Dealing with
Headhunters
by Edward Smith
On the face of it, being headhunted is an event
over which you have no control. An approach comes straight out of
nowhere - usually when you're least expecting it. Is there anything you
can do to enhance your chances of being headhunted?
Maximising Your Chances of Being Approached
Professional headhunters, or executive search
consultants, as they are more properly known, thrive on their
connections in the business world, and so for them to approach you,
means they must know someone who has recommended you to them.
This will usually be someone who has encountered you
in the course of your work, such as: business colleagues, past and
present (bosses, peers and subordinates); external contacts (clients,
customers and suppliers); and people who know you through your work on
outside bodies such as professional institutions and trade associations.
This means that if you want to increase your chances
of being recommended, you will have to look on everyone that you deal
with as a potential employment scout. This means that:
- You have to be completely reliable - you get back to people when you say you will and you complete your work to targets.
- You learn to keep your flaws to yourself.
- You don't moan about work matters and you don't use your colleagues as a sounding board for your grievances.
- You never run down your colleagues and your bosses behind their backs, but instead keep your opinions on people to yourself.
- Your appearance is always immaculate.
- You don't have 'off days'.
- You apply the polish that you usually save for interviews to every day.
Potential
candidates are also sourced from media reports on companies or from
other sources that are in the public domain, for instance, someone who
writes an article for one of their professional journals or magazines,
or someone whose name features prominently in trade press coverage about
their company.
Even if you're not looking to make a job move at the
moment, always make sure that you receive headhunters courteously and
hear out what they've got to say � you never know when you night need to
contact them in the future. Your response should be something like,
whilst you're perfectly happy with what you're doing at the moment, you
would always be interested to hear about any opportunities that would
move your career forward.
Approaching the Headhunters
The essential things to learn about approaching headhunters is:
- They do almost all of their business on the telephone, so contact them this way, rather than writing to them or sending them emails.
- Connections are very important to headhunters. You must either know the consultant, or know someone who does if you want to focus their attention on what you are saying.
- Conciseness is the way to a headhunter's heart. By getting to the point quickly, you will avoid losing their interest.
If
you've already been headhunted before, approaching a consultant is
easy. Simply contact the consultant you dealt with previously and say
you're ready to make a move, and talk them through what you're looking
for.
If you've never been approached before, find someone
among your network who has, and telephone the consultant using your
contact's name as a reference. Quickly establish the connection: "I got
your name from Joe Bloggs, you placed him in a position with Hello
Communications five months ago". Once the connection has been made,
swiftly move on to where you're coming from and what you're seeking to
achieve - your target. Try to do this in three sentences at the most.
Add another sentence to introduce any interesting areas of your skills
or experience, then ask the consultant if they can help you. At this
point, stop talking and listen to the answer.
However, the headhunter may not deal with the kind
of jobs you're after, and if this is the case, ask if they know a
headhunter who does, and then repeat the process with them.
How To Keep the Headhunters Interested
Even if the first approach by a headhunter doesn't
work out, if you develop a good relationship with them, they will keep
approaching you until the right one turns up. To do this, make sure you
follow these guidelines:
- Be considerate. Always hear out what they've got to say, and never figuratively shut the door in their face.
- Be honest. If a job's not suitable for you, say so. Don't string headhunters along. Wasting their time won't endear them to you.
- Be positive. Tell the recruiter the kind of job you are looking for and what kind of offer would tempt you.
- Be available. Don't make their life difficult by being impossible to reach.
- Be reliable. Go back to headhunters when you say you will. Don't leave them to have to chase you.
- Be engaging. Encourage headhunters to keep 'phoning you.
- Be proactive. Keep up the contact by calling them from time to time.
When It All Works Out
Companies who use headhunters to find the ideal
candidate will normally be fairly accommodating on the kind of pay and
benefits package they would have to put forward to attract the right
calibre of applicant. Consequently, there is usually plenty of room for
negotiation, and so don't, whatever you do, sell yourself short by
naming a figure at the start that's too low. Headhunters are used to
dealing with salaries in truly astronomical figures, and are unlikely to
think that you're being too greedy or over the top.