Interview with Independent Recruiter Jennifer Armitstead

Recently we spoke with Independent Recruiter and Career Coach Jennifer Armistead who had plenty of ideas for students looking for jobs after graduation. Jennifer has an impressive wrap sheet, having placed thousands of people in jobs over the last 12 years. In this video, she shares insider tips on how to work with recruiters to advance your career, what companies look for in employees, how education helps to set you apart from the competition, and how to prepare for job interviews. We’ve also included some transcription highlights below.

I’m a recruiter and I want you to know how important education is because it is critical to the success of your career.

So when companies are hiring, they typically are looking for 3 main things: they’re looking for a cultural fit, they’re looking for a skill fit, and they’re also looking for somebody who can continue to grow and learn, and typically that will happen through education.

Once somebody’s a good cultural fit, then I will typically look at what is their skill? Do they match what this company needs? If it’s a technical position, do they have the technical background that’s needed to do this position? And if they don’t have the technical skill from work experience, have they gone to school? Have they earned a degree that they can then leverage that towards their work experience. And then of course, as a person is working, once they’re in the door, how are they doing as far as continuing to learn. Especially in technology, there are so many nuances of technology and things that will continue to change.

I think education is so critical for job-seekers, certainly in today’s marketplace there are people who are concerned about okay, how attractive am I as a candidate, and whatnot. But for years as I’ve dealt with job seekers, and I’ve been in recruiting for over 12 years. The people who have really invested in their education, those are the people that are continuing to excel and they’re doing well in their careers, and actually will come back to me time and time again to help them again in their career, to continue to progress. But the education is just critical, it makes such a difference. When I’m comparing apples to apples and I’m looking at two candidates, the candidate who has a college degree, or the candidate who has gone back and has received the extra certification, they stand out to me. It shows to me that that person is committed to themselves and to being better, and that they are committed to finishing something as well. And that makes a big difference. And I can say that because of managers that I have dealt with, and I have dealt with hundred of hiring managers, they like to see that that person is going to stick with something.

So I think a really important thing for students while they’re in school is to start to build relationships with recruiters then. And to build relationships with people that are in their class, be it their professors, their classmates, there can also be even professionals that come on campus that maybe give speeches or whatnot. And so I think it’s really important students start paying attention to who those people are and start to connect with them. You don’t want to wait until after you graduate to then start doing your job search. Also, it’s really important that you connect with your career services on campus because they will be able to let you know when recruiters will be coming on campus. Those are great people to connect with because although you may have another year or two left of your education, or six months, and you might be thinking, well I won’t be getting a job just yet, by getting connected with a recruiter today will help you in six months or a year from now. It allows you to have that opportunity to build that relationship with the recruiter as well and then hopefully you’ll stand out from those other candidates, too.

Whenever I’m preparing one of my candidates for an interview, there are some critical things that I make sure that they’re aware of before they go into that interview. Dressing for the position is critical. I find that when candidates show up and they have on a nice suit, a shirt and tie, whatever it is that looks professional, they will really stand out. Granted the position while working, you might be dressed very casually, maybe even T-shirts and jeans, but dressing for the interview is really critical, and it really helps you to stand out.