Is My Recruiter Any Good?

How can you assess a recruiter? He or she should be able to answer essentials about the job:

1. What are the top 2-3 things the job will do? Job descriptions are often unrealistically broad. To evaluate whether the job is a good fit, you need to find out what the employer most cares about, and a good recruiter should know what’s required versus nice to have.
2. What kind of compensation does the job offer? At a minimum, the recruiter should know what the comp consists of, e.g., base + bonus + equity (options and/or RSUs), and whether it will be competitive or not.
3. What is the trajectory for the company, Legal, and the specific position? The recruiter should be able to talk about where the company sees itself going, how Legal supports that mission, and how the role fits within Legal.
4. What are the people there like? Are they buttoned up or casual? Do they believe in work-life balance? Will they expect people to be 100% in the office after shelter in place?
5. What are the typical steps in the application process? Recruiters should know not only how many rounds of interviews but also nitty gritty details, like how offers are made (email, verbal, or FedEx), whether they are best and final or if there’s room to negotiate, and how many/what kind of references to provide.