Working with IT Recruiters
Look to a recruiter for advice on your career, but remember, it's your career, not the recruiter's, and the ultimate decision about what jobs you seek is yours. Recruiters can help you determine where your skills fit into the marketplace, Hough says, or whether you need additional training. They have their finger on the pulse of the market and on what's hot and what's not, and that's a valuable asset to you. But remember, recruiters earn their money by placing you; don't rush to take a position just because a recruiter knows you'd be a sure thing for the job (and he'd like to see a quick placement).
Do I need a certain amount of experience to work with a recruiter?
IT recruiters typically work with people with several years of experience, but that varies, depending on an individual's expertise and education, the field and the recruiter's own areas of specialisation. As you would expect, the more experience you've got -- and the greater demand for it -- the better off you'll be finding a recruiter. If you're just getting into the industry, you may have a rough time getting a recruiter to talk to you; companies don't want to pay a recruiter to fill an entry-level job when they've got stacks of CVs available to them. Still, just because one recruiter tells you he doesn't want to work with you, that doesn't mean another one won't be interested. Just like finding a job takes time, so does finding the right recruiter.
