An attorney once asked me how to attract recruiters: she worked as in-house counsel and felt she did not get the same attention from recruiters as her colleagues in law firms. Here are 3 strategies to get noticed by executive recruiters.
An attorney once asked me how to attract recruiters: she worked as in-house counsel and felt she did not get the same attention from recruiters as her colleagues in law firms. Here are 3 strategies to get noticed by executive recruiters:
Refer. Build long-term relationships with recruiters by being helpful. Take recruiter calls, even when you’re not actively looking, and help them find people by referring quality leads. Remember that your referrals are a reflection on you, so only refer people who fit what they are working on and who will represent you well.
Get referred. Recruiters like to find you. They don’t typically see unsolicited candidates. So maintain a robust network, find out from your colleagues who the good recruiters are for your sector, and have your colleagues introduce you.
Be prominent. Again, recruiters like to find you, so appear in the places they will look. Be active in your professional association, speak at conferences, publish white papers, and update your LinkedIn profile. Speaking and publishing are great ways to establish your expertise, and recruiters like people at the top of their game. This is also a great way for someone with a less traditional background (e.g., in-house counsel) to get known amongst the more traditional colleagues (e.g., at the brand name law firms).
BUT manage your own career. Recruiters are great for getting a sense of the market, including compensation, demand for your skills, and hiring trends. Recruiters do have access to plum positions, especially the big retained firms and especially for C-suite spots. However, you should already be networking with people in a position to hire you and refer you. In this way, you are the best person to position yourself and keep yourself in front of mind of the right people.
Is Your Job Search Flexible or Just Unfocused?
As a recruiter, I’ve seen lack of flexibility on the recruiting side with employers clinging to every last detail in their ideal spec while perfectly good candidates get overlooked. As a career coach, I see jobseekers prematurely dismissing possible targets waiting for that perfect job. It’s true that you want to be focused in your job search (otherwise you dilute your efforts and come across as scattered and possibly desperate).
5 Questions to Test If Your Resume Is Recruiter-Proof
After recruiting in search and in-house for over ten years, I have read thousands of resumes. Due to sheer volume of resumes received and all the other things that vie for the recruiter’s attention in the hiring process – scheduling, interviewing, networking, reference checks, client debriefs, and more – the resume review process is ruthlessly quick.
Why Conventional Wisdom On Work Flexibility Is Always Wrong
In a previous post, I wrote about why employment statistics are always wrong. In a similar way, conventional wisdom on work flexibility is always wrong. It is impossible to generalize something that is inherently case-by-individual case. Therefore, any boilerplate advice or conventional wisdom is bound to omit a key consideration, underweight or overemphasize other considerations, or take too long-term or short-term of a view.
