Tips for students & third party recruiters

Employers very often use third party recruiters when targeting students, there are various ways that employers do this using third party recruiters, with some of them being recruiting on campus, representing the company’s at job fairs and screening people who apply for work via websites. Many colleges will also have third party recruiters who are on campus to help students choose careers and apply for positions, the different types of third party recruiters are:

Employment agencies

This type of third party recruiter will have a number of organisations on their books and will get a set fee for every successful candidate that they match successfully with a position. This fee can be paid by the successful candidate or the employer who offers the position and the candidate should be aware that they might have to pay the fee. If the employer will be paying the fee then it will normally be listed with the offering as “fee paid”, if not then it’s a good indication that the candidate will have to cover it.

Resume referral firms

This type of third party recruiter will gather information on those looking for positions and forward it to potential employers with positions open, the information gathered is usually by means of resumes which are then submitted into data forms which employers can access. The candidate, employer or both might have to cover the cost of the fee.

Search firms

Employers sometimes have contracts with search firms whose job is it to find and screen candidates for positions, the employer will usually pay the fee for this.

Important questions you should always ask

While third party recruiters can help students who are looking for work, you must be very careful when using them; you should read all material presented to you thoroughly and if given any contracts to sign make sure that you understand the content in full before signing. Here are some important questions that you should always ask the third party recruiter.

* How many positions are open?

You should always ask about the number of positions there are available and those being filled in relation to the position you are applying for, the reason this is so important is that some third party recruiters might not actually have the amount of job openings that they are claiming to have. Some might just be trying to impress candidates in order to get them on their books; they might also be stock piling resumes for future openings or to prove to employers that they have a wide range of people signed up with them.

* How do they use the information they gather?

Legally a third party recruiter is allowed to share your information and resume with employers, however they are not allowed to use that information with anyone other than the potential employer. They also cannot use it for any other purpose than with the company they stated at the time that you signed up.

* Who is to pay the fees charged by the recruiter?

You should always ask outright and not just assume that the employer will be applying the recruiters fees, before you sign up or agree to anything make sure you know who is responsible for paying them.