Help your recruiter remember you

Is it your role, or your duty, to help a recruiter remember who you are?

If they are good, shouldn’t they remember who you are??  Isn’t that THEIR JOB?

It might be a part of their job, but if they aren’t doing that part of their job well, is it their FAULT?

Some recruiters will be really good at remembering you.  Especially if there is a reason to remember you.  Sometimes, though, you will be just another number, just another random resume.

Is this an issue? Isabelle Shelby asks if it is okay to take a picture of candidates to help remember them better (and wonders if there are ethical issues with this).  I’m a visual person, so this would definitely help me, but I would feel awkward asking people if I could take their picture… at that link there is a lively discussion about taking pictures of the job seeker to help the recruiter remember who they are.

What can YOU DO to help them remember who you are?

1. Follow-up. Because practically no one really does this, as you follow-up you’ll be more memorable.  You’ve heard the saying “the squeaky wheel gets the oil….”  Be that squeaky wheel (but not annoying).
2. Have a solid story. In a comment on that post one recruiter says “… isn’t it performance, good or bad, that make an employee memorable…”  Is your story, and your performance, making you memorable?  If you have a LIST of things you’ve done, you are as memorable as the 1,000 others who have a LIST.  Tell stories and stand out.
3. Introduce your recruiter to others. When you open up your network to them, you provide them value. The more you do this, the more valuable you become to them.  You’ll be on their mind more often.
4. Follow-up, some more! The follow-up is NOT a one-time thing.  Think about nurturing a long-term relationship – that takes work, and multiple follow-ups.

I don’t object to the picture thing – John Comyn makes a strong case for that.  But YOU can do things, like the four I mentioned above, to give the recruiter (or hiring manager, or HR, or the venture capitalist, etc.) remember you for many months, or years, to come.