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You've sent out enough applications this month to lose count. You've Googled "how to find a recruiter" more than once, and scrolled past LinkedIn recruiters hiring for roles two industries away from yours. Recruiters don't have storefronts. There's no directory to flip through. Finding the right fit is hard, and getting them to notice you over other applicants is harder.
Dr. Taryn Marie Stejskal oversaw executive talent strategy at Nike and sat with people on the day their jobs were eliminated, walking them through what came next. In her experience, finding a recruiter is the easy part. Getting one to invest in you takes strategy, and it starts before you ever say hello.
About the expert
Dr. Taryn Marie Stejskal is the founder of the Resilience Leadership Institute, where she studies how people navigate challenge, change, and complexity. She holds a doctorate in neuropsychology and has spent her career helping people through major career turning points: leading outplacement services for OI Global Partners, directing global leadership development at Cigna, and overseeing executive leadership development and talent strategy for the top 400 vice president roles at Nike.
The main types of recruiters
Recruiters mainly fall into two categories, and which you decide to target depends on your goals.
Internal recruiters sit on a company's talent acquisition team. They fill roles for that company only, usually within a specific function, and their work starts when a position opens. If you're set on a particular employer, an internal recruiter is your point of contact.
External recruiters work for staffing and search firms, filling roles for many employers at once. "External recruiters partner with you to present you for roles and opportunities, and to be another advocate, or even a sponsor, in your corner," Stejskal says. "They've developed curated relationships with hiring managers and companies over time." Because agency recruiters carry several open roles at a time, one conversation can put you in front of positions you never applied for.
And unlike a headhunter model you might be imagining, you don't pay for either type. Companies pay staffing firms to find talent, which means the recruiter's client is technically the employer. Understanding how that relationship works helps you get more out of it.
Some employers fill roles exclusively through staffing partners, so you could be considered for positions you'd never find on a board. And if you think you're not a fit, staffing agencies place people across nearly every industry and level. Kelly, for example, organizes its recruiting into specialty divisions (engineering, science, education, IT, finance, and more) and works with many Fortune 500 companies, so a single conversation with the right recruiter can open doors across fields and employers. About 2.2 million people were working through staffing companies in an average week of 2024, many in the same situation you're in now.
► Your next step: Decide which door you're knocking on. If you're targeting specific companies, find their internal recruiters. If you want someone surfacing roles on your behalf, find an agency that specializes in your industry.
When a recruiter helps most
It's worth adding a recruiter to your search if any of the following situations feels familiar:
- Your search has stalled. You've been applying for months without traction, and you want professional help identifying the right roles and getting your name in front of the people filling them.
- You're after a specialized or senior role. "There are just fewer of those positions available," Stejskal says, "and oftentimes you find those positions not posted on Indeed or LinkedIn, but through a series of relationships that a recruiter has."
- You're changing fields. Every career-changer wrestles with the same question, Stejskal says: "How do I take the experience that I have and package that as transferable skills?" A recruiter who knows your target industry can help translate your background into terms its hiring managers recognize.
- You're between jobs and need a bridge. Sixty-four percent of people employed through a staffing agency work with one to fill the gap between jobs or to help them land a new one. You don't need to be an executive or a specialist for a recruiter to earn their keep.
A recruiter isn't the right fit for every search. If the roles you want are plentiful and posted publicly, your own network may get you there first. But if you need work quickly and are open to exploring your options, working with a staffing agency might be the right fit.
► Your next step: If you have found yourself in any of the above scenarios, submit your resume to connect with a Kelly recruiter who specializes in your field, or browse open roles to see what's available right now.
Where to find a recruiter
Start with these three channels:
Search for specialists, then cross-reference. "I would do an initial Google search to see who the recruiters or recruiting firms are that specialize in my particular role or industry, then cross-reference that with a search on LinkedIn," Stejskal says. Check what they post about and which roles they're filling.
Ask your network. A recruiter who comes recommended by someone they've placed, or someone they trust, starts the relationship with built-in credibility. Ask colleagues in your field which recruiters they've worked with.
"A lot of people don't want to ask for help, especially if you're coming out of a job elimination," Stejskal says. "Do not hesitate to reach out to every person in your network, because the vast majority of people in the career world have probably had their job eliminated at least once."
Go through a staffing agency. Apply to a posted role, or submit your resume directly, and a recruiter contacts you. Agencies like Kelly let you submit your credentials without applying to a specific job, which puts your background in front of recruiters who specialize in your industry. From there, a recruiter reviews your skills and experience and reaches out when a role fits, so you're not doing all the searching yourself.
Working with a recruiter is valuable, but know that it doesn't replace the rest of your search. Job boards, LinkedIn, and recruiters each reach different corners of the market, so running each tactic together covers more ground than any one alone.
► Your next step: Spend half an hour this week building your shortlist of recruiters to contact. Google recruiters in your field, cross-reference them on LinkedIn, and ask one person in your network who they've worked with.
How to reach out and get a response
Recruiters get a lot of messages. The ones that get a response tend to show that the sender did some homework first.
Found a specific role? Apply before you connect. If you’re looking at a posted role, "I don't think recruiters in this day and age appreciate people who reach out without having submitted an application for the role," Stejskal says. Submit your resume and cover letter, then send the note. "Connect with the recruiter and say, 'I'm really interested in this role. I've already submitted my application, but I wanted to make a personal connection with you as well.'" Repeat that for every role on your list, and the outreach adds up fast. An agency recruiter flips the sequence: you submit your resume once, and they come to you when a role fits.
Get to know the person first. Before you ask for anything, spend a few minutes on the recruiter's profile. "I would read some of their posts, like some of their posts, and comment on some of their posts," Stejskal says. "It feels good to them when we don't treat it as a transactional relationship, and we take the opportunity to invest in knowing who the person is behind this opportunity."
Recruit your connections, and make it easy for them. LinkedIn shows you which of your first-degree connections know the recruiter or hiring manager. Ask them to put in a good word, then remove the friction. "We're all super busy," Stejskal says. "So once someone says yes, say, 'I'm willing to draft a little bit of content for you that you can edit and send out on my behalf.'" A few lines are plenty: who you are, the role you're interested in, and one reason you're a strong fit.
► Your next step: Before you message any recruiter, run through the checklist: submit the application, review their profile, leave one thoughtful comment, and check for mutual connections.
How to help your recruiter advocate for you
You know firsthand how competitive the job search is. For recruiters, the candidate search is, too. Applicants per job posting nearly doubled between 2021 and 2025. Stejskal's advice for standing out in that crowd starts with understanding what the hiring process really is.
"In talent acquisition, we talk about selection. But talent acquisition is not really selection. It's elimination," she says. "You've got one role to fill, and 250 people have applied. Recruiters and the hiring manager need to eliminate 249 people to get down to the final candidate." That means your job is to give them every reason to keep you in the pile.
Two habits help you stand out:
Bring numbers, and the impact behind them. "Recruiters like to work with people who can not only list successful accomplishments, but can show the impact," Stejskal says. She recalls a marketer who could cite an 86% response rate on a mail campaign, but couldn't say what it produced for the company in revenue or new clients. Make sure you can articulate why your accomplishments matter.
Communicate clearly and set expectations. "Have a conversation with your recruiter," Stejskal says. She recommends asking: "What's the level of detail and updates that you want from me? When are you going to reach out to me? What's going to help you be an effective sponsor of this process?" Agreeing on the ground rules up front spares you the wondering later, and it tells the recruiter you'll be easy to advocate for.
► Your next step: Pick your three strongest career accomplishments and write down the numbers behind each one. For every metric, add one sentence on what it meant for the business.
Start the conversation
Finding a recruiter is the easy part. The work that matters happens before you ever reach out: choosing the right type of recruiter for your search, preparing the numbers behind your accomplishments, and showing up as someone a recruiter wants to go to bat for.
The fastest way to put it into practice is through a staffing agency, where one application can connect you with a recruiter who already knows your industry. Submit your resume to connect with a Kelly recruiter who specializes in your field, or browse open roles to see what they're filling right now.