How to make design recruiters fall in love with you.

Josh Nelson
Sep 3, 2018 · 9 min read
“How to get a recruiter to fall in love with you” by rawpixel on Unsplash

I’ve had an opportunity to connect with several recruiters over the past couple weeks in Seattle and at the end of each conversation, I ended the call with direct and immediate follow-ups for additional interviews in the process. Through this process, I’ve discovered a few insights that I believe are valuable to share.

Insight 1: Honesty is Critical

EX Question: Hey I noticed that you don’t have this [fill in the blank] listed on your resume or work experience.

It should go without saying but when this question is asked, be honest. It’s not going to take long before someone realizes that you lying, and that can have some seriously negative ramifications. The reality of it is that t you can take a question like that as use it as part of your narrative (I’ll explain this later) which can have a resoundingly positive impact on your conversation.

EX Question: Hey I’ve got this opportunity that I would like to talk to you about, it’s for a position XYZ @ Seattle ABC.

Answer with honesty: “Hello John, thanks for reaching out. I’m not in the market for that particular job or business, however, would be more than willing to consider** the position and do a call to learn more about the opportunity.”

Look, if you’re not seriously into the position or business be upfront about it. Honesty about the outlook or potential of the position being a good fit for you can be seen as a healthy skepticism which is often overlooked when recruiters come knocking.

** Side note: having an open mind is also a major plus when it comes to responding to recruiters. They like to see that you have firm and strong opinions, but are capable of consideration & flexibility. Generally speaking this an excellent trait to have as a designer.

Insight 2: Respect their time, but never give 1-word answers.

No one wants to listen to someone tell them about their life. Recruiters are often tasked with filling multiple positions and interviewing and connecting with hundreds of people in any given month. Respect their time, but never give a 1-word answer.

EX Question: What do you believe is your most valuable asset?

Answer #1: “I’d say my most valuable asset is my experience.

Answer #2: “I’d say my most valuable asset is my experience which provides me a profound understanding of… and ability to communicate… considering the lifecycle of… while including the shareholders responsible for…”

It should go without saying but answer #2 is significantly better because it takes a single word and allows you to expand it into your narrative, providing your own unique take on an otherwise meaningless word. Just make sure that you are answering their question at the end of the day.

Insight 3: Paint a Narrative

A resume tells a person what you’ve done. But it doesn’t tell why you did it, or where you’re going. Your narrative can take a “what” and change it into a “why” which dramatically shifts the value of the item on your resume. Here’s an example from a conversation I had just the other day:

Recruiter Statement: “I see that you’ve worked at EvenVision for 6 years, that’s an unusually long time for a young professional.”

My Answer: “Yes, let me explain this a bit. I recognize that I’ve worked at EvenVision for quite some time relative to my peers, however, it was a conscious decision made for a couple key reasons: 1) growth & opportunity, 2) control and direction, 3) leadership at the company has a respect for life outside of work, 4) driven teammates determined to make a difference, learn and grow… combined these reasons have allowed me to chase down my end goal of becoming a Product Designer & Product Manager which within the confines of a larger organization would prove difficult”

In my answer, I took a what statement with a seemingly negative implication and was able to flip it on its head by providing a proactive and intentional why and explanation which paints a narrative of intention. This speaks volumes for recruiters and transforms you from a number of bullet points into a memorable candidate.

At the end of the day, the recruiter is highly unlikely to remember that you had 6 years of experience at one company, but is highly likely to remember your character.

Insight 4: Make the recruiter feel like a valuable human & include them in the conversation.

Similar to insight 2, but focused more on beginning your conversation on common ground. Every call I had I immediately started by trying to establish a common ground with the recruiter through shared common experience, such as Monday’s and a cup of coffee, a reflection on a major life event, or a shared love of dogs in the office, etc… the goal is to not only add flavor to your narrative and paint you as a person of value but to include them in the conversation and allow them to share about themselves.

A great example came when I was discussing with a recruiter about my recent move to Seattle. It was a major life event, but a common human experience. As I explained the transition I asked if he had ever experienced anything like it, and in doing so opened the door to a personal connection that would’ve otherwise not existed. By allowing him to share in brief his own experience I was able to include them in a conversation dramatically enriching the experience. As it turned out they had recently moved and taken a new position as a recruiter, allowing me to open to door up as a learning experience for not only myself but for him as well.

Make your recruiter comfortable enough to share, and add to the conversation. No one likes a 1-sided conversation.


Insight 5: Learn to communicate what you do, and why it’s of value.

Once again, it should seem like an obvious thing, but it surprised me to hear from the recruiters that designers struggle to communicate what they do. Not only that but they struggle to explain why it’s of value… how is this even an issue?

As a designer, you’ve absolutely got to learn how to communicate the value of your work and have an ability to quantify the results. Yes, there will be times when your work is inherently qualitative and prevents you from coming to concrete numbers, but the reality of it is that you should still be able to communicate this to a recruiter and do so in layman’s terms.

It struck me as odd the first time I heard this remark, but after hearing it from four recruiters back to back the reality of it is that designers often struggle to communicate on a very fundamental level what they accomplish. Even seasoned designers struggle to communicate some basic ideas like:

  • the value of design can be quantified through…
  • design can have value for the following shareholders…
  • the design is valuable in improving the following systems…

Learn to spell out the value of you accomplish and learn to communicate it. The best way is to practice and spend time talking with people. But another great method is to simply start writing it out. Learn to communicate. Learn the value of what you accomplish.

Final note: avoid the flash no substance portfolios. These are an absolute deal breaker for any seasoned recruiter. If your portfolio looks great but lacks concrete explanations what do you bring to the table?


Insight 6: Be genuinely concerned, and express it.

Life is like a box of chocolates. Completely and unequivocally wrong. Life is an absolute mess, half the time it’s happening without us even knowing. Think of it this way… 1/7th of your life is spent on Mondays… with the average person spending 1/4th of their life asleep.

Concern is an incredibly powerful tool. It allows you to express consideration and thought while providing room for the recruiter to elaborate. Someone who is completely unconcerned about a potential career switch more than likely hasn’t thought much about it.

Example question 1: “I’d like to know a bit more about how the company works when it comes to hours and expectations of tasks.”

This is a question that I would ask every recruiter and every time it’s been a big hit. The reason is that I’m not blinding looking to accept a position. I am expressing an intentional review of the business to understand if it’s an appropriate fit for the life that I seek to live beyond simply the career I hold.

Example question 2: “I noticed that you do not have Sketch listed on your resume, is this something that you are familiar with because they are looking for someone with 4–5 years of experience.

Example response: “I’ll be honest I have arguably very little direct experience with Sketch, but I’m familiar with the platform, and the end result of the tooling. It’s a system that should be fairly simple to pick up. That noted… I will express that when I see these types of requirements on job listings it’s a bit of a yellow flag for me. Not necessarily a deal breaker, but there are two reasons I shy away from jobs with requirements like this: 1) if specific tools are listed to get to an end result that can often act as a limitation on the creative freedom of a designer to use the best tools for the best results 2) when looking for someone with so many years of experience, this means that they are likely to pull someone with a preexisting workflow and 3rd party integrated applications that may run counter the organizations existing strategies. I mention this because this should be a consideration in the review of designers if the organization is looking for an immediate integration of a new seasoned designer.”

Okay besides the fact that this response is honest and longer than 1 word, it shows a concern and points to a problem that the recruiter in this particular case hadn’t considered prior to our call. The concern is also genuine (hence the inclusion of other designers) and backed up by an explanation that provides value for the recruiter to consider when interviewing other designers.

You can easily express concern about all of the following:

  • communication
  • expectations
  • work life balance
  • requirements

Be genuinely concerned, express it and back it up with an explanation that is inclusive and shows an understanding of your goals from multiple perspectives.

Insight 7: Ask follow up questions

A recruiter will likely have a series of questions that they are going to ask you and every other designer that they connected with. This means that they are likely looking to hear certain things. Asking follow up questions is one of the best methods for standing out in a crowd.

Here’s an example question: “I’d like you to design something without context, how would you do that?”

It would be so easy to immediately start diving into how to process the design through a system, but the reality of it is that it’s also incredibly easy to ask some basic follow questions like:

  • what’s the budget for this project?
  • what’s the timeline for this project?
  • who is the client for this project?
  • etc…

Ask questions to bring clarity to the context. Ask questions to showcase how you think, and how you develop systems. Questions questions questions. It’s an amazing way to show intent and to include the recruiter in the conversation as an active component of the process.


Insight 8: End your call with two slam dunk questions.

It’s absolutely important to end your call/interview with a slam dunk, something that’s going to bring a punctuation to your call.

Question 1: How did you find me?

Question 2: During our call what stood out to you for better or worse?

I always ask these two questions, and the response to them has always been the same… “wow I’ve never heard this before…” It’s a good wow, not a bad wow. Subtle but important distinction.

At the end of my call, I’m still doing research, I’m still learning and attempting to better myself. That’s my personal philosophy but one that shines a light on your personal character and narrative. If you’re going to preach that you love learning then you better as hell back it up with a willingness to take critique.

Question 1 can tell you so much about how recruiters found you online and can highlight areas to continue working on or developing further.

Question 2 can open the conversation up for an honest critique. Even during one of my more negative experiences with the conversation, the recruiter noted that I emphasized the wrong areas during the conversation. But even with that, I was invited to take an additional interview for a position that I otherwise wouldn’t have been considered for.

Question 2 also serves a purpose of forcing the recruiter to summarize the conversation allowing them to quickly digest and highlight areas that were memorable. This can be an excellent way to leave a deep indentation in their memory.


Conclusion

Ultimately nailing a call with a recruiter is a small step, but it can be an incredible learning experience and a set you up with an advocate for your character. In conclusion:

  • be honest
  • ask questions
  • express concern
  • value the recruiter as a human

But most importantly learn to communicate what you do as a designer, why you’re of value and how you can prove it.

Good luck!

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade