When A Headhunter Calls!

When the Headhunter Calls

For starters you cannot predict when a headhunter will come knocking with potential career opportunities, but it is essential to establish soon after taking their call whether the headhunter at the other end of the phone wants to speak with you about your interest in a new job or whether he or she is trolling for a referral to someone you know. For a lot of reasons it makes sense to spend a little time answering this candidate’s sourcing calls, just consider the steady decline in executive job tenure we have seen in recent years, and you will realize why this particular conversation can expand your network and maybe pay dividends down the road.

Headhunters after all are engaged in the business of information and effective networking, and for those reasons they rarely turn a blind eye to someone who has been helpful to them as they source and qualify exceptional management candidates. You should expect questions about your previous work experience, your current and desired compensation, your willingness to relocate and you should plan to answer them I a clear and precise manner. After all this is the first of a series of phone conversations and later personal interviews that could dramatically change the course of your executive career.

Getting the Headhunter’s Attention

Is now the right time to start thinking about your next big career move? Or do you see the writing on the wall; sure you have always fielded calls from headhunters and you may have met a few along the way to your current management job. But do you know the right headhunters who are especially well connected to the industry or job function you are in, or perhaps to the industry or job title to which to which you aspire. Forget about sending your resume unsolicited to an executive recruiter; after all this is the ultimate don’t call us, will call you form of business consultancy.

Instead make your move to initiate a relationship with an influential headhunter through the referral of an equally well connected friend, professional colleague, industry opinion leader or fellow club member. Besides, whatever advice they might offer the referral and introduction of someone with an outstanding reputation and personal brand is just the kind of headhunting currency you could take to the bank. Executive recruiters are especially masterful networkers and they know that birds of a feather flock together and an appealing message from a trusted source is the grease that can lubricate your transition into senior management.

The modern business of executive headhunting remains a mystery to most business people, this despite its routes trace back to the days soon after the armistice of World War 1 when it was first practiced and conceived within the walls of the earliest management consulting firms. If you are unaware our remain unconvinced about the influence of today’s corporate headhunters, consider the fact that they recruit to fill nearly one third of all management jobs around the world each year, and more than half of the world’s highest paying positions in executive management.

Head hunters are especially powerful facilitators of executive mobility and management career opportunity, they work as agents of both creative and destructive influence on hiring organizations, their brands, leadership, culture and financial performance.

Whether you are building a successful company or a six figure management career you simply cannot get anywhere in business without the executive headhunters, but it is critically important to understand who you are working with. Have you been approached by an executive search consultant who recruits highly paid strategic business leaders or perhaps by a more junior contingency headhunter eager to pass along your resume and get you recruited into a job with lower visibility, lower pay, and typically much less responsibility. That distinction is enormous because it preordains the kind of career opportunities you will be exposed to, put yourself in the hands of the right recruiter and you will be destined for career success.

The fact that you have been asked to interview with a headhunter says great things about your reputation and despite the fact that you have always prepared yourself for other important meetings in the past, you should avoid coming across as too scripted. Sure, you should be prepared to answer questions about your biggest professional accomplishments, the challenges you have overcome, and the way you see yourself in the future, and you should also enter the headhunter interview with a list of questions about the hiring organizations market opportunities, its strategy, management and culture; but you will be well served to avoid the temptation to overselling yourself. You simply do not need to, all you have to do is provide the color and context to fill in the blanks for the headhunter who already has reason to believe you have the right stuff for this search assignment. That will be even more evident to the executive recruiter if you know how to effectively respond to behavioral interviewing questions, and in telling perhaps a small bit of your life story you exude confidence, credibility and composure.

If you try to sell yourself as someone you are not it would be readily apparent to the headhunter who has literally interviewed thousands of executives over the years. Just be yourself, and let the headhunter guide the interview.

At this point in your management career people have come to expect an attention to detail, an honest and straightforward accounting of your experience and a measure of discretion in managing your message, style and audience. The same can also be said for effectively managing your executive resume, a vital instrument for attracting the attention of the world’s most influential headhunters. It is especially important that you be honest and concise when constructing your resume, and judicious in deciding exactly who to share it with.

Headhunters generally acknowledge that up to one third of all management level resumes contain exaggerations, material omissions, or outright fabrications. Be forewarned that diligent reference checking, perhaps even a background check will be engaged to verify your background and any claims you might make. Be yourself, tell you unique career story and you will never have to look back. Also consider just how many other executives are also now trying to breakthrough to a relationship with an especially well connected headhunter who is in your sights right now. It is especially important to keep your resume and for that matter your cover letter tight crisp and appealing. Don’t over indulge, don’t get fancy and certainly don’t let your new resume get to far from your grasp. That’s one way to keep the best executive leadership opportunities within your reach.