For most job seekers, recruiters are strange and distant people who act in odd and sometimes off-putting ways. They are responsible for acquiring the talent employers need to accomplish their mission, yet they often seem determined to make it difficult for candidates to apply and be fairly evaluated for their employer’s open positions. They tout their employer and its openings in their advertisements, and operate corporate websites that leave job seekers feeling as if they just dropped their resume into a black hole.

So, what is it with recruiters?  Why do they act the way they do?  And, is there anything we can do to put ourselves in a better position when dealing with them?

There are no simple answers to those questions. Recruiters are as diverse a lot as any other group in the workforce.  They do, however, share some common attributes that — once you understand them — will at least partially explain their behavior and help you to be more successful in your dealings with them. Here are the four factors for figuring out recruiters:

Factor #1: Recruiters are not experts in your occupation or profession.
Recruiters may recruit for Java programmers, salespeople and project managers but they do not program in Java, sell products or services, or manage projects. With rare exceptions, they are experts in recruiting, not in the fields for which they recruit. As a consequence, they must rely on their customer — the hiring manager whose position they are trying to fill — to determine what qualifications are necessary to be considered for a position. They not only lack the expertise to work outside those guidelines, but it would be very risky for them to do so. If they convince a manager to accept someone with credentials other than those specified by the manager and that new hire doesn’t work out, the recruiter will be blamed for the cost of that mistake. And, in today’s highly competitive markets, those costs — in lost productivity, additional recruiting efforts (to replace the “bad hire”) and increased workload for the manager — can be significant. Indeed, they can be so onerous that the recruiter will be fired.

What should you do? Make sure you present your qualifications so that recruiters can understand them.  Use the same words and phrases that hiring managers typically use to describe your skills and experience. How can you uncover those terms?  Look at recruiters’ job postings and classified ads; in most cases, they will use the exact terms they’ve been given by the hiring manager. In short, don’t use your vocabulary to promote yourself, use the employer’s.

Factor #2: Most recruiters listened to their mother.
What was the first lesson your mother taught you? That’s right … don’t speak to strangers.  While recruiters always work hard to evaluate the applications they receive in response to their job advertisements, they also have a very real preference in the candidate selection process.  They’d rather bet on someone they know (or on someone who is known by someone they know) than bet on a stranger. They firmly believe that the best candidates are those who are referred by other employees or are identified through their own networking. Nonetheless, the research bears them out. On average, new hires sourced through a personal connection tend to perform better and stay longer than new employees who are recruited with other methods.

What should you do?  Keep checking those job postings and classified ads, but also invest time and effort in networking.  Learn and practice the skills of properly making and using connections, both in the real world and on the Internet (it’s done differently online and off).  And remember, the word says exactly what it means; it’s net-WORK, not net-SitBackandRelax. Work at networking every day.

Factor #3: Most recruiters are not intentionally rude or unpleasant to work with.
Recruiters have an incredibly demanding job. They must fill all of their employer’s open positions and do so quickly with the best talent in the workforce. That mission would be hard enough, all by itself, but most employers’ recruiting organizations are chronically understaffed and under-funded.  Indeed, it’s not unusual for a single recruiter to be working on 10 or even 15 different vacancies at the same time. The pace is frenetic and the pressure is intense.  And, unfortunately, they sometimes take it out on candidates. There’s no excuse for such behavior, of course, but it is understandable. Moreover, the employer is also responsible, at least in part, for the stressful environment in which recruiters must work.

What should you do?  First, if you come across an inconsiderate recruiter, ask yourself if you want to work for an organization that causes (or tolerates) such behavior by its recruiters.  Second, try not to fall into the trap of “recruiter rage,” and don’t respond in kind, but instead treat the recruiter as you would like to be treated. It is possible to change the way a recruiter deals with you, if you make the effort.

Factor #4: Recruiters are not responsible for job seekers’ success.
It would be nice if a recruiter’s job was to find a job for every candidate who applies to their organization, but that’s not the way the world works. The job market is a very competitive environment.  Jobs don’t go to those who simply show up; they go to those who work at selling themselves as the best candidate for an opening.  In other words, jobs are won, not awarded.  And, in many organizations, the recruiter isn’t even the final judge, the hiring manger is.  Recruiters, however, can and do influence the manager’s decision, so they too have to be persuaded that a particular candidate is the best prospect for a position. For job seekers, that means they have a job even when they’re looking for one — they have to work at making themselves the best prospect for the opening they want.

What should you do?  Don’t look for jobs, go after them.  Be the best you can be in your profession, craft or trade and in your ability to articulate and prove the value you can contribute to a prospective employer (remember, “it ain’t braggin’ if ya’ done it.”)

Recruiters are people too. Like you and me, they have their peculiarities, their foibles and their imperfections.  Also, like you and me, they want to do the best they can at their job.  So, when you’re looking for an Employment opportunity, see yourself as someone who’s working to make the recruiter successful.  Adopt that perspective in your interactions with recruiters, and you may just find that they return the favor.