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Q: I realize that headhunters work for the employer, but my past experience has been that a good one will pick up an individual with good qualifications and do some marketing to achieve a match. They don't seem to work this way anymore. How can I find a headhunter who will really market me?
Nick's reply:
Sorry, but I disagree. Good headhunters don't market individuals and they never have. Good headhunters focus on filling positions for which they've been assigned a "search" by a corporate client.
So many people nowadays are looking for jobs, a good headhunter stands to waste her time if she does what you suggest. By the time she's done "marketing" you, you may have found a job elsewhere, and the headhunter is out her fee.
You'll find that most good headhunters focus on the positions their clients give them to fill because that's the cleanest, most honest way to operate.
But you asked how to find good headhunters, so I'll offer you this tip. To find a headhunter who is expert in your field, pick a company you'd like to work for. Call a manager in the department you'd work in, and ask which headhunter they use when filling the kind of job you want.
That's the best referral you can get. (Play your cards right, and a smart manager may turn the call into a job interview and neither of you will need the headhunter.)
Just remember: A headhunter who isn't working on an assignment that you're suited for may not devote much time to you, even with such an introduction. Don't be offended. That's just the nature of the business.
Now that I've told you how to find a good headhunter, I'll tell you that you don't need headhunters. So few jobs are filled by headhunters that any effort you invest in this sort of approach will likely be wasted.
The person who can best market your skills to employers is you. Your best strategy is to talk to companies directly, without intermediaries, using the many methods we discuss in this column every week.
Nick Corcodilos is author of "Ask The Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job," and host of www.asktheheadhunter.com.
He can be reached by e-mail at seattle@asktheheadhunter.com or at North Bridge Group, P.O. Box 600, Lebanon, NJ 08833. Sorry, no personal replies.
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