Are you more likely to get a job through a recruiter?

On average, the odds of a recruiter contacting you are one in 12. In reality, the odds are much worse than that for most people. Most people work in occupations where there is relatively low demand. Cash is king when it comes to who is most motivated to get you hired. For recruiters, accepting a job offer means they receive a paycheck, so closing more candidates is the key.

Therefore, recruiters are competitive when it comes to placing candidates that satisfy customers. That drive can only help you in your job search. Recruiters are doing more work to poach people instead of waiting for requests to arrive. According to a ZipRecruiter survey of more than 2000 people who have recently changed jobs, about 37% of new hires in the past six months said they were hired for their current position.

Some recruiters have rejected large salary increases, signing bonuses and incredible benefits and have done their best to close new job offers as quickly as possible. Erica Thomas, a technical recruiter from Palm Coast, Florida, strongly recommends that you modify your resume for each position you apply for. This is counterproductive when you end up with a recruiter you don't like or who doesn't have a strong relationship with the customer, and therefore reduces your chances of getting the job. Job seekers often refer to themselves as “customers,” and recruiters are trained not to correct them.