Should I work with more than one recruiter?
NO. No. For f!&@$ sake, no. (With possibly one teeny tiny exception that I'll get to in a moment.) And I say this for YOUR sake, not only on behalf of recruiters like myself. But why?
- In the law firm world, all recruiters have access to all the same jobs*. This is because firms almost never recruit by hiring a single recruiting firm to fill a role. Jobs are posted online and recruiters use databases that pull all those job openings to find them and present them to candidates.
*Sometimes recruiters do get "scoops" on jobs that aren't posted online (yet). That's NOT the same thing as an "exclusive." - It's way easier to keep a job search organized if you're working with one person who gets to know you and your goals, knows the market, helps you plan and strategize, keeps track of your applications, and advocates for you.
- Therefore, if you choose a good recruiter at the beginning of your search, a second recruiter adds no value--they just become one more cook in a tiny kitchen, getting in the way.
"But Julia... what if I already started working with a recruiter, but after reading #2 above I realize they're not a good recruiter because they're not doing all those things-- Are you saying I can't find another recruiter?"
Of course I'm not saying that! You can absolutely switch recruiters--and you absolutely should if you're not getting the full value a good recruiter can offer.
Here's what I AM saying, and it's the most important takeaway here:
Find a good recruiter and go all in.
The exception: In-house hiring is different. Companies frequently do engage one recruiter to run a search. If you're working with a recruiter and get an email from a second one about an "exclusive" in-house job, then fine. Tell your recruiter about it, and then have at it.
