Headhunters: A Candidate’s Best Friend?

This past week, I was asked three times, “Why should I use an executive recruiter?”

It’s a great question.  For both candidates and hiring authorities.  This week I will address the question of executive recruiters from a candidate’s perspective.

Here is my take:

Candidates: 

Cutting through the HR bureaucracy:  For the ordinary person, getting a resume to the right person in an organization can be a daunting challenge. 

Who do I send it to?  Which department?  Do I need a cover letter? Where is the job posting?  It can get very confusing.

Most HR departments these days filter and identify qualified candidates by key words and now AI.  If you have exceptional people skills, attributes, and experience, but not the key words in your resume, your resume may never get a glance. 

In fact, you could be the most engaging, passionate, and hard-working individual on the planet and never get noticed without the right keywords and phrases on your resume.

Engaging with an executive recruiter specializing in your industry, job function with a direct pipeline to the actual hiring authority contact (not HR) will allow you to be considered usually within 48 hours. 

It’s Free:  Engaging an executive recruiter will not cost you a penny.  Zero.  The recruiter is paid by the client hiring authority if/when you are placed.  Unlike the sports and entertainment world, we are not your agent. No financial commitment or risk is ever borne by the candidate.

Compensation Intel:  A recruiter who specializes in your industry and function will know your approximate compensation value in the market place based on your skills, experience, and certifications.

You may be significantly underpaid and not even know it, particularly, if you have been in your current position for more than five years.

An executive recruiter can provide insights into the latest compensation structures currently being offered whether it be in the form of a straight salary, bonuses, commissions, or stock incentives.

For example, we do a semi-annual salary report across all lines in the insurance brokerage community specifically for the WDC Insurance market.  We distribute this to our candidates we work with as well as our client hiring authorities.  Know your worth.

Confidentiality:  Executive recruiters are very discreet and confidential in their dealings with both the candidate and the client.  They will protect you from your boss finding out you are having discreet conversations with potential suitors. The candidate does not want their employer knowing they are testing the waters nor does a client want their competition to know what talent gaps they are trying to plug. 

Competitive Landscape:  From a tree-top level, your recruiter knows as much, if not more, than you do regarding your industry. Recruiters make it their business to learn first-hand before others which firms are being acquired and who is restructuring because they deal with senior level executives on a routine basis. 

Recruiters know what is going on behind the scenes.  They can offer perspective that few can because they see the backstory from a variety of clients and worker perspectives across all lines of business and firm size.  They also know the various value propositions from compensation to lifestyle being offered by the various industry players.   

So the next time a recruiter calls on you, it may be a good idea to take the call and at least consider the possibilities.  They may even end up being your best friend…you never know!