A good recruiter is worth working with. They know roles that are never advertised and can put you straight in front of a hiring manager. But a recruiter's client is the employer, and they can only present what you give them. The resume you send, the LinkedIn profile behind it and how you show up decide how you come across, before you ever speak to the employer.
When a recruiter calls about a role, it is flattering, and it should be: someone who fills roles for a living thinks you might fit. What happens next depends less on that call than on what you send afterwards. Your resume goes to the employer with the recruiter's name on it, next to candidates from other recruiters. Make it something they are proud to put forward.
How do recruiters work?
A recruiter is paid by the employer to fill a specific role. They search, shortlist and present a small number of candidates, often racing other recruiters to find the best ones first.
That shapes everything. They are working that role, not your whole search, and when it closes their attention moves to the next one. The good ones are honest about that, and they are worth keeping in touch with for the long run, because their next role might be yours.
What should you ask a recruiter on the first call?
A first call is a two-way interview, and good questions show you are serious.
- Why is the role open, and how long has it been open?
- Who is the hiring manager, and what matters most to them?
- What is the salary range, and how firm is it?
- How many candidates are in the process, and what is the timeline?
The answers tell you whether the role is real, whether it is right for you, and how to pitch yourself if it is.
What does a recruiter need from you?
Three things, quickly.
A resume they can send as it is. Recruiters rarely have time to fix a resume, so what you send is usually what the employer sees, and Ladders' eye-tracking study found a first pass lasts about 7.4 seconds. Lead with results, not duties, and make your level clear at the top.
Before: "Responsible for managing the regional sales team."
After: "Led a 12-person regional sales team to 118% of target in 2024, adding four new enterprise accounts."
Straight answers. Your salary expectations, your notice period and where else you are interviewing. Surprises late in a process cost the recruiter credibility with their client.
Quick replies. A candidate who answers within the day is far easier to put forward than one who answers within the week.
Will the employer look at your LinkedIn profile?
Very likely. Hiring managers routinely look candidates up before an interview, and a profile that disagrees with the resume, or looks half finished, undoes the recruiter's pitch. Match your roles, titles and dates to the resume exactly.
Then write a headline that says your level and what you are known for, and add a photo: LinkedIn's own figures show members with one get 21 times more profile views and 9 times more connection requests. Think of it like presenting a house for sale. The house is the same, but presented well, people see what it is worth.
Should you rely on one recruiter to find your next role?
No. A recruiter can only put you forward for the roles they are filling, and plenty of good roles never reach a recruiter at all. LinkedIn's hiring data shows that applicants already connected to an employee are 3.6 times more likely to be hired.
Keep your own search running alongside: the people who know your work, the companies you would want to join, and a few messages each day. Tell your recruiter where else you are in a process. A good one will respect it.
Working with more than one recruiter is normal, as long as each knows which companies you have already been put forward to. Two recruiters sending your resume to the same employer makes both look careless, and can quietly take you out of the running.
How do you prepare for an interview a recruiter has set up?
Use the recruiter. They have met the hiring manager, know why the role is open and often know what went wrong with the last person in it. Ask who you are meeting, what the manager is most worried about, and what a great hire looks like after six months. Then prepare your stories against that, and say them out loud before the day.
Where FutureDay fits
FutureDay helps you be the candidate a recruiter is proud to put forward. The Resume Builder helps you build a resume that's current and accurate, the LinkedIn Optimiser makes your profile match it, and the Posting Plan shows people the level you work at. Your recruiter works their roles. FutureDay helps you keep the rest of your search moving each morning, starting with the people who already know you.
A good recruiter is worth working with: they know roles that are never advertised and can reach the hiring manager directly.
Their client is the employer, so they present what you give them: send a resume they can forward as it is.
Make your LinkedIn profile match your resume and show your level, because the employer will look.
Keep your own search running, since applicants already connected to an employee are 3.6 times more likely to be hired (LinkedIn).
Ask your recruiter what the hiring manager needs, and prepare against that.
21 pages, a 15-minute read
