Having spent the last few years of my career in the staffing and
recruiting industry, I'm asked all the time by friends and relatives if I can
help them find a more desirable job. I've helped my fiancé get a job, helped my
college buddies get jobs after graduation, and even helped a few high school
buddies find jobs having not seen them for years. It's a real joy in recruiting
when you can help someone find a job that positively impacts their life. But
the fact of the matter is, not everyone has the opportunity to work with a
headhunter. I would say that only a small percentage of career moves are made
at the hand of a headhunter. So what do the rest of us do when we find
ourselves in a dead end situation and no one to conduct the hunt for you?
I've heard lots of gimmicks, tricks, and tactics for aiding the
process and I'm sure you've heard a few yourself. Do any of these ring a bell?
Sending out resumes on extra thick paper, memorizing the most dazzling answers
to commonly asked interview questions, wearing a brightly colored outfit to
your interview to be memorable, and the list goes on and on. I honestly don't
know if any of these things help or hinder the hiring process, but I do know
that I've never met a professional headhunter that coaches his candidates by
taking them shopping at Old Navy and picking out the seasons brightest colors
to wear to an upcoming interview.
So what things do professional job headhunters do that puts them in
the position to move CEO's from one company to another and get paid to do it.
Here are the top 5 things that top dog headhunters do in the search and
placement process that you can incorporate to your own job search tomorrow.
Network - Now I know you've heard this one a million times
before, but the first thing that a headhunter does in the morning is make 20
calls to people they know and find out where the jobs are. Only the rookies
wake up every morning with nothing more to look forward to than a few dozen
agonizing cold calls. You're probably thinking to yourself "Who do I know
that I could talk to about finding a job...I don't know anyone." Well, in
headhunting 101 you learn that it's not who you know that matters, it's who
they (your contacts) know that counts. It's okay to call every person you know
and tell them you're looking for a new job. Everyone excluding your boss and
the other people at your office of course. Make a list of 100 people that you
know, pick up the phone, and start talking to people. Ask them if they know of
any companies hiring people in your area of expertise. If they don't, ask them
if who they know that might know of some openings. Let me give you a tip about
how to supercharge your networking. Pick up the book "The Tipping
Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. In it, he describes three types of people in
social circles. One of those types is called a "connector". This is
the type of person that seems to know everyone. I bet if you think about it,
you probably know one or two people that everywhere you go with them, they know
someone. Well, every person on your list knows one or two connectors and if you
ask the question 'who do you know that might know of something?', you're bound
to run into a few of these extraordinarily well connected people. Your network
stops when you stop asking 'who they know.'
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