Job Seeker Guide: How to Navigate Your Relationship with Your Recruiter

In the market for a new job? We’re here to help. Read on for tips and tricks to make the most of your interactions with your recruiter.

We know how intimidating it can be to put yourself out there as a job seeker and juggle interviews with multiple organizations. We're pulling back the curtain on Talent Acquisition & providing some tips & tricks that'll help you to leave a lasting positive impression with any organization's recruiting team. (including Seer's People Team)

Reaching Out to Your Recruiter

We love it when a potential candidate is proactive and reaches out to us on LinkedIn if they’re interested in working at Seer! It's a win/win for everyone - the candidate gets their foot in the door and, if the role is a perfect match, it makes the recruiter's job easier.

That being said, writing a cold outreach message to a recruiter can seem daunting - below you’ll find examples of do’s and don’ts for contacting recruiters about job opportunities.

What to Do

Important Do’s to practice when reaching out to your recruiter:

Research Ahead of Time

Research us! Did a specific blog post on our website resonate with you? Have you been leveraging our Power BI tutorials? Those specific call-outs can really help you to differentiate yourself as a candidate.

Say the Role You Want

When sending us a message, let us know what open role you think you’d be a great candidate for, and why. Taking this extra step proves that you've invested time into researching the company and contemplating which role would be a good match for your skill set.

Apply for the Role

To get ahead of things, submit your application via our Careers Site. This helps us keep a record of all of our candidates in one place. Some roles receive over 500 applications, and we want to make sure we don’t lose anyone.

If you don’t do this before reaching out to us, we’ll always ask you to.

Say Why You’re Interested

We have received a lot of messages from people asking us to help find them a job, and for general feedback on their resumes.

We love to see initiative, but we also want to know what brought you to our inboxes in particular, and why you're interested in pursuing opportunities with Seer.

What Not to Do

Important Don’ts to avoid when reaching out to your recruiter:

Ask for General Feedback

Avoid asking the recruiter for guidance on which role you should pursue at Seer or requesting general resume feedback, prior to submitting your job application. Your best bet is to commit to applying to whichever position(s) is the most aligned with your experience & interests.

Assume You’re Being Ignored

As recruiters, our schedules are usually booked out with interviews days in advance and we try to respond back to folks on a 'first come, first serve' basis. We promise we're not intentionally ignoring you or 'leaving you on read'. We're committed to being communicative with each candidate but, sometimes, it might take us a day or two to respond.

Arrive Unannounced

Call us//Show up to the office in person. We are a remote-first company and we'd hate for you to show up to the office when there isn't someone from the People Team on-site to assist you. Worse yet, you may unintentionally leave that employer with the wrong impression by dropping in unannounced, even if you have the best of intentions.

As you can imagine, a lot of companies have tightened up their in-office security, as a result of the 2022 world climate so, an unplanned drop-in visit might seem a bit scary. The best way to get in touch is through email and submitting your application and resume online.

Example Message to a Recruiter

Below is an example of a great cold message we’ve received on LinkedIn:

Hi there,

First, my joke of the day: What do hippies and SEO’s have in common?

Second, Seer seems like a fantastic place to work! The authenticity and transparency that I see is rare and admirable. What would you say are the top 3-4 skills that make someone a great fit at Seer? What about particularly on the Data Analytics team?

I would love to connect via a phone call if you're up for it!

Kind regards.

Oh, and the punchline is: They both love anything organic. :D

The candidate above stood out by mentioning Seer’s values. Even while short, this message indicated that they took their time researching us before reaching out.

We know that the next amazing hire could be sitting in our inboxes, and though it might not be the right time now, we want to make sure we’re providing space for exploratory conversations.

We have recently implemented :15 Recruiting Career Connect syncs if you’re interested in working at Seer and are seeking advice, but aren’t actively interviewing with us. Whether it be because you’re not interested in what we have open at the moment, or you still have some growth opportunities in your field before joining, feel free to ask us about these!

Preparing to Meet Your Recruiter

Showing up on time to your interview/scheduled time with your recruiter is your first step, and I know you might be saying to yourself, I know I know, that’s the oldest rule in the book.

But you’d be surprised to hear that this rule isn’t always followed; especially since we’ve shifted to a fully remote environment.

How to Prepare for Your Call

Important Do’s to prepare for a meeting with your recruiter:

Check Your Camera and Mic

Double-check your camera and mic settings before joining the meeting to make sure they’re working properly.

Confirm that your computer is compatible with Zoom, Google Meets, or any other virtual meeting system your recruiter is using. If you have a presentation to share, practice doing this ahead of time so that everything runs smoothly for you during your time together.

Tip: If you have multiple monitors and your camera looks like it’s facing away from the recruiter, be sure to mention it so they don’t think you’re ignoring them or distracted.

Dress and Communicate Appropriately

Interviews and chats with recruiters are your opportunity to make your best impression. We are definitely a more casual environment here at Seer, but putting forth effort into how you present and communicate during our conversations go a long way.

Since a lot of our positions are client-facing, this also gives us a good idea of how you’ll interact with them. Are we looking for a suit and tie? Nope. But hoodies are probably also not the best choice, either. Are we looking for a rigid formal discussion? Nope. But how you talk to your friends vs. how you talk to us would hopefully sound a little different.

Eliminate Distractions

Double-check that your phone is silent. When we hear ringing or notifications going off in the background, it can be distracting. It also signals to us that we don’t have your full attention, and we may have concerns regarding your attention to detail when it comes to preparing for future client meetings. We want you to be as engaged and invested as we are in your success!

Take Notes

You will hopefully walk away from your call with some great learning opportunities, and we want to make sure you can make the most of them. Those notes can be a game changer so you can refer back to them when you need to and take action.

Make sure to give your recruiter a heads up if you plan on typing out notes during the conversation vs. writing with pen/paper. This will ensure that they don’t mistakenly leave with the impression that you were distracted & multitasking throughout the entire discussion.

Reschedule in Advance, If Needed

If you need to cancel your scheduled meeting with us, that’s totally understandable but, being communicative is crucial. Ghosting the recruiter or canceling 1 minute before the meeting start-time isn’t usually a great look. Of course, we are empathetic when important life obligations pop up so, it’s not the end of the world if you need to reschedule–as always, communication is key! We will be sure to extend the same respect to you.

Preemptively providing your availability also demonstrates that you take a solutions-oriented and proactive approach to your work. (Again, we're always thinking about how this could manifest in a client interaction)

If you do have to cancel, sharing your availability to reschedule in your message is super helpful so the recruiter can get you rebooked right away. This is also an indication for us of how engaged you are. We like to see your excitement about a possible role with us!

Following Up with Your Recruiter

We know this is a question for most people, and yes, sending that Thank You email to your recruiter is still appreciated – gone are the days of mailing cards through snail mail, but we still really appreciate the effort put into a follow-up email from you.

How to Follow up After Your Call

Important Do’s when following up with your recruiter:

Communicate Your Progress

Stay in touch! Keep us posted on any progress you’re making based on the feedback we gave you during our call. If you got that Google Ads certification or acquired that digital agency experience you needed, hit us up! We may be able to give you more resources and advice or have a role open we can consider you for.

Acknowledge Feedback, Don’t Refute It

If a Seer recruiter informs you that you're no longer in consideration for a role and provides feedback, we wouldn't recommend trying to turn that exchange into a back-and-forth debate. We appreciate and respect advocating for yourself, but the recruiter also knows what is needed for a specific position, and won’t decline you for no reason.

Keep in mind that their ultimate goal is to fill the open role – and they probably want you to be the perfect candidate for it more than you do.

Share Changes to Your Employment Needs

If you are in conversations with multiple companies (which is to be expected nowadays) and you end up receiving a competing offer prior to completing your Seer interview process, it's still in your best interest to share that news with us.

We will always close the loop with you if anything unexpected occurs on our end, and we hope you’ll do the same.

Tip: Communication is key, and we definitely don’t want to lose you as a candidate due to timing. We truly live in to transparency here and are open to solutions to get you through our interview process faster so that you can make the best decision for you.

Example Follow-up Message

Below is an example of a great follow-up message we’ve received from a candidate:

Hi there, 

I hope this email finds you well! I understand that you still may not have any SEO openings, but I am beginning my job search again and I wanted to send my updated resume just in case! 

Since we've last spoken, I have been promoted to a Senior role, which has given me the opportunity to gain more exposure to key accounts as well as be a mentor to team members. I also have had the chance to collaborate with the PPC and Social teams more through calls and training sessions, to further understand how each channel can benefit each other in an integrated strategy. 

Hope everything has been going well for you and looking forward to hearing from you soon!

Thank you!

The candidate above stood out because they exhibited proactivity to stay in touch with us. They also detailed the growth they’ve experienced, and what they’ve learned since our last conversation with them.

More Resources for Job Seekers

We hope that you have found this information insightful and that it will help you in your career journey. We want to see you succeed and achieve your dreams, and would love to see Seer be a little part of that journey.