This is my final blog in the headhunter series where I have been sharing insights from my conversations with Executive Search experts in the UK, US and Singapore. In the first I shared tips for making a job move and in the second, how to create that crucial positive first impression. I couldn’t resist asking the headhunters to share their pet peeves, and it showed me not much has changed since I left the world of Executive Search in 2016!
Here are the 13 that I think will be most helpful for you to know, and bear in mind as you build these important relationships.
1. We don’t find candidates jobs, we manage assignments for clients (who pay us). Please don’t contact us and ask us to ‘find you a job’.
2. We will meet a small number of individuals even when we don’t have a suitable search for them currently, and our clients cross over to be candidates and vice versa multiple times through their careers, but we aren’t here to meet everyone who emails us…
3. …Especially not when you send a ‘round robin’ group email to lots of search consultants at once with us all copied in visibly!
4. Candidates who clearly haven’t invested time in their preparation before a meeting with us. My previous blog shares the four things it is vital you prepare before meeting with a headhunter.
5. An over-reliance on us. We are only managing a small number of searches at any one time, and there is only a tiny chance we will place you. You need to be proactive when you are actively looking for a new role and use your own network.
6. Believing you can throw your hat in the ring for any assignment we are managing, and we should shortlist you. We are looking for the best five candidates globally for our search, not just anyone who ‘could’ do the role.
7. Attending a video call with us about an opportunity in unsuitable attire. Treat a headhunter briefing as the first stage in any assessment process. Turn your camera on and look the part.
8. CVs containing no outputs or metrics that read like job descriptions, with bland generic adjectives (self-motivated and dynamic anyone?!) Download my free CV Guide here.
9. Candidates describing themselves as ‘really commercial’ but not demonstrating their value-add to the business, talking about ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ and lacking clarity about their own outputs.
10. Individuals not treating us respectfully. From a little thing like not saying thank you when we have taken time to help you, to something bigger like taking your frustrations out on us. We will feed this back to the client (see point 1.) Behave at all times like your potential future boss is watching.
11. People who don’t listen properly to the question then fail to tailor their answers suitably. If you are asked for one example, give one. If you are asked for a 3-minute overview, talk for 3 minutes.
12. Pulling out of an interview you had committed to attend (even more so when it’s at the last minute).
13. Individuals who are in constant contact when they are looking for a position, but go AWOL once they land in role, never to be heard of again… until they message out of the blue, years later, asking for a coffee meet because they are looking for a new role!
Huge thanks to:
Linda Bridge of Bridge Executive Search
Jamie Browne of Leonid
Toby Burton of Eton Bridge Partners
Helen Coult of Armstrong Craven
Somer Hackley of Distinguished Search and author of ‘Search in Plain Sight: Demystifying Executive Search’
Carl Hinett of re:find
Debbie Pask of Paskpartnership Ltd
Anna Penfold of Russell Reynolds Associates
Previously a headhunter, now a Career Coach, I help individuals prepare to approach the job market with impact. If you are looking to invest in yourself as you prepare to approach the market, have a look at the Individuals page and get in touch.