Perhaps you’ve been contacted by a recruiter and the first thing you asked them was, “How did you get my name?”
As an Animal Health executive recruiter and Veterinary Recruiter for more than 25 years, I’ve had a number of people ask me this question. And because there is sometimes uncertainty surrounding this type of situation, I wanted to directly address it.
On the one hand, I can understand the motivation behind this question. This is the case if you don’t necessarily know the Animal Health or Veterinary recruiter who contacted you. They are, in essence, a stranger, although not as much of a stranger as someone who has no connection to the Animal Health industry or Veterinary profession.
However, how an Animal Health or Veterinary recruiter got your name should not be your focus. Instead of the HOW, your focus should be on the WHY. In other words, exactly why the recruiter has contacted you.
The WHY of an Animal Health or Veterinary recruiter
So why is an Animal Health or Veterinary recruiter contacting you? In simplest terms, there are two main reasons:
- They have an employment opportunity they want to bring to your attention and that opportunity has the potential to be stronger than the job you currently have.
- They have identified you as a top candidate for this particular opportunity and would like to share the details of the opportunity with you. They want to make sure it is on your “radar” so you are aware of it.
I’ve written before about the importance of considering an opportunity, no matter the situation in which you find yourself. This is because you cannot accurately identify an opportunity and successfully take advantage of it unless you first focus on it and consider it. Unfortunately, it’s easy to become distracted, especially if there are challenging circumstances associated with the situation in which you find yourself. This is the case if you find yourself in a chaotic situation.
However, you can become distracted even if your circumstances are not chaotic, which is usually the case when an Animal Health or Veterinary recruiter contacts you. Instead of focusing on WHY the recruiter has contacted you, instead you focus on HOW the recruiter contacted you. Ultimately, HOW the recruiter got your name and contacted you is not going to help you move your career forward or benefit you. But WHY they contacted you could absolutely benefit you, both professionally and personally.
So instead of asking, “How did you get my name?” perhaps a better question would be, “Why are you contacting me?” or “Why do you think I am a good fit for this role?”
Because the answer to these questions is the reason behind a great new employment opportunity that has the potential to help you grow your career and make your life better.
The HOW of an Animal Health or Veterinary recruiter
As I mentioned above, though, I understand why someone might be curious as to how an Animal Health or Veterinary recruiter got their name. The easy answer to this question is that it’s a recruiter’s job to identify the top job candidates in the profession. And when I say, “top job candidates,” I’m talking about the top 5% to 10% of the candidates in the market. These are the people who are gainfully employed and highly regarded by their current employer and not actively looking for a new position.
So when a recruiter contacts you, it automatically means that you have been identified as not only a top candidate for the employment opportunity they want to share with you, but it also means that you’re considered a top candidate in the job market overall. Viewed within that context, it’s flattering that the recruiter has contacted you, so be glad that your hard work and dedication has paid off and that someone has noticed.
In addition, there is a good chance that the recruiter got your name from someone who you know. That’s because recruiters often ask for referrals from the people with whom they’re discussing employment opportunities. In such a situation, the person who provided your name is not trying to violate your privacy or breach your confidentiality. Instead, they have your best interests in mind because they believe the opportunity that they just heard about could be a great move for you and your career.
There are many instances in which someone’s direct supervisor recommended a person to me because they truly thought the opportunity I had could move that person’s career forward, when they knew there was limited growth potential for the person in their current situation. In some cases, their direct supervisor knew layoffs were on the horizon and they were looking after someone they cared about, knowing they would be losing their job in the weeks or months to come.
There are currently many premium employment opportunities in the job market, especially within the Veterinary profession. The unemployment rate within the profession is virtually non-existent. Employers are in need of veterinarians and are highly motivated to hire them. Because of the Law of Supply and Demand, employers are willing to pay more to hire veterinarians. (When something is in short supply and high demand, the cost of that something increases. And in the case of veterinarians, that cost has increased dramatically during the past several years.)
So with as much opportunity that exists in the employment marketplace, this is the perfect time to be focusing on opportunity and not other circumstances that may exist within a certain situation. There has never been a better time to leverage the value that you can offer as a professional, especially if you work within the Veterinary profession.
In other words, right now—perhaps more than at any time in the history of the Animal Health industry or Veterinary profession—you want your name to be known. You want top employers to know who you are, so that you can take full advantage of the opportunities that exist in the job market.
The VET Recruiter has been helping Animal Health and Veterinary professionals take advantage of new opportunities to grow their career for more than two decades, and we can do the same for you when opportunities arise. If you’re not going to retire with your current employer, then you’ll eventually have a new job with another employer, and it’s always a good idea to be open to opportunities and to listen when a recruiter contacts you.
If you’re looking to make a change or explore your employment options, then we want to talk with you. I encourage you to contact us or you can also create a profile and/or submit your resume for consideration.
We help support careers in one of two ways: 1. By helping Animal Health and Veterinary professionals to find the right opportunity when the time is right, and 2. By helping to recruit top talent for the critical needs of Animal Health and Veterinary organizations. If this is something that you would like to explore further, please send an email to stacy@thevetrecruiter.com.