Welcome to our employment 101 series, where we explore the various aspects of employment to help candidates understand some ways to improve your experience in gaining employment.

To stand out from the crowd, recruiters have specific things they look for to ensure they find the right candidate. Here are three things that recruiters look for when assessing a candidate.

1. Know Your Necessity

The job marketplace is often a crowded place. In order to make sure you are the right candidate for the role, you will need to offer the recruiter something different in order to differentiate yourself and your skillset.

Before applying, question whether or not you are able to offer something unique, as well as something that the organisation may need. You may find that you’ll have to pivot your message about who you are to fill that gap. For example, a person with a psychology degree may look unsuitable as a designer, but can pivot their message to talk about the usefulness of psychology in user centric design.

It’s also important to look at what you don’t want to do, almost as much as what you do want to. This gives the recruiter boundaries to work within.


2. Wear the ‘Hats’

At the end of the day, passion doesn’t pay the bills. You can be passionate about being in a given role, and being passionate about a role is one thing, but will you be passionate about the role a year or two from now, when your role doesn’t resemble what you signed up for?

Most roles nowadays require you to wear many hats, some of which may not be what you’d like to wear. If the organisation is growing, you may be required to wear several hats at any one time. For a recruiter to see that you are the right candidate, it’s important to start with your capability and flexibility in the role. If the recruiter is aware of your ability to perform multiple functions, it can help you stand out as a candidate.


3. Your Brand is Your Resumé

The success of a candidate in a given role depends largely on your ability to help people in the organisation. As such, recruiters need to feel as though they can trust you and feel comfortable giving name your name forward for a recommendation.

If you’re applying for a role, people are essentially buying you. That comprises your public image, your previous experience, and your personality: the whole package. Most recruiters will read your social media profiles before reading your resumé, so it’s important to have that conveying exactly what you’re about.

In order to provide the assurance, the recruiter must present you in a positive and professional manner. A good analogy would be if you were a personal trainer in health and fitness, not only will you need to be a fit and healthy person yourself, but your online presence would also present you in this way. Not only does it help the recruiter, but it helps you find the best possible outcome for what you need.

Finally, don’t be afraid to apply. You never know what can happen, and a recruiter can always keep you on file for another role you may be suitable for!

Brett Dickinson - Head of Search, Social and Analytics, S2M

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Brett Dickinson works for a leading Digital recruitment firm S2M with offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Singapore .

If you are a Digital Marketer interested in a confidential chat, then get in touch on brettdickinson (at) s2m.com.au