Why You Should Return an Email or Voicemail From Recruiters
Key Corporate Services has seen many changes over the last sixteen years in the way candidate-employer connections are made. In 2000, a lot of job hunters were still using classified ads to find jobs. The advent of the PC and Internet has, of course, changed the dynamics of the job application process tremendously. Now, there is a proliferation of career sites like Monster, CareerBuilder and LinkedIn for both job-hunter AND employer to use in finding each other. You can add recruiters in the mix.
The reality is, recruiters are in the sole business of finding and matching great candidates to client openings. These candidates may come from the pool of job-hunters who have called us. However, our recruiters are always searching for those passive candidates, those people in the workforce not currently looking for a job that may represent a perfect match, based on their current job or the expertise they possess in their industry.
Why should you respond to a recruiters call/email if you are not looking for a job?
If you are a passive candidate getting a phone call, voice message, or email from a recruiter, it is because they see you as a potential match to a position. Still, you may wonder if you should respond.
Our advice is always the same- “Respond to the recruiter and get in touch with them as soon as possible!”
“Why?”
You’re not as secure in your existing position as you think.
Unless you own the company and pay yourself, no one is really secure in their job. With an economy and Wall Street both focused on the bottom line, job security is only an illusion. Someone is calling you to talk about a new career opportunity. They are bringing this offer “to your doorstep” for consideration. How many people get such a chance offering?
The perfect job may be just a return-call away!
As much as you think you’ve got the perfect job, there could always be something better waiting in the wings. And, a recruiter is already initially impressed enough to call YOU. This could be a painless entry into a new career that others only wish they could have. You may not want or need the job a recruiter calls you about, but, if you take the time to let them know what the perfect opportunity would look like they just might call you one day with that dream job! As business writer Tom Peters would say – “If a window of opportunity appears, don’t pull down the shade.”
That initial contact means YOU ARE IN DEMAND!
Holding down a full-time job makes it hard for a person to know much about the current job market. You don’t know what skills and experiences are in demand. But, someone is calling you who does know. And, they see your skills and experience as a potential match to a real need in the marketplace. It’s evidence that you are already a preferred candidate and may have an inside track to this new position.
Returning a call or email from a recruiter is always in your best interest, regardless of whether you are looking for a job or not. You really have nothing to lose and everything to gain. You just never know what opportunity is waiting at the other end of that phone line!
