Why senior executives need a good headhunter

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The higher you rise, the harder it is to rise higher. That’s not necessarily because the job gets tougher – but because the opportunities are fewer.

At any given moment, there are thousands of vacancies for junior managers, and hundreds for middle managers. But what about the really senior roles? If your next step will take you to the top echelons of your industry, there might be just a handful of openings every year.

What’s often worse is that the first time you become aware of a suitable opening is when the organisation announces the new appointment – you had no idea that there was a role up for grabs. Many big businesses don’t want to advertise the fact that they are losing a valuable senior executive, have had to fire an incompetent executive, or that their own talent pipeline isn’t up to filling a critical position.

It’s breathtaking how so many senior people don’t have a strategy for this problem, especially since getting into the right role affects not just your career but almost everything about you – how much you earn, where you and your family end up living, what experiences you’ll have, your self-esteem…

So, the higher you rise, the more likely you are to need a strong and long-term relationship with a good search professional whom you like and trust. At the most senior levels, such a relationship can be hugely beneficial. This is not only because so many top roles are handled exclusively by executive search firms, but also because some key roles are created from scratch to accommodate a great candidate recommended by a respected headhunter.
Just as business success requires careful planning, so does building your senior career. And, to be clear, you should be doing this while you are in position, not after you’ve resigned or been fired. Unfair as it may seem, businesses will often regard an executive who is out of work less highly than a similar candidate who currently has a good job in a reputable firm.

So how do you go about aligning yourself with a clued-up search professional? The organic, long-term route is to get yourself onto the search community’s radar by raising your profile. This involves taking networking seriously; speaking at conferences and events; adding interesting and enlightening comments to online articles; or even writing thought leadership articles or blogs. (If you can’t write for toffee, find a good copywriter to turn your experienced insights into golden prose.)

If you’re doing a good job at a senior level, you should expect to be headhunted every now and then; if three or four months go by without a search professional testing your appetite for a role, that suggests you need to work harder at getting noticed.

For those who don’t like self-promotion or are just playing catch-up, trawl your network of contacts to find recruiters whom people trust and recommend. Every time an acquaintance gets a new job, don’t just drop them an email – phone them up to congratulate them, and find out whether their new role was down to a good headhunter. Mention the referee’s name when you make contact with a promising search professional – that usually results in a faster response.

However, before you agree to a first exploratory meeting, ask a few questions to discover whether the headhunter is at the right level and strong in the sectors relevant to your future career.

Ask how many roles at your desired level they’ve managed to place, and which clients they have worked with. Find out whether they work for clients on retainer (good sign) or put up candidates on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis. (This ‘contingent’ end of the search market works mostly on volume rather than accurate matching to specific client requirements.)

There’s no point in meeting a headhunter who isn’t going to deliver what you will need in your next career move – and it’s definitely worth taking the time and trouble to find the right person.

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