As a recruiter, one of the questions I get the most from people during an interview is how many agencies they should sign up with. How many you should sign up with is down to the individual candidate. There’s no golden rule when it comes to signing up with agencies, but I do recommend signing up with two or three. Never sign up with more than five though. Here’s why you shouldn’t sign up to too many;

While your recruiter should contact you when there’s an opportunity that would be right for you, it’s also important for a candidate to regularly call their recruiter and keep them up to date on if they are still actively looking for work or not. The fewer agencies you are signed up with, the fewer check-in calls you have to make when something changes.

Having a stronger relationship with a recruiter means that they are more likely to consider you when something comes up. Recruiters are human after all, and the people they talk to the most are going to be at the front of their minds (and the tops of their call lists).

It sounds like the ideal situation to be in as a jobseeker is to have offers coming in all the time. However, this isn’t the case for temp workers. They are expected to see their commitment through to the end. No one likes it when a candidate has to leave their role. If you are working with several agencies, you might get one offer while working on a job for another. While that sounds tempting, jumping between roles before completing an assignment is going to leave a lot of angry recruiters and burned bridges behind you. A burned recruiter is not going to help you find a job in the future.

Sydney has different kinds of recruitment agencies for different kinds of people. Do some research and find a firm that would be good for you. Take a look at what they specialise in and how they advertise themselves. No two candidates are the same, and the same could be said of recruitment agencies.

It’s all about finding a balance. You want to be signed up with a few agencies so that you get work coming in, but you also want to have a manageable number of relationships to handle.

Be sure to address a recruiter by the right name when sending emails (this becomes even more important if you are handling several people! Don’t send bulk emails to all consultants; have the courtesy to BCC them in the email at least. Recruitment agencies understand that they aren’t the only recruiters you deal with, but think of it like dating someone; would you want them to shove it in your face they are seeing other people? Recruiters feel the same way.