If you go by what they say, recruitment consultants are your only hope of finding good jobs. If you visit one, he can easily convince you to place your career in his hands, even pay a lot of money at times. At that moment one usually thinks, "If he can really get me a job.....", but can he? Should you really rely on placement consultants and trust them to do what is the best for your career?
Do You Really Need A Placement Consultant
Here are a few reasons why you DON'T really need a placement consultant to find a job:
There Are Better Ways Of Finding A Job
Online job boards are very popular these days and this is the most convenient way of finding prospective jobs and employers. If you are an experienced professional, "referrals" are the best way to find new jobs. These methods are convenient, reliable and FREE of cost!
If It's Free, It's Probably Not That Good.
The above statement applies to almost all products and services, and headhunters are no exception! Most headhunters work for the employer, which means they get paid by the employer. If they do not charge any money from the candidates, how can they be looking out for the best interest of the candidates? Headhunters work for the employers and always work out a deal that is in the best interest of the employer (and not you).
Fake Or Genuine?
Often you find the perfect job advertised by headhunters. You send in your resume, call the headhunter...but nothing happens. Why? That is because often recruitment consultants post fake jobs just to build a database of resumes that they can proudly show off to their clients. So while you start daydreaming about that perfect job you just applied to, there might be a headhunter feeding your data into his database, and forgetting about it. End of the story!
No Flexibility.
Applying to individual jobs gives you the flexibility of modifying your resume/profile to appear more suitable to each job. But when you sign up with a recruiter, you give him all the facts in one go and are not allowed to change them. Here you lose this little bit of flexibility that could have won you a great job!
Do They Have The Best Jobs?
With all the companies trying to cut costs, and the great service of job portals, it is no surprise that the best jobs gets advertised directly in the papers or on the internet. Where does that leave the headhunters? More importantly, where does that leave you?
If They Can Get You Hired, They Can Get You Fired.
Though you may ask why, this truth remains. One bad word from the headhunter, and you might end up losing that great job you just got. Is it wise to place your job security in someone's hands?
Let's face it, the job consultants are redundant! You don't really need them to find a job that you can get and enjoy. So if you are looking for your dream job, look around and make the efforts yourself. Good Luck!
