What should you do when you know someone who works at the potential employer a recruiter brings to your attention? Should you have the recruiter make the initial introduction, or go through your friend? Your immediate thoughts probably are that your friend has the “in,” plus you might have a better shot at being hired without the headhunter’s fee attached.
Those are reasonable considerations, but they may not lead to the best outcome.
First, let’s put the fee issue to rest. Employers use professional recruiters to save time and money. Recruiters wade through myriads of inappropriate prospects to present only well-vetted top talent that merits serious consideration. Employers budget for those fees and happily pay them for a job well done. In fact, candidates introduced by a reputable recruiter often come with a stronger presumption of fit than those introduced through other sources.
There are several more good reasons to use the professional recruiter’s services, and NOT make the initial connection through your friend.
Even better, there’s a way to have the best of both worlds.
Strain on the relationship
Your friend says they’ll help you, but will they really? People close to you may agree to make the introduction just to please you, but quietly fail to follow through.
How well do you really know each other? Do you have any idea what your friend really thinks of you? They know you only as a friend, not in a professional capacity, and the characteristics of a good friend aren’t necessarily the same as the qualities of a good co-worker. Chances are, no matter how much your friend likes you, some of their impressions are negative. Do you want them to share those thoughts with a prospective employer?
Is your relationship strained already? Is there any drama? Are there any romantic overtones? You don’t want any of that to spill over into the workplace. The pressure of your friend’s involvement in your job search, and any disappointment or resentment if you’re not hired, can make any existing tensions worse. On the other hand, if you’re hired, how will that affect your relationship? How closely would you be working together?
Perhaps your friend doesn’t want responsibility for your actions if you are hired. Maybe your friend honestly doesn’t think as highly of your capabilities as you do. Or they may not think you’re a good fit for the culture of the organization or the team. If your friend has doubts but refers you anyway, you risk being set up with false expectations or being placed in a position where you might fail.
Quality of referral
Your friend may not have all the information necessary to make the most effective introduction for you. Do they have the right connections? How much do they know about the specific job or department you’re targeting? If they don’t do what you do professionally, they may not really understand your work or be able to fully describe your capabilities to the potential employer.
Is your friend giving you the full story about the employer? They may not have been totally honest about their experience working there, their role or work responsibilities, or their standing in the organization. It’s only natural to try to look good in the eyes of friends, and their story might not be complete or accurate.
Furthermore, how much weight do your friend’s word carry? They may have little sway in the organization so their opinion of you is of little consequence. In that case, they’ll have little or no power to move things along if your resume gets “lost,” sidetracked, or stalled on someone’s desk.
Even worse, your friend might not be in the organization’s best graces and, if so, you don’t want to be tarnished with the same brush.
Conflict of interest
Almost instinctively, most attorneys are competitive with one another. Would you be a rival they’d rather not have in their firm?
Will they receive a bounty if you’re hired? Your friend might earn big points with the employer or a significant bonus for bringing in top talent and saving the employer the trouble of sorting through hundreds of candidates. But it could backfire if anything goes wrong. If they recommend you and you’re hired but don’t live up to expectations, both of you can be viewed negatively. A poor referral could result in the employer questioning their judgment or commitment to the organization. They run the risk of damaging both their reputation and your friendship, so they may shy away from making the introduction in the first place.
Why use a recruiter?
Using a professional recruiter has many advantages. Legal recruiters will introduce you to a client only if they think you’ll be a good fit and only for an opportunity for which they believe you can do a good job, enhancing your career.
Recruiters have the employer’s ear. They can make sure your resume gets to the right person and is properly entered into the recruitment system so it doesn’t get “lost” or stalled on someone’s desk. Moreover, they can follow up and get honest feedback where your friend might fear looking like a pest, or the employer may not feel comfortable being candid with your friend. Professional recruiters also can ask the employer tough questions on your behalf and handle delicate situations where your friend cannot tread.
The prospective employer has engaged the recruiter specifically to find and bring them top talent. In the process, the recruiter has access to inside information about the organization’s hiring strategy, growth plans, practice, culture, working conditions, economics, personalities, and more. They have a more comprehensive overview of the organization and its place in the market than does an individual working in a particular role—who would have insight only from their vantage point. With their broad experience in the legal marketplace and history of assisting lawyers making important career decisions, a good recruiter can guide and coach you throughout the process.
Best of both worlds
How can you reap the benefits of both your friend’s “in” and the recruiter’s inside track? The answer is to use them both, but at different times and for different reasons.
A savvy job seeker utilizes a broad network of contacts for gathering market intel from a wide variety of unique perspectives. They then rely on a reputable recruiter to sort through the possible opportunities and narrow them down to those which would be the best fit and accomplish their career goals. The recruiter makes the initial introductions to the appropriate hiring authorities at the selected organizations.
Only then should you contact your friends within the targeted organizations to inform those friends that your resume was submitted through the recruiter. The inside friend then can choose whether they wish to put in a word alerting the appropriate people in the firm that the resume has been submitted, make a recommendation, and urge the hiring authorities to move the resume to the top of the pile for serious consideration.
If the organization decides to extend an interview, you can take advantage of advice and information from both your friend’s individual inside perspective as well as the recruiter’s broader industry perspective. The recruiter then can follow up with the employer, stay on top of the process making sure it continues to move along, and coach you every step of the way.
While your friend, standing alone, might not be your best job search ally, they can make a valuable contribution to your well-orchestrated overall strategy. And with the assistance of a recruiter, you can have the best of both worlds.