how to actually use recruiters in your job search

taylor desseyn

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Guidance Counselor 2.0<br>how to actually use recruiters in your job search<br>ep. 506 of guidance counselor 2.0

taylor desseyn<br>Jun 17, 2026

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hey fam! like i said last week life has been so busy and im slowly catching up so i will get back to sending you a really good podcast i’ve done either recently or in the past. to be frank i took a few weeks off guidance counselor 2.0. i’ve been doing this stream for SIX YEARS!! so i just needed a break. i also want to really help people in their job search that will always be a core ethos of mine so i wanted to take time to reset and see how i can add value. i recently just did a live stream about the behind the scenes of the ats that i will highlight next week but i am about to start a 8 week series on how to use ai in your job search so be on the lookout for the first session in 2 weeks. anywho enough with me yapping let’s get into the recap.<br>as you all know i spent over a decade as a recruiter before building a community to help engineers navigate the market. my take: recruiters should be one of five active pillars in your job search, not a fallback plan.<br>“recruiters suck. use them.”

here’s what that actually means in practice.<br>listen to episode<br>there are two types of recruiters and you need a different strategy for each<br>internal recruiters work for the company directly. they’re stretched thin, managing hr tasks alongside sourcing, and they are often the first filter between you and a hiring manager. agency recruiters work across multiple clients, operate mostly on commission, and will typically only engage you if you’re a match for an open role right now.<br>what to do: pick five to ten companies you actually want to work for and find their internal recruiters on linkedin. follow them, engage with their posts consistently, and ask for a virtual coffee. you’re playing a long game here — the goal is to be someone they already know when a role opens up. for agency recruiters, wait for outreach or search for ones who post actively about roles in your space.<br>when a recruiter takes a call with you, ask these questions<br>most people treat a recruiter call like a passive intake. i flip it. if an agency recruiter is willing to talk to you even without a role, that conversation is valuable data — if you ask the right things.<br>what to do: ask them where your resume or skill set stacks up against others they see at your level. ask what one thing you should change on your resume and one thing on your linkedin. ask where your salary expectations land in the current market. these are the questions recruiters are uniquely qualified to answer, and most candidates never ask them.<br>if a recruiter messages you about a job, filter them before you respond<br>a lot of recruiter outreach is a fishing expedition — they spotted a job posting, sourced a few names, and are trying to sell your resume in before they even have a contract with the company. it is not malicious, but you can end up as a guinea pig. the fix is a short set of questions that separate serious recruiters from noise.<br>what to do: when a recruiter messages you about a role, reply with these five questions:<br>how long have you been recruiting on this specific role?<br>do you have a contract in place with this company?<br>what is the hiring manager’s name?<br>have you done an intake call with the manager, and do you have the notes?<br>how many people have you placed with this manager or company?

ninety-nine percent of spam recruiters will not reply. the ones who do are worth your time.<br>if multiple recruiters hit you about the same role, do not just go with whoever was fastest<br>getting five to ten recruiter messages about one job is a red flag for the role, but it also creates a real risk for you. if two recruiters submit your resume to the same company, you can get rejected — not because of your skills, but because it signals disorganization on your end.<br>what to do: send your five questions to all of them. go with the recruiter who answers them most thoroughly, not most quickly. a junior recruiter might reply in ten minutes with nothing useful. a senior recruiter who has actually placed people at that company is worth waiting a few hours for. if you want to lock it in, ask to sign a right to represent — a simple email acknowledging which recruiter is submitting you to which role. it protects you from double submission.

hope this provides some value to you! if you enjoy it, i would love a share to your network:)<br>Share

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