I love the recruiting business. But, in the past few months, with this oddly strong need for fearless and unflinching leaders in our Client companies, I find myself struggling to stay in communication with viable due to the large volume of people contacting me. I’m Paula Rutledge, President of Legacy MedSearch, an executive recruiting firm focusing exclusively in medical device technology. In this post , I’ll teach you how to maintain communication with your recruiter!
I’ll be honest, sometimes we recruiters can be a bit difficult to get ahold of. We’re trying, I promise! I frequently speak on my headset with one candidate, email another, and set up an appointment with a third all at the same time! That being said, here are some tips to make sure I’m getting your message!
1. Be brief! I do care, but if I can get a 15 second voicemail with all your information, I can get back to you more quickly. Name, most recent company, phone number (said twice), and purpose of your call are enough!
2. Be flexible! Please don’t leave me a message telling me you’re available between 4 and 4:15 next Tuesday… Like you, I schedule my appointments weeks in advance, and odds are next Tuesday is booked!
3. Apply online! When you apply for a specific position, it flags you and puts you at the top of the heap for one of my recruiters to contact you within a day or two. It’s much easier to get a response from us this way. Don’t ask me to look over your resume and see if I have anything open… I have about 3,291 of these requests right now…
4. Look at our forum, www.meddeviceguru.com. It has nearly 5000 articles, tips, news stories, and ideas that we update daily!
5. Polish your resume! Make sure it’s pristine, descriptive, and follows the tips that we’ve discussed in other issues of Medical Career Magazine.
6. Link to me on LinkedIn! It’s a great way to contact me.
7. Recommend other people to us. Someone might return the favor! Our single biggest referral source for senior level positions is your boss, so keep that in mind!
8. Be Patient with us! The medical device industry is still hiring at a strong pace. In fact, my firm has had a 40% growth from this time last year. However, the bar is being set higher for candidates. Remember we’re not miracle workers. Give us some time to find you that perfect job!
9. Touch base with us. I add a caveat that touching base means every week or so… not every hour or every day. This is especially true if you’re in active consideration for a position and haven’t heard anything from us in a while. Things do occasionally fall through the cracks, so don’t be shy about contacting us!
10. Do your homework! Once we have an interview scheduled for you, we’ll do a verbal prep with you and send you materials on the client, but you can increase your odds by doing some work of your own. We’ve created the Interview Prep Guide for Medical Device Careers as a help. It’s a free 24 page packet chock full of great information! You can find it on our website.
The industry is looking strong, but no company is going to grow without smart, dedicated, and creative talent!
That’s this issue of Medical Career Magazine. Don’t forget to check out our website at www.legacymedsearch.com or our forum at www.meddeviceguru.com for some more great tips. I’m Paula Rutledge, thanks for joining us.
Legacy MedSearch blog 