Is going through a recruiter better?

It is clear that both approaches have advantages and disadvantages, and it is often not clear which one is the best. However, there is no rule you should choose. They meet the needs of the companies that hire them. When was the last time you paid a recruiter as a job applicant? The answer should be “never”.

Today I received an email from an outside recruiter with a potential entry-level job. They obtained my information through my school from what is probably an outdated curriculum. I did a quick search on the Internet (I just copied and pasted the job description) and found the company that is hiring. Is there a reason why I should apply through this recruiter instead of directly through the company? My general opinion of recruiters is neutral or negative.

There is no real benefit in going directly and the recruiter who contacted you won't want to have anything to do with you again. Personally, I don't see the point. My experience, although limited, is that they can present your resume directly to a hiring manager. However, then you have to deal with the company itself plus a recruiter.

And there are a lot of good recruiters who can find you good jobs that you wouldn't have found yourself. For example, some recruiters are idiots, of course, but if they gave you the job, they should get credit. So, let's see how you can quickly decide whether or not you should use a recruiter in your job search. I had a similar experience when I applied for my current position: I had directly submitted it about a week before a recruiter contacted me about the position.

What I never understood is why a company would pay an outside recruiter who simply reused the company's job description word for word. There are some top-notch recruiters who can take you to unpublished jobs or get your resume to the right hiring managers. There are a lot of bad recruiters, but small businesses generally hire recruiters because they can't get people on their own. On average, an agency recruiter would nominate one more qualified candidate besides you for the same position to increase your chances of making the cut.

In cases where the candidate needs too much training, support or training for their junior team, a client may not be interested in paying the recruiter's fee because their internal hiring team finds better candidates on a daily basis. When my husband was still in graduate school, recruiters would frequently contact him to work in technology and finance. Turns out I was already aware of this job offer and was planning to apply when the recruiter contacted me. It's likely to depend on the job itself, as well as on the relationship between the recruiter and the company.

ALWAYS READ the fine print and learn about a recruitment agency's SOP before logging in; otherwise, you may lose bridges and be largely confined to your job search. On the other hand, an applicant may want to apply through a recruiter because the recruiter knows the requirements better than an automated ATS or a human resources generalist.