You may have heard of these services – you upload your resume to a site which blasts it out to everyone and anyone who does recruiting. Not a bad deal, right? 

Right – kind of. As with everything else, there are good recruiter distribution services and bad ones. Since approximately 15-20% of jobs are found through recruiters, you’ll want to use one that results in a similar success rate. Though you may get lucky, the services that you’re more likely to get these results with will probably cost more than the others.

Once you find the service for you, it really is one of the easiest, fastest methods for job searching. Your resume will be sent to recruiters across the country, with little work on your end. This will free up time and energy for you to spend on networking, developing a target list, applying directly to companies, etc. However, as mentioned, getting a reputable service is crucial. Below are some things to find out to determine if you have found the right one.

1)      Do you get to choose the target industries and functions? If you’re in marketing and your resume is blasted to companies that only source for financial executives, it’s a waste of time for everyone involved. Be sure you can choose where you want your resume to go.

2)      Is the cover letter personalized? No one likes to read a letter addressed to “To Whom It May Concern.” Find out if the contact person’s name is automatically entered into the cover letter.

3)      Will you receive a list of the recruiters? As with the rest of the job search, it helps to follow up. Though you may not be able to contact all the recruiters your resume went to (there can be thousands, after all!), you’ll now have the information for those you do want to contact directly.

A targeted recruiter distribution campaign may send your resume to less people, but will be more effective than a general blast. Do a little research on companies beforehand, and then they’ll take care of the hard part!