I’ve spoken with a lot of data science candidates over the years and they all make a common mistake - they give way too much credit to the recruiters that call them about jobs.

With all of my experience as a hiring manager - and I’ve hired a lot of data scientists over the years - I can tell you that recruiters are nowhere near as important as you think they are. Honestly - I viewed recruiters as my secretary.

Recruiters were really only there to keep me within HR policy and my local hiring laws. That’s it.

They were the conduit between me and the candidate pool and they would help me decide when I could and couldn’t contact a candidate. But it was still my decision - the hiring manager - on who moved on and who didn’t in the process. The recruiter never made any decisions on my behalf. I wrote the job descriptions, I decided which resumes were good, I decided which candidates could move into the advanced rounds of interviews. The recruiter would then act accordingly.

Here’s an example: Did you know that even though I had decided to hire someone, I was not able to call them directly? I had to wait until the recruiter called them, read them a script that was cleared with the legal department, and formally offered the position. Once that was done, the recruiter would then tell me that I was clear to call. Then, and only then, was I within policy to call you.

Or here’s another one: The interviews you go through are much more scripted and prepared than you think. I was given guidance on how many total interview rounds I could have, who could be in those interviews, whether the cameras were on or off and how many people could ask a question. There’s a lot of rules to running interviews!

I encourage all of my coaching clients to take the same view. We’re not trying to impress the recruiter, they’re just the secretary. We’re really trying to be the best professional we can and be prepared to do a good job in the role. That’s where the key to real growth and landing a great job is.

When you’re ready, here’s two ways I can help you:

- Join other data pros getting exclusive tutorials and weekly deep dives: https://clients.datasciencewithdennis.com/upgrade

- 1-on-1 Strategy: Book a 60-minute session to map out your data career or AI project: https://calendly.com/dswithdennis/career-consultation-with-dennis