If You Apply To the Job, the External Recruiter Can’t Help

When I was an independent Agency Recruiter, I didn't expect candidates to ever be a subject matter expert in what I do and how it all works. I do however like to point out common occurrences and share them to anyone who will listen, and one typical question I received from candidates all the time is “I just applied for X job at Y company and I was wondering if you had connections there to help me?”

The answer to that is "even if I did have connections there, my hands are tied now that you've applied." Technically, if I do have a connection at the company, I could reach out, but I would’ve been working for free, and that's simply not a good ROI on my time. Yes, sometimes us established Recruiters do nice things anyway, but that’s what you’re in-theory asking us to do one you’ve applied… You’re asking a favor instead of asking a business professional to get to work.

Here's the lowdown on why; As an Agency Recruiter, it's their job to find their clients people that they don't have the time, resources, and network to find on their own. If they can find you without external help, then there's no need for the Agency Recruiter. That's the simplest way to put it.

To extend upon that, if a Recruiter has a contract in place with the company you're interested in, they have exclusivity for your employment with them for a pre-negotiated timeframe from the first time your resume or application is submitted. An exclusive time period is standard business for most Contingency Recruitment Agencies I've heard of. On the flip side, if you've applied to any position at this company, you're now saved in their Applicant Tracking System (or ATS Software) for the entire history of the company. Most companies will argue that if they have you in their system from the past, they didn't need an Agency Recruiter to find you (even if the applicant wasn't noticed until we pointed them out - but that's a rarity). Most Agency Recruiters have caught onto this and have a clause in their agreement to prevent this from happening, but the fix is to have a time period associated with your submission. It’s usually 6-12 months. So, when you apply, the company has rights to your candidacy for 6-12 months.

If an Agency Recruiter doesn’t have a contract with the company you're interested in but knows someone who works there, I'm even less protected and the odds of me getting paid is slim to none for my services of showcasing a candidate who has already applied to them. Usually that’ll lead to an Employee Referral Fee.

All in all, if you're working very closely with a well connected Agency Recruiter, shoot them over an email with a link to the job you're interested in. Hold off applying for 24 hours and see if the Recruiter has a connection there and is responsive to your request. Jumping the line over applicants and having even further validation of you by another human can be useful, not to mention you’ll have an advocate for your success as your success.

Of course, you can't send over every position you apply to if you're actively looking or you'll exhaust your Recruiter, but it's worth asking on the ones that matter the most to you.

I hope this candid transparency helps you understand the Agency Recruiter / Candidate / Client relationship a little more.