How To Find The Right Recruiter For Your IT Job Search

Trying to find the right recruiter to work with for your IT job search can be confusing. There are industry-specific roles and unique company job titles, which may make you stop to consider how each type could help your job search and which is the right fit for you. Additionally, in some circumstances, you may communicate with more than one person during your recruitment process and become unsure over who oversees what.

If you are curious about how to find the right recruiter for your IT job search, here is my go-to guide for all the key recruitment terms and job titles. Below I cover how each type of recruiter may help you secure your perfect next role, so that you know what to expect when engaging with a recruiter of any kind.

Types of recruitment

Understanding how to find the right recruiter starts with knowing that there are a number of different types of recruitment, with varying services. The type that is relevant to you will depend on the type of job you want, the recruitment process you are in and with who. Therefore, it is important to understand what these options are, and what they may mean for you.

Inhouse vs external

Inhouse recruiters

Internal, or inhouse recruiters, refers to the talent team inside an organisation. They are employees of the business and hire new team members for their workforce. Not all companies have inhouse recruiters, many use outsourced recruitment services for some or all of their hiring needs.

Advantages: You would normally engage with an inhouse recruiter if you are interested in a specific role at their organisation. Inhouse recruiters understand the company culture and will be able to give you a clear understanding of how the role you’re applying for will fit into the existing team and support the growth of the business.

Potential drawbacks: Inhouse recruiters will not divulge knowledge of what the company’s competitors are offering their candidates because it wouldn’t be in their interest. They are also employees of the company so will be incentivised to work within budget, rather than push for a better deal for you.

Additionally, they won’t be able to help you if your skillset is not currently needed or applicable to their organisation and wider business plans, apart from potentially referring you to other companies or agency recruiters they are aware of.

External recruiters

External recruiters, or agency recruiters, run or contribute to an organisation’s recruitment process as an outsourced service. They may have an exclusive or non-exclusive agreement with the business, but they are not employees of the company.

Advantages: External recruiters consistently carry out exercises to keep up with market trends, including market mapping and salary surveys. Through daily contact with numerous companies and candidates, they understand market conditions and can advise you on your salary expectations and other elements you might be interested in.

They will be able to offer you a balanced outside perspective of a vacancy and company, as well as how a job prospect compares to other organisations, which can help you make a better decision for your next role.

External recruiters work on a commission basis, so they are incentivised to find you the best deal, as it can work out in their favour as well.

Potential drawbacks: Some external recruiters may not have as much knowledge of company culture compared with an inhouse recruiter, however, a good external recruiter will seek to integrate themselves into the company as much as possible to get the best understanding of the company and team culture for their candidates.

Specialist vs generalist

In order to find the right recruiter, you may want to consider whether a specialist or generalist recruiter would suit your search more. Each offer different advantages to you as a candidate depending on your skillset, industry, and level of experience.

Specialist recruitment

‘Specialist recruiters’ refer to recruiters, and sometimes agencies, which are dedicated to a particular sector or industry. They may have a particular niche within that specialism, or work on roles across an industry or sector.

Advantages: If you are a niche highly skilled professional, you will have the best chance to secure the right role with a specialist recruiter. Specialist recruiters know their specialism inside and out, as working in a more specific area/ sector gives them the space to educate themselves on key skills, information and trends that will be useful when analysing candidates.

They will also be more knowledgeable about the market and how your skills and experience align. This means they will know how to get you the best deal possible. Additionally, due to their extensive knowledge and research, businesses that are looking for a niche and skilled professional will often approach specialist recruiters, because of their ability to adequately assess great candidates. This means that if you are a highly specialised professional, specialist recruiters may have exclusive access to more relevant jobs than a generalist recruiter.

Potential drawbacks: If you are a junior level or your skillset is widely utilised across many industries or sectors, you may not have much success in approaching a specialist recruiter or agency as they tend to work with more senior and niche candidates. They may be able to refer you on to a different recruiter if you do not fit their specialism, but they also may not. It is best to research if a recruiter specialises in your area before approaching them.

Generalist recruitment

‘Generalist recruiters’ refers to recruiters and agencies, who work with companies across industries and sectors, hiring for various job types, levels and responsibilities.

Advantages: If you are at the start of your career or you have the ability to work across many industries and sectors with your skillset, generalist recruiters may work well for you, as they will have a much broader range of businesses they’re working with, meaning a larger variety of jobs on hand. Organisations often do not feel the need to approach a specialist agency, as they prefer to work with a generalist recruiter who can recruit for their whole workforce.

Potential drawbacks: If you are a niche specialist professional, generalist recruiters often won’t be useful for you, as companies prefer to approach specialist recruiters to adequately source the best talent for specialist and niche roles.

How to find the right recruiter: Common recruiter titles

If you are trying to find the right recruiter for you and want to approach recruitment professionals with your CV, it is a good idea to know what each job title means and how this might affect your search.

Delivery Consultant (180 recruitment)

Description: Delivery Consultants are 180 recruiters, so they focus on “one side” of the recruitment process. This means that they are usually in charge of sourcing, vetting, and communicating with candidates.

While they may have limited interaction with the client, they work with a Recruitment Consultant or an Account Manager who has built a relationship with the business and will communicate the details of the job and company culture to them. Delivery Consultants may be the most common point of contact for you when you apply for jobs or send in your CV to an agency/ organisation, particularly at the start, and then you may have contact with the Recruitment Consultant or Account Manager in charge later on in the process.

Advantages: Delivery Consultants, because their time is not split with client management, will direct all their energy and efforts towards staying connected with you and updating you whenever there are new developments.

Potential drawbacks: Whilst they may only have limited contact with the client, they will work with their 360/270 recruiter to fully understand the role and communicate that with you. Whilst you may want to just talk to the recruiter in charge of the role, Delivery Consultants know all the right information and are dedicated to keeping you up to date and in the loop on everything related to the recruitment process.

Recruitment Consultant (360 recruitment)

Description: Recruitment Consultants are 360 recruiters; this means they work on both sides of the recruitment process. In addition to the responsibilities of a Delivery Consultant, they build relationships with clients, undertake market research, assess and improve the client’s processes, as well as continuously seeking to develop new business relationships.

They may operate with Delivery Consultants, who will scour through CVs and contact suitable professionals for them, or they might handle sourcing and candidate management too. Either way, they will be the one in charge of the relationship with the business.

Advantages: Recruitment Consultants will normally hold the relationship with the organisation, so if you are working with one, they should be able to give lots of details of the company and team culture, hiring process, career progression opportunities, and more.

Additionally, as Recruitment Consultants approach new businesses all the time, even if they do not currently have a role that aligns with your skillset, due to their extensive understanding of the market, they might be aware of other companies that do and can introduce you.

Potential drawbacks: On some occasions, a Recruitment Consultant may not have worked with the organisation for very long before advertising for the role which could mean they might not have as much understanding of the intricacies of the role and business compared with an inhouse recruiter. However, they will always look to get the most out of conversations with organisations and will actively seek answers to whatever questions you have.

Account Manager (270 recruitment)

Description: Account Managers are normally 270 recruiters. Like 360 recruiters they work on both sides of the recruitment process. This includes communicating and sourcing candidates, as well as improving processes and communicating with existing clients. However, instead of approaching new clients, they manage long-lasting relationships with pre-existing clients. They ensure that service levels are met and communicate hiring needs to the recruitment team.

Advantages: Account Managers can be a great option for you in your search to find the right recruiter, as they will be able to provide you with a fantastic insight of the organisation and will know if you are the right fit. Their long-lasting relationship with the client will mean that they will have exclusivity over hiring and so, if you are put forward for an interview, you may only be part of a small group of applicants, which will boost your chances of being successful.

Potential drawbacks: Account Managers may be limited in the organisations they support. Therefore, if those organisations don’t tend to utilise people with your skillset or they have small teams, they may not be the best of use to you. However, don’t let that stop you from approaching them with your CV, as they may have a suitable role for you soon, or have a colleague in 360 or 180 that they can pass your details on to.

VIQU is an award-winning IT recruitment agency, specialising in many areas of IT from BI & Data, to Cyber Security, Cloud, and many more. If you are an IT professional looking for their next great IT role, please send in your CV here.