Do I Really Need A Recruiter? It Depends

4 Situations Where A Recruiter Is Not Your Best Option

Graduates / Junior Candidates

After completing a college or university course, you are booming with theoretical knowledge but generally lack practical construction experience. It feels like outsourcing your job search to a recruitment agency is the best path to go but it rarely is.

Why? While companies are happy to pay for talent, they generally shy away from paying fees on graduates and other junior level candidates as it’s a skillset that they can easily find in the market.

So, what’s the solution?

We encourage graduates and other junior level candidates to lean into our resources (resume template, market insights, etc.) but to take control of their own destiny and avoid having a recruitment fee over their head.

Local experience is critical to your role

Canada likes to obsess over local experience. Despite being behind many peer countries, we still dismiss new ideas (innovation) and default to the local or old ways of doing things. Local experience matters, but only to a specific point. Building a bridge or a hospital is typically a very similar process all over the world so the right candidate can adapt.

However, local experience is exceptionally important in construction in niche areas, such as Health & Safety and Environmental. These areas are where Canada and specific provinces typically have very specific standards.

If a specific role requires mandatory local experience, you will be better served trying to overcome this obstacle without a recruitment fee on top. For example, if you are an Environmental Manager for construction, and typical roles require provincial certification. Instead of going through an agency when you lack a specific local credential, either work directly with an employer or begin the licensing process on your own to demonstrate your commitment.

Change of industry / sector

While you may be able to offer lots of transferable skills, making a significant career shift is definitely a scenario whereby you may not be best suited to using a recruitment agency. For example, you work in manufacturing and you want to work in construction. In this scenario, your lack of specific relevant experience would make you a less than perfect fit so the recruiter should be able to diagnose this gap.

So, if not a recruiter, what’s the solution?

Typically, Outpost will try to help this type of candidate with resume assistance, market knowledge, and contacts so that they can make the desired shift without further obstacles.

Choppy experience

Canadians are a conservative bunch. They tend to shy away from hiring unless they feel they can get a 2-3 year return on their investment, as training workers takes time and has a cost. If you’ve got a choppy resume with a lack of continuity, then we always advise approaching employers directly as a recruitment fee is yet another obstacle in your path to career success.

Let’s define choppy. If you’ve been unable to stick out more than two years at 3-4 consecutive employers then it’s possible there is a pattern developing. You potentially get bored easily, you switch roles with a view to maximising your salary or perhaps you’ve just been unlucky and a victim of poor managers or circumstances. Either way, an employer may feel you are less likely to stay beyond two years with their firm, and therefore they would be less likely to pay a recruitment fee to bring you into their company.

Why does choppy experience and this 2+ year timeline matter? Well, if someone is switching companies a lot, they are spending lots of time being trained in company processes and systems and less time in a state of flow doing the work. For example, all else being equal, a candidate with six years of experience at one company will undoubtedly excel in their role relative to the candidate who has spent six years between four different employers. This candidate has likely spent a year or more learning new processes and less time doing the work.

So, what’s the solution?

On your resume we recommend adding the Reason for leaving on all employment periods shorter than two years. In general, most roles require 3-6 months of training and you will find your “flow” state after 6 months. If you are changing roles often, you are probably spending a significant portion of time adapting to company processes and less operating in a state of flow.

It will also be very important to highlight and justify your skills and achievements if you’ve had choppy experience. So, again, improving your resume and growing your network can be beneficial in this situation.

Finally, it’s worth asking yourself, is it poor luck or poor decision making if you are switching roles regularly?

You can read our guide to choosing career opportunities to help here.

Even if a recruiter isn’t the right move for you right now, we encourage you to register with Outpost. You can access templates and market updates to help advance with your career, and we’re happy to have construction and engineering professionals in our network.

Register here (it’s free)