by Jack Molisani, STC Fellow
As a professional recruiter and the owner of an agency that places technical writers, I have heard horror stories some candidates have had working with employment agencies. Just as there are reputable car mechanics as well as mechanics who are out to steal your money, there are reputable agencies and agents who are, let us say, less than reputable. The trick is to avoid being “burned” by the bad ones.
Do the benefits of working with agencies outweigh the risks? I think so, especially if you are an independent contractor, since many companies will only hire contractors through agencies because of current tax laws.[i]
The following suggestions won’t guarantee a positive experience, but they will go a long way to minimize risk and make your job search a success.
1. Check out the agent/agency before you send your resume.
How long has the agency been in business? How long has the individual agent been working as a recruiter? Check out their website, then pick up the phone and call him/her. Better yet, if they are local ask if you can meet the recruiter in person.
If the agent doesn’t want to talk with you or says something like “we don’t actually meet our candidates”, then that is a pretty good indication they don’t care about you, the candidate, just about making a sale.
And if that’s true, I’ll bet you dimes to dollars that they will just shotgun your resume to every job they see that says “technical writer.” Which brings me to the next point:
2. When sending your resume, specifically state “DO NOT SEND MY RESUME TO A COMPANY WITHOUT MY EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION”, or some such wording.
There are many agencies that do what I call the Pasta Approach to recruiting. Just as you can tell if pasta is done by throwing some on a wall and seeing if it sticks (try it some time), they throw as many resumes as they can at a job opening and see what “sticks.”
This is a Bad Thing. While most companies have clauses in their agency agreements that state the first agency to submit a resume becomes the “agency of record”, some companies will ignore candidates sent from multiple agencies rather than risk a lawsuit from a greedy agent who claims, “I sent his resume first!” To avoid this situation, keep a log of where your resume has been sent (by you and the agencies that represent you) and do not let an agency submit you to a company if your resume has already been sent there. (Another reason to let an agent know if a company already has your resume is so the agent won’t waste his or her time submitting you.)
As a final note on this point, let me warn you that there are many agents out there who will refuse to tell you who the client is when you ask, presumably because they are afraid that you will bypass them and send your resume to the client yourself. I am a firm believer that people accuse others of crimes they themselves commit, so if an agent won’t trust me enough to tell me who the client is, I won’t trust him with my resume.
3. Does the agency (or agent) understand technical writing openings?
While I am not suggesting that only agencies that specialize in technical writers can represent you effectively, keep in mind that most people in your own company don’t understand what makes a good technical writer! So don’t assume that a random agent will either.
It may take some educating on your part to teach an agent why you are (or are not) a good match for a position. Far too many recruiters just do a key word search and then apply the Pasta Approach to your resume, so be sure your agent understands your strengths (and weaknesses) before sending your resume to a company.
But since you established a relationship with the agent per point 1, you have already done this, right?
4. Does the agency have a personal relationship with someone at the target company?
While I wish I had personal relationships with all the companies I work with, sometimes that’s just not possible. However, most of the time I can call or email someone at the company (either the HR contact or hiring manager) and pitch why a candidate is good for a position—even if the candidate may not look like a perfect match on paper.
Establishing a personal relationship with a recruiter who, in turn, has personal relationships with their clients will dramatically increase your chances of getting a job.
5. Does the agency know what in particular the hiring manager is or is not looking for?
While this is really an extension to point number 4 (since the agent is not going to have that kind of information if he/she does not have a personal relationship with his/her client), it’s important enough to list as a separate point.
Any agent worth his or her salt (or fee) will find out what the client really wants, so feel free to ask the agent about the particulars about the job. If he (or she) doesn’t know, have him find out—that’s his job!
6. If you don’t get the job (or even an interview), ask the recruiter to find out why.
I must confess I have clients from whom I cannot get feedback (it’s like sending a resume into a black hole), but normally I at least try to get feedback. If you are not getting a job for which I submitted you, then either I didn’t do a good enough job of finding out what the client wanted, I didn’t do a good enough job of making sure you match the job requirements, the company found someone who was a better fit than you were, or you (the candidate) did something to sabotage the interview process.
It could also be that you simply were not a good match for the “corporate culture”, such as being a long-haired dot-commer interviewing with a conservative bank (neither is bad, just not a good match). But again, if the agent had a personal relationship with his client, he would have known that in advance, right?
The point is, have your agent get feedback so you can correct what you are doing wrong (if anything), or at least find a job that is a better match for you and your goals.
7. Finally, how hungry are you?
If you have been out of work for months and the repo man is trying to take the car and you have an eviction notice nailed to the door, then heck, get busy and do anything you can do to get a job—even working with agencies of ill repute (they must be doing something right if they are still in business).
But if you have the luxury of taking your time when finding your next job, get to know your agent(s) and pick and choose who you want to work with.
A Final Note
While no one can state rules that are 100% true 100% of the time, I think if you use the above as guidelines on how to choose an agency, you will find it will pay off in the long run.
Good luck with your job search!
About the Author
Jack Molisani has been a project officer in the Space Division of the USAF, the manager of training and documentation of a multi-million dollar software firm, and currently is the owner of ProSpring, a technical writing and staffing firm servicing the United States and Europe: https://ProspringStaffing.com
Jack also produces The LavaCon Conference on Content Strategy: https://lavacon.org
You can reach Jack at Jack@ProspringStaffing.com and connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackmolisani/
[i] Diving into the difference between temporary employees vs. contractors is outside the scope of this article, it is important to know the distinction if you are going to work as a contractor. There is an excellent article on the topic on the SmallBusiness.com website. Go to www.smallbusiness.com and search for “Employee vs. Independent Contractor.”