How to Work With Executive Headhunters By Peter D Robson
There are probably more nasty things said about executive headhunters than about the banks these days. However, despite this they can be useful allies in your job search. Executive headhunters work in two ways.
Firstly they can be retained by a company who they have an exclusive relationship with. This means that the company has retained their services, in effect as an outsourced arm of their Human resource department. The headhunter is paid a proportion of the total fee upfront and further instalments as they complete various stages of the assignment.
Secondly they can be retained on a contingency basis, where they present candidates to a company, but are only paid if the company actually recruits.
How is this relevant to the job searcher?
Essentially it is a matter of finding a headhunter whose interest it is to promote you. To do this you need to find a headhunter who specialises in your industry. You must then make sure that they know what you are looking for and very importantly keep them up to date about any changes in your circumstances e.g. approaches from employers or search firms.
To find a good headhunter organisation to work with I would recommend asking friends and business colleagues for recommendations. It can also be useful to social media sites such as LinkedIn.com and Twitter. The latter may surprise people, but i know from personal experience just how powerful a resource it can be in this respect. I would also recommend sites like bizjournals.com
Lastly, headhunters like everyone else are here to make money. If you here of a recruitment opportunity that they might benefit from then let you favourite headhunter know about it. You will be surprised how this increases your standing in their eyes!
executive headhunters