Contract Recruiters don’t need a Resume…

百宝箱

I frequently talk with other Contract Recruiters looking for a new assignment and find that we Contract Recruiters are sort of like the Plumber with leaky pipes!  We spend all day working with resumes from candidates for our recruiting efforts and use our experience and skills to dig through hundreds of them to find just the right person for our search assignments.  But, when it comes to doing our own job search for new contract opportunities, it is amazing how much we struggle to present a great resume for prospective employers.



4 q7 |) K. a, e  {I’m not sure if the struggle is a result of our inability to promote ourselves or whether we are simply burned out with looking at resumes and don’t take the time to write a good one ourselves.  I do know from personal experience that it is hard to capture all of the many experiences we rack up by moving from Contract Recruiter assignment to assignment over the years.
2 ^+ ]  `' q! P3 _


So what are we to do when it comes to presenting ourselves professionally with prospective employers?  Well of course the first answer is to take some time and craft a professional and well written resume just like we expect from other candidates.  But, I think we also should consider the uniqueness of our trade and how we can capture our many skills and experiences just a little differently in our resume.

百宝箱

For instance, I think Contract Recruiters are required to be a quick learn compared to some other functional positions within companies.  We learn quickly because we are always going in to new assignments knowing up front that the position will only last for a certain period of time and the employer expects us to hit the ground running. We also frequently interface as a Contract Recruiter with all levels of hiring managers.  That shows versatility and should be listed somehow on our resume too.  We need to capture the overall depth of our recruiting experience on our resume.  Not just in years or types of past employers, but also in levels of candidates recruited (entry level through senior executive).  I’m sure there are many other important areas to emphasize as well.
5 q: b5 P' w0 [, L( K0 Y
9 Q1 y/ p- G5 r/ }- U6 g

3 c3 l& v6 f% J9 a& R. @4 Q  XAre there other areas you would suggest we focus on when writing our resume and trying to capture our recruiting expertise as a Contract Recruiter?