executive recruiter

The 5 Habits of a Highly Ineffective Job Seeker

Let me offer a brief preamble to acknowledge that the title of this article is in homage to the late Dr. Stephen Covey, the brilliant author of must-reads like THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE^® and THE 8TH HABIT^®: FROM EFFECTIVENESS TO GREATNESS. Dr. Covey’s positive messages and practical advice has been boosting the productivity of professionals in business for generations. Therefore, I’d like to humbly reveal the seven bad habits job seekers should avoid.

In the spirit of full disclosure, the executive recruiters at Strategic Recruitment Solutions, LLC, typically do not work with the “average” job seeker.

Our firm partners with top-tier professionals and executives in industries like Legal, IT, Marketing, and Business Management. And even though our core clientele generally has impeccable credentials, immense experience, and/or advanced degrees…a large segment has very little real-world practice in the fine art of searching for and landing a job. After all, top-tier professionals often rise quickly (and seemingly effortlessly) during the first few phases of their career, so the opportunities for seeking out a job on their own are rare.

Naturally, it stands to reason that high achieving professionals will regard a job search as more-less an easy, methodical task rather than a skill that must be honed. And, without the benefit of previous trial-and-error or past failures at landing a desirable job on their own, many will very quickly develop bad habits which will render their current job seeking efforts ineffective.

1. Not Listening to Expert Advice and Guidance

You don’t know what you don’t know. So, if you truly want to know, you should listen to someone who does know. I’m not suggesting you heed all advice or be swayed by all the guidance offered, but simply listening to what verifiable experts have to say can AT LEAST identify what you don’t know, and AT BEST tell you something you didn’t know.

2. Ignoring Your Online Persona

You are who the internet says you are. Before you dismiss that statement as utterly ridiculous, consider that one of the first actions an HR representative is going to do is Google your name. And the results that Google returns will define YOU, regardless of your professional achievements, your educational background, or the hundreds of hours invested in charity work.

If an initial search returns only a smattering of vague and non-relevant mentions of your name (like in an Ancestry.com listing or an archived white pages listing of an old phone number), it generally portrays you as (1) having not done anything important enough to mention in a news or blog article, or (2) someone who is intentionally trying to hide something. Neither scenario is good for a top-tier professional job seeker looking for a prime opportunity!

3. Ignoring Your Social Media Identity

Many of our core talent partners – especially in the Legal and I.T. fields – are social media averse; some consider it a waste of time and other consider it as posing undue personal and professional risks. OK, point taken. However, when searching for a new career, you may have to adapt more to the “mainstream” in order to maximize your visibility and provide a bit of transparency for potential employers evaluating your non-academic, non-technical traits.

A decent social media presence can help “populate” Google search results with relevant content…thus, helping to fix the Online Persona issue discussed above. Having active and updated social channels can also convey that you have a network of industry associates, outside interests, and actual friends. Think of social media as a “humanizing” factor for high-end professionals.

The social media platforms most beneficial to job seekers are LinkedIn and Google Plus. Your LinkedIn profile should have a considerable amount of detail, as it will be the most relevant to anyone evaluating your credentials. Be sure to add as much detail as possible on past work history, credentials, professional associations, and education. This channel also allows you to connect with industry associations and other interest-based groups without flooding your email inbox with unsolicited messages.

Google Plus (YES, Google Plus is a thing!) is an essential tool for anyone looking to gain high visibility in a job search. The simple reason is because Google Plus IS GOOGLE! Whatever is entered into the “About” section on your G+ profile gets indexed on Google within minutes! This channel is especially important for someone actively looking for a new opportunity and is not concerned that a current employer may stumble across their G+ profile. Kissmetrics has a fantastic article on how to optimize your Google + profile and page.

4. “Call to Action” is Missing in a Resume and CV

Remember that Marketing class you were forced to take Junior year? Well, now you get to put those 3 credit hours to good use because, when you’re seeking a new position, you’re selling yourself! The first chance you have to make a first impression to a potential employer is going to be in your Resume and CV.

Forget templated, boilerplate intro sentences and personal statements. No…seriously…put them completely out of your head. A true top-tier professional is expected to come strong with a unique “call to action”; a compelling argument on how you could personally add value to the company. If you are feeling bold, use that call to action as the Subject Line of the email when submitting your credentials.

5. Relying On Job Boards to Identify Opportunities

The epitome of an ineffective job seeker is someone who responds to a plethora of job listings, then sits back and waits for the job offers to come rolling in. Sure, offers occasionally pop up…but they are probably not offers fit for a professional at the top of his/her game. The listings you see on job boards are broadcast to a huge universe and generate huge responses. These responses are filtered by automated screening algorithms and make it difficult for even the most qualified candidates to get the attention they rightly deserve.

The truth is, a majority of desirable opportunities for professionals are either found through industry connections or identified through an advocate, like an executive recruiter. In either scenario, you are likely to discover opportunities that have yet to be listed. Sometimes reaching out to people in the same industry may not be in your best interest…especially if you’d like to perform a very low-key job search. In that case, partnering with a professional headhunter or an executive recruiting firm may be your best route for forging a new career path.

Whether you are an executive-level professional at the top of your field, or up-and-coming talent looking to reach the next level, a job search can quickly be stymied unless you avoid these bad habits. So if any ring true, do yourself a favor and break the bad habits before you lose out on the opportunity of a lifetime!

The 3 Major Advantages of Partnering With Executive Recruiters

If you’re at the top of your profession, consider speaking with an executive recruitment firm prior to a career change.

Even top-tier professionals and executive-level talent often need assistance navigating their own career path. As executive recruiters in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, LA, we hear many of our clients from the legal and IT industries admit that when the personal decision was made to seek out new opportunities, they immediately faced a huge obstacle: where to begin?

The names and faces of “Top Performers” within a specific industry are likely to be recognizable inside their business circles, especially in a localized region. If everyone knows your name, actively conducting a covert job search becomes next to impossible. Even making casual inquiries about potential opportunities to cohorts in your circles creates a significant risk to anonymity.

However, partnering with an Executive Recruiter not only protects your privacy when forging a new career path, but the relationship also offers 3 distinct advantages for talent at the top of their professional game.

Advantage #1: You’ll Have an Advocate, a Coach, and an Agent

If you’ve never used executive recruiters to assist in a job search, you may not even know what to expect from the relationship. First and foremost, a recruiter is YOUR ADVOCATE; they are watching out for your best interests and are working to find you the best match available. Being an advocate for your professional career means they’ll need to know a lot of details about you, a ton of background information, and will need a clear understanding of your ultimate career goals. When your recruiter/advocate is aware of all the pertinent information, they can design a very detailed map for your career path.

Did you know that even the most accomplished Hollywood actors typically consult with an acting coach prior to taking on a new project? Seasoned actors realized long ago that in order to ensure success in a new role, they must prepare and practice…and this is made possible by getting guidance from an acting coach. In a similar way, an employment recruiter assumes the role of COACH. Your recruiter/coach is available to guide you throughout the job search process, provides education and resources about potential new employers, and helps you prepare and practice for interviews.

In the same way, a professional athlete needs a sports agent, top-tier talent needs their recruiter to act as their CAREER AGENT. In this role, your recruiter will be actively seeking out attractive opportunities that match your specific skillsets, talents, abilities, and other factors (e.g.; location, salary requirements, workload). The agent role is also vital when it comes time to negotiate with potential employers. And this brings us to the next huge advantage…

Advantage #2: Your Recruiter Offers Guidance & Negotiation Skills

As stated before, your recruiter has a vested interest in your success. Therefore, you should expect they will guide and educate you through the entire process. From the first step of identifying and evaluating desirable opportunities to negotiating with the new employer and transitioning from your old company, your recruiter should be right there with you every step of the way.

One of the most sensitive (and sometimes, awkward) aspects of pursuing a new career opportunity is negotiating compensation. Even skilled sales pros or experienced courtroom litigators often balk at conducting tough negotiations on their own behalf; sometimes we’re simply too invested emotionally to have the right perspective on what is considered “attractive compensation”! However, experienced recruiters can remove the emotional element and negotiate based on current market data and other competitive factors. In fact, many company executives prefer negotiating with a third party when it comes to hiring top-level professionals.

Advantage #3: Executive Recruiters Have Access to Insider Information

Recruiters are familiar with the culture, reputation, business models and work environment of most prominent employers. This valuable insider information not only helps thoroughly prepare their talent partners for the interview process, but it also assists in matching candidates with the most desirable employment situation.

But the biggest advantage of “insider information” is that professional recruiters have the inside track on available (or potential) opportunities that have yet to become public. Simply due to the nature of their business, executive staffing companies are in constant communication with the companies they represent and thus receive advanced notice on positions that are likely to become available. Naturally, they quickly alert their qualified talent clients about these opportunities, which means you’ll be competing with fewer candidates at the outset. And being “first out of the gate” provides a significant competitive advantage over other job seekers who must wait for the opportunities to be posted publicly!

So if you are a top performing professional looking to forge a new career path, consider partnering with a trusted executive recruiting firm like Strategic Recruitment Solutions. We work with most of the law firms and technology companies in the Louisiana Gulf Coast region, as well as top companies throughout the nation. Therefore, we can provide access to positions in the Legal and IT fields that may not be advertised on job boards or a company’s website. Search our current opportunities or submit your resume to get started!

Although they are sometimes referred to as “professional headhunters”, executive-level recruiters generally try to work with candidates within a few specific industries, allowing executive recruiters to maintain a high level of expertise within those select fields. Their expert knowledge is used to match talent clients with positions where they’d most likely excel, help prepare candidates for the interview process, and even facilitate negotiations based on the most current industry data.