What IT Contractors Should Expect from a Good Recruiter

You have spoken with a recruiter, discussed an opportunity, and agreed to let them represent you.

What should happen next?

Submitting your resume should be the beginning of a properly managed recruitment process, not the end of your recruiter’s involvement.

From submission through to onboarding, your recruiter should help you understand what is happening, prepare for each stage and make informed decisions. They cannot control every client decision or timeline, but they can provide clarity, communication and support.

Through my work at MA, I regularly speak with tech contractors across Canada about what they value from a recruiter and where recruitment processes can fall short. Those conversations, together with my own experience supporting contractors, have informed this guide.

If you have already agreed to be represented, here is what you should expect at each stage.

Before submission: information and consent

A recruiter should never send your resume to a client without your knowledge and agreement.

Before representing you, they should explain:

• Who the client is, unless there is a legitimate confidentiality restriction
• What the project or position involves
• Why your experience is relevant
• The location and working arrangements
• The expected contract duration and start date
• The agreed-upon rate

They should also confirm that you have not already been presented for the same opportunity. Duplicate submissions can create confusion over which agency represents you and potentially damage your application.

After submission: confirmation and next steps

Once your resume has been submitted, your recruiter should confirm:

• When it was sent
• Your rate and available allocation presented
• When the recruiter plans to follow up

This does not require a long conversation. A short message can prevent uncertainty and ensure everyone is working with the same information.

Your recruiter should also tell you when the situation changes. Vacancies are sometimes paused, requirements shift and client timelines move. Contractors understand that this happens. What creates frustration is being left unaware of it.

Before an interview: specific preparation

If the client wants to meet you, your recruiter should provide more than a calendar invitation.

A good recruiter will arrange a preparation call before the interview. This should feel more like a tailored coaching session than a simple briefing: focused on the specific role, client and people you are about to meet. Drawing on their knowledge of the client, the recruiter should help you understand the interviewers’ personalities and communication styles, what they are likely to value in a contractor and the interview etiquette expected.

A contractor working within the Salesforce ecosystem also described the value of understanding what an interviewer is likely to focus on: 

“A good recruiter will be like, ‘This guy likes to ask these kinds of questions.’ Knowing a little bit about what they’re looking for really makes you able to go in with ease.”

They should also identify which parts of your experience and technical skill set are most relevant, helping you choose strong examples and focus your preparation accordingly.

The aim is not to script your answers, but to help you enter the interview understanding what matters to this particular client and how to present your genuine experience effectively.

You should understand:

• Who you will meet
• The format and expected duration
• Whether there is a live or take-home exercise
• Which parts of your experience interested the client
• Whether the interview is technical, behavioural or both

This is especially important in technology recruitment, where assessment formats vary significantly.

As one contractor specialising in Java development explained: 

“Sometimes it’s open-ended questions, and sometimes it’s timed algorithm exercises. To have that information in a clear way, it helps to prepare well.”

Preparation is not about feeding someone the answers. It is about providing enough context for the contractor to demonstrate their real capability.

Between stages: regular communication

You should always know what is happening with your application, even when the client has not provided a new update.

Clients do not always respond when expected. Hiring managers become unavailable, approvals take longer than planned and priorities change. Your recruiter may not be able to prevent these delays, but they can make sure you are never left wondering whether the opportunity is still active or whether you have been forgotten.

A contractor working with Salesforce technology explained what good communication looks like when a decision is delayed:

“Even if they don’t have an update from the client, just being like, ‘Hey, I didn’t hear back from the client yet, but I haven’t forgotten about you.’”

I always say: when I do not have an update, that is my update.

If I am still waiting to hear from the client, you will hear that from me. I will tell you when I last followed up, what I am waiting for and when I plan to follow up again. Even if there is nothing new to report, I will continue checking in and keeping you informed rather than leaving you to chase the process yourself.

Good communication means regular check-ins, setting expectations, agreeing on the next contact point and not leaving the contractor to chase the process alone.

When something goes wrong: fast ownership

Even well-managed recruitment processes encounter problems.

An interviewer may not attend. A calendar invitation could contain the wrong details. A technical assessment might not load. The client may unexpectedly change the format or add another stage.

A good recruiter is not someone who can guarantee that nothing will go wrong. It is someone who responds quickly and helps resolve the problem.

A contractor specialising in software development recalled a recruitment process in which the interviewer did not attend:

“The guy didn’t show up in the interview. I waited for a couple of minutes and then sent an email. I got a response like one hour later.”

The interview was rearranged, but the delayed response affected the contractor’s confidence in the process.

When an issue occurs, your recruiter should acknowledge it quickly, contact the relevant person and explain the next step. You should not be left coordinating everyone else.

They should also represent your concerns professionally. Advocacy is not about creating conflict; it is about ensuring your time and experience are respected.

After an interview: debriefing and honest feedback

Your recruiter should contact you after each interview.

This gives you an opportunity to explain what was discussed, how you felt it went, whether you remain interested, and whether the role still matches what was originally described.

The recruiter can then reinforce your interest, clarify possible misunderstandings and ask the client for feedback.

That feedback will not always be detailed. Some clients provide only a brief decision, while others explain what went well and why someone did not progress. Your recruiter should never invent feedback to fill the gap. They should make a genuine effort to obtain it and be honest about what the client has provided.

For contractors, this is also about respecting the time they have invested in the process. As one contractor working in Java development explained:

“I took the time to prepare for an interview. You have at least to take the time and give me feedback. We all use our time, which costs us money too. It goes both ways.”

Recruiters cannot force a client to provide detailed feedback, but they should pursue it, communicate the outcome and avoid leaving the contractor without closure.

Closing the offer seamlessly

By the time you receive an offer, your recruiter should have given you the clarity you need to make a confident decision straight away.

If the client wants to engage you, your recruiter should confirm:

• The agreed rate and contract duration
• The start date, hours and working location
• Remote, hybrid or in-office expectations
• Overall payroll arrangements 

Ideally, the offer should reflect everything discussed throughout the process, making the decision feel straightforward.

If anything has changed, or you still have unanswered questions or concerns, raise them honestly with your recruiter before accepting.

Your recruiter can then clarify the details, explore whether any concerns can be resolved, and represent your position to the client. The aim here is to address any remaining barriers so that everyone can move forward with confidence.

Before and after starting: continued support

Once you accept, your recruiter or their wider team should explain the onboarding process, required documentation and who to contact if something is unclear.

Depending on the engagement, this might cover contracts, eligibility checks, references, payroll information, equipment, first-day instructions and timesheet processes.

Support should not stop once you start the contract.

The work has only just begun for your recruiter, and the support should be there throughout the duration of your assignment.

Your recruiter should check in on the assignment, check in on how things are going, and remain available to help with payment questions, working arrangements, contract extensions, rate conversations, or emerging concerns.

The right level of contact will depend on the contractor and client’s preferences, but the recruiter should always remain reachable. What matters is knowing who to contact and feeling able to raise an issue before it becomes a larger problem.

A strong relationship can also extend beyond one vacancy.

One contractor in my network was living outside Canada when I first began contacting them about suitable opportunities. We stayed in touch across the time difference and continued looking until the right position appeared. 

“Each time you had one, you just called me straight away. We kept looking until we landed this one.”

The first opportunity may not work out. The timing may be wrong or the client may choose someone else. A genuine professional relationship should not disappear because one vacancy does not result in a placement.

What does your recruiter need from you?

A well-managed process also depends on honest communication from the contractor.

Help your recruiter represent you by:

• A well-formatted resume (take a look at my guide on how to write a tech resume)
• Openness to interview coaching
• Raising any disturbances in availability (i.e., vacation)
• Confirming your rate and availability accurately
• Disclosing other active interview processes
• Responding promptly when timelines are short
• Sharing honest feedback after each stage
• Raising concerns and proposing solutions
• Not focusing on the job description and trusting the recruiter’s match of your profile to the project
• Communicating changes to your circumstances or interest

For example, if another client is preparing an offer, telling your recruiter allows them to manage expectations and ask whether their client can accelerate its decision.

Good representation depends on both sides communicating clearly.

What if the support is missing?

If your recruiter goes quiet or the process is unclear, it’s ok to directly ask them. Sometimes the recruiter is working on multiple roles, and it can happen that they aren’t as quick to provide you an update as you’d like.

Questions you can ask:

• Has my resume been submitted?
• Is the opportunity still active?
• Is any feedback available?

A professional recruiter will not be offended by questions and will be happy that you reached out for clarity. It shows a sense of proactiveness on your end that we value.

One missed update does not necessarily make someone a bad recruiter. However, if they repeatedly disappear, change agreed details, avoid direct questions, or fail to resolve problems, consider whether this is a professional relationship you want to maintain.

Final thoughts

Once a recruiter begins representing you, you should feel supported, not simply submitted and forgotten.

You should know where your resume has been sent, what each stage involves, and when to expect another update. If something goes wrong, your recruiter should help resolve it. When the client makes a decision, they should communicate it honestly.

They cannot guarantee a fast process or a successful offer. They can ensure the experience is clear, transparent, and respectful of the time you have invested.

If you are an IT contractor in Canada looking to gain the support of a specialist IT recruiter, connect with me, Arielle Nagar, at MA or submit your resume to our team.

Even if your current contract is still active, beginning the conversation early gives us time to understand your experience, priorities, and what the right next move might look like.