How to Keep Recruiters Interested in You

This Wednesday is the virtual Amazon Career Day. Amazon recruiters are looking to fill more than 30,000 technology and corporate job openings, 500 of which will be located here in Nashville.

Whether you’re in the market for a job with Amazon, or with another company, there are some things you can do to keep recruiters interested in you as they sift through all the potential candidates.

Don’t do the things that annoy recruiters

In the past, I’ve written about how recruiters annoy job seekers, like ghosting candidates after an interview, and more. But there are also things job seekers do that annoy recruiters.

Here’s a perfect example: A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a colleague of mine who’s a human resources and recruiting expert. She was clearly frustrated with some of the job seekers she’s been recruiting to fill the open positions at the companies she represents.

She asked me to remind all job seekers who read my blog of two things if they’re serious about finding a new job:

Check your email spam box, and answer your phone!

1. Not paying attention to your spam folder

At least three times a week, I get an email from a potential client in my junk folder. This is why I check my spam box daily. If not, I could miss out on potential work. You could too!

If you’re applying for jobs, most recruiters or hiring managers are going to first reach out to you via email. Make sure their emails aren’t going to your spam folder. If they are, mark them as “not junk” so they’ll start going directly to your inbox. You should especially keep an eye on this if you’re using Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook.

Check your folder daily. If you don’t respond to a recruiter within 24 hours, they’ll likely move on to the next qualified candidate.

2. Not answering your phone

I have to admit, I myself am bad about this one. I usually don’t answer my cell if I don’t recognize the number. I’m guessing you might do the same because of all the robocalls you probably get on a daily basis.

But if you’re in the middle of a job search, you can’t afford not to answer your phone. It could be a recruiter calling to schedule an interview with you!

Familiarize yourself with the area codes and prefixes of the numbers for the various companies to which you’re applying. Add this info to your notes about each company, so you can have a better idea of who it is on the other end of your ringing phone.

Set yourself apart from other candidates

Imagine how boring it must be for recruiters to read through a ton of résumés and LinkedIn profiles that all look the same. Or having to listen to over-thought and over-rehearsed elevator pitches, which don’t lend well to a natural conversation.

Every interview they conduct probably feels like Ground Hog Day to them. They interview so many candidates who use the same canned answers, and ask thoughtless questions they could’ve found the answers to on the company web site.

How do you keep from blending in with these candidates? By following some of the outside-the-box career advice I’ve shared over the years in this blog and in my on-demand programs. In fact, I’ve just created a new blog category to gather together everything I’ve written on outside-the-box career advice. Click here to find advice guaranteed to set you apart and make you stand out from other candidates.

In honor of National Online Learning Day on Sept. 15th, paNASH is offering a 35% discount on all paNASH on-demand programs/online job search classes. Click here and enter the discount code NOL2020 on the check-out page. (Discount good through Friday, Sept. 18th.)