They don’t really know or care about who we are or what we want; they’re just looking to make a quick buck. Maybe you’ve heard this or something similar. It’s frustrating for the staffing companies who really want to partner up with exciting businesses and help them find the right talent, the ones that are doing the small things that make the difference.

For a recruiter, it should be exciting when opportunity falls into the right place, and painful when those ships pass in the night. This is the driving force. Seeing value and opportunity where others can’t; it’s a nice feeling. Whether or not you use us, we simply can’t have good, growing companies harboring cynical ideas about what we do. So here are five questions you should ask a recruiter before you get started to make sure they’re going to do the work and find you the perfect fit.

1. Tell me about a placement that went wrong and how you dealt with it.


2. What’s your specialty?


3. How long have you been with the firm?


4. Who are some of your favorite clients and why?


5. How often are you in contact with your talent?

Answers

1. You want some honesty. You’ll likely hear about policy, which is important, but ask for a specific example and how it played out.

2. Always use a firm with a speciality in your field.

3. If the shoes you have on have been around longer this could be a problem.

4. Hopefully some impressive companies and some honesty.

5. Impossible to verify, but maybe you can get some insight into what the word relationship means to them.

About NextGen

NextGen is the brainchild of longtime telecom professionals with nearly 50 years of experience and millions of dollars in Telecom Recruiting Services. We focus on establishing long term relationships with our clients and candidates so we can recruit the best and the brightest in the telecom industry. This ‘quality over quantity’ approach is at the heart of everything we do and has resulted in successful job placements at Fortune 1000 firms worldwide.