative attitude on their sleeve. We would never present this type of candidate to a client because personality and energy is also a deciding factor.

LESSON: Make a great impression on your recruiter so you become a favorite candidate who is presented for all types of opportunities.

Jodi Shapiro – Senior Recruiter

27 Aug 2014

Looking to make a career change?

By melanie

It’s difficult for a search firm to work with candidates who are looking to make a career change. This is because, when a company briefs us on a new search, they are paying us a recruitment fee, and are only interested in receiving resumes of candidates that meet their job descriptions. Normally they are replacing someone who is leaving their company, and they don’t have the time to train someone who doesn’t already have prior experience in their industry. In particular, they don’t want to see resumes from us of candidates who don’t meet their job description. If they are asking for “ten years of marketing experience within the beauty industry, with the majority of this spent in skincare”, they want to see the resumes of candidates who have “ten years of marketing experience within the beauty industry, with the majority of this spent in skincare”. If we send them resumes of candidates who don’t meet these requirements, we are not doing our job, as companies pay a search firm to screen resumes for them and to only present candidates who have both the experience and the cultural fit for the company.

The Melanie Andersen Agency gets approached by a lot of great candidates who would love to work in fashion or beauty. And we would love to help them! Unfortunately, given how extremely competitive these two industries are, it is hard for us to help. Most people are doing internships while in college in fashion or beauty companies to help secure that first job in beauty or fashion. If you are a Marketing Director with experience in the financial services industry, unfortunately we are not going to be able to help you. That’s not to say that t can’t be done, however, it’s going to be through your own connections and networking, and not through a search firm unfortunately.

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