Recruitment Firms have seen an explosive growth in recent years, especially in the hospitality industry. Recruiters help equip qualified management candidates with practical guidance and advice on their career path, and help place them in the ‘next best job’ for their career growth.
We asked Robert Krzak from the hospitality Recruitment Firm, GeckoHospitality.
Personal Career Management has never been more important as good jobs are placed by HR professionals who receive hundreds of resumes for a single job.
The problem is, most candidates are not qualified for the position they are applying for, or they are qualified but their resume reads as a list of events that happened in their lives, instead of a list of accomplishments and demonstrating a skill base.
A hospitality management recruiter may not help you develop your career in the way a career coach will, but if you have a solid skill set then they will help guide you to the perfect job to advance your career.
Types of Hospitality Recruiters
First, before you lump everyone together, what kind of recruiter are you working with?
Contingency recruiters learn about a job opening, or are assigned to work on a job opening. They submit resumes from candidates and hopefully one will get a job offer. When that happens they are paid.
Recruiters, like Gecko Hospitality. They are a specialist firm that has been in the USA for 17 years.
And, there are a lot of fly by night, unqualified and unexperienced firms out there. There are a lot of ‘drop ship’ or ‘front’ type recruiters who are only collecting leads.
One way to choose a good recruiter is to give them a call. How much time will they invest in you. Will they give you advice, and help you
Retained Recruitment firms are hired by an employer to fill a key opening, often management or general manager positions. These positions are always high paying. In most cases, no other firm is offered the job.
Both types of recruiters work countless hours trying to fill a position. If they cannot fill it, they are not paid.
There is another type which is where many of the complaints come from: freelancer. They will collect resumes, and ‘pitch them at the wall’ hoping one will stick. Unfortunately, these resumes are not given special consideration.
Almost every job seeker has a bad story about being mistreated, ignored, or disrespected by a recruiter. But that doesn’t mean that it is all the recruiters fault. From the other side, there are too many job hunters out there who are unqualified for the jobs they are applying for. They will not listen to advice, or they are obnoxious. Recruiters have endless stories about the unqualified candidate who phoned daily wondering where there job was.
The relationship between a recruiter and a job seeker isn’t a passive one. Job hunters need to do their part to stay employable. A recruiter can only work with the skill set you give them. If you are unqualified for a job, and will not listen to advice, then you will have a long wait for a job.
Recruiters Can Advance Your Career
The hard fact is, many of the best jobs, with the best companies, never hit the job websites. They go directly to recruitment firms.
What Do You Have To Offer?
When approaching a recruiter do not bring a chronological resume. They want to know about your ‘Career Capital’. What are your transferable skills, knowledge, abilities and personal strengths.
Don’t list the things you like about yourself. Instead think like a manager. How did you save your last employer money? What projects did you work on? Can you make a portfolio? Did you engage in any event, project, or transition that saved the company money, increased employee retention, or increased the profit margin?
Don’t Misrepresent Who You Are
If you are reading this article, then you dream big. You want more out of life than you have. The problem comes when we try to pretend to be what we think a recruiter, or job interview host, wants. Most of the time we get it wrong.
Instead of trying to be something you are not then try to become the best ‘you’ that you can possibly be. Improve your organizational skills. Sharpen your interpersonal skills. Learn to be positive, energized, and assertive. When you are the best you can possibly be then you will be ready for a job that will fit your personality, values, and skill set.
No one goes into a job interview with a bad attitude. At least, we don’t think we do. At the management level we expect that you will not complain, disparage, or gossip. But did you know that your face has micro-expressions which can give subtle messages. Your body language can send subtle messages. Even our inability to control our emotions can cost us a job interview. We may appear collected, but those subtle body movements and minute facial ticks can give it away.
Recruiters do not want to waste time looking for jobs you are not qualified for. They need to understand exactly who you are if you want them to land you a job where you will feel relaxed, confident, and energized.
What Do You Want?
Don’t go to a recruiter and expect them to do all the work. Give them a general outline of your career goals? How fast do you want to move up through the management ranks? What are you willing to do to get to the top? How much have you, will you, invest into your career?
A hospitality recruitment firm is a part of your team, but you are still in control.
Once you have a clear goal on paper, a portfolio, and your resume, then it is time to contact a recruitment firm.