How to approach a HR Consultant for a Job !

I have been working as an HR consultant for the past seven years. On an average I might personally  be answering about dozen  calls a day from job seekers, let alone my recruiters who might be answering thrice as much.  The one thing I notice is that Most  people just don’t know how to approach a consultant for a job.  I thought I should  throw some light on this for the benefit of job seeks to help them to be more effective in reaching out to the HR consultants and help reduce their stress of searching for the next job.

Plan your communication : ‘Is there any job opening’?  Many times, this is the first thing I hear on answering a call from a job seeker. Please never ask this question as soon as your call is answered. Consultants are not soothsayers . Before you decide to call a consultant , please take a moment & plan what you want to say. Maintain some basic telephone etiquette by first introducing yourself .  When it comes to describing your experience don’t just say I have 5 years of experience. Expand it, for example, by saying 5 yrs as Asst.HR manager in manufacturing segment  handling recruitment, statutory compliance, payroll, etc.  This cuts down on the time taken in quizzing you on your skills. Further, the big benefit of delivering your synopsis   is that you may just have landed in the right time as he is currently searching for a similar skills that you have. So Chances are that you may have just hit pay dirt. Most importantly, ask the consultant what domains they deal in so that you don’t waste your time with a consultant that doesn’t cater to your vertical.

When to call : You are browsing late evening /early morning and you just noticed a job posting that suits you, don’t pounce on  the phone because you see a mobile number.  Some people even have the cheek to call at odd hours and ask ‘Is this the right time to talk to you’, Knowing very well it s not. Consultants, like you,  also have to take a bath,drop their kids at school, eat, drive to work, socialize, sleep, etc. If you call at odd hours, they may not respond suitably; they wont be able to recollect you later, unless if your profile is what they are currently looking for. So, the best time to get their full attention is to call them during office hours when they are in front of their system & mentally prepared to answer and react suitably.

How to call : I can never understand why on earth people call a consultant from a place where they can’t be heard. I get calls from people standing in the middle of the road; with the TV/kids screaming at the background; sitting in a public transport and so on.  You are calling because you want to be heard. So please choose a silent place where you can be heard and where you can discuss privately so the world doesn’t have to know that you are looking for a job.

Sending your resume : E-mailing to the consultant is the best opportunity to grab his attention. Half the mails I get will only have an attachment of a word file  with a single line statement like ‘resume attached’ . Some even forward a mail sent to some one else where the trail mail will show that it has been sent to 10 others also. This is in bad taste.  On the other hand, I also get mails where the person would have written an extensive mail fit for a novel .  The point is, too little or too much is ineffective.   First, name your resume file properly with your name & initial and preferably your current skill or designation. Please don’t name it like my resume/CV/CV1, etc..  Secondly, Write a small and concise mail that will give the consultant an opportunity to get an idea about your profile before opening it. Further, don’t attach copies of certificates and other documents if it is not asked for. 

Follow-up : Now, this is the tricky part. Most people will send a mail and expect the consultant to line up interview the next day. Of course, you will be anxious to get interview call now that you have shared your CV with the consultant. But the truth is, placing people is not that easy as expected. While you are chasing the consultant for a job, he is busy chasing candidates for the jobs that he has on hand. This is the irony of the HR placement business.   Call him at reasonable intervals. Use a prefix or suffix like say ‘Samsung Suresh’ / ‘SharePoint Ramesh’. Some thing unique that will trigger the consultants memory of you. Be proactive and check the consultancy firms website, subscribe to their blogs,facebook and other social sites so that you can be upto date with the requirements they have on hand. This will help in you not  having to call again and again just to be told to wait for some more time.

Searching for a new job is a challenge, that too if you are under distress. A little bit of planning and staying active on the social network with good relationship building with multiple HR consulting  firms will eventually land you in your next Job .

Happy Hunting !!