If you’re meeting up with a recruiter to talk about a prospective vacancy, you may need to bear the following in mind: The more you know about the ways recruitment agencies operate, the better you’ll be at landing the job or knowing what to do at your next interview.

They always factor inside sales

The recruiter is not only there to find you a job, but they also have a job to do. As with any job, a recruiter’s performance is based on how well they perform. Their performance is evaluated on the amount of job postings they’ve filled. If a hiring manager chooses you for the position, the recruiting company receives a percentage thereof. This means they will do whatever necessary to get the best person for the job in order to close the deal with the hiring manager.

Strange behaviour will make a recruiter second guess you

Recruiters are on the phone all day, asking the same questions, listening to similar answers from different candidates. Every now and again they will come across a candidate who has unrealistic expectations. Or worse, a pushy person. There’s nothing wrong with trying to get the attention of a recruiter, but the wrong signals can cause your application to land up in the bin. If you call too many times or try too hard, you’re out. While you view it as determination, they see it as overt desperation. You may follow up on your candidacy, but avoid sending consecutive emails requesting the progress of your applications.

Sometimes it’s a shot in the dark

A recruiter has a collection of applicants they’re responsible for. There may be times where they are faced with an overwhelming amount of application they need to keep track of. Their day will usually start by having a look at their Applicant Tracking System to have an overview of which CV’s came in and for which job post. While scanning through applications they may be distracted by a phone call or their boss coming by, which can lead to missing an important aspect in someone’s CV, such as the person having done sales and marketing courses — an important feature the hiring manager may want. Some CVs get a 10 second glance while others has a recruiter’s full attention. The guarantee of fairness is nearly impossible. If they have enough candidates to interview they might barely glance at new CVs that come in.

You may be the perfect candidate for the job, but the timing of your application may determine the outcome thereof. To possibly avoid this scenario, be sure to make a connection in their organisation to be able to check up on your candidacy with the recruiter. A recruiter could ignore CVs in their Applicant Tracking System, but might not ignore a colleague at their door asking about a referral.

They have the power to influence, but not decide

A hiring decision will come from the manager of the company you apply to. The recruiter’s only influence is putting forth the best candidate, contributing to discussions about a candidate or providing opinions on interactions with the applicant. All they can do is provide context into salary ranges or market analyses.  Don’t rely on the recruiter throughout the interview process. They might be there to give you tips and lend a helping hand but that’s about as far as it goes.