Five Tips for Working with Executive Recruiters in Senior Executive Job Search

Here are five DO’s and DON’Ts for executives in working with recruiters for job search and career management:

1. Definitely DO contact recruiters who recruit at your level and in your specialty areas, and work to develop a relationship with them.

You can do this by periodically forwarding them a current executive resume and short letter updating them on developments in your career. Make sure the relationship is two-way: Provide them with any assistance you can in sourcing candidates for related positions that are inappropriate for you.

2. In sending your executive resume to recruiters, DO remember this caveat: It is best not to follow up by phone. Recruiters generally consider this an annoyance and pet peeve.

3. DON’T expect recruiters to do anything that is not in their immediate or short-term best interest.

One of the most misunderstood aspects of executive job search among my executive clients seems to be the nature of recruiting firms and how they operate. An executive recruiter is not going to 'market' you! Recruiters are very task oriented toward fulfilling current job orders, and if a candidate's qualifications are not a very close match for the requirements, they have no interest. Thus, there will be no response to the executive resume you send in unless it appears to be exact match for a current assignment. Recruiters do not try to "place" candidates because there is simply no money in it.

4. DON’T listen to those who say it is unlikely you will find your next position through a recruiter.

While statistics generally quoted say that recruiters fill a low single digit percentage of jobs, when you restrict the universe to high-level management and executive jobs, the picture changes. Think about it: If you were to suddenly vacate your current position, what would be one of the first steps your company would probably take to start the search for a replacement? More than likely, they would retain a recruiting firm if your position is at VP level or above, and certainly for C-level positions. So no matter how you make your first contact with a company, at some point you are going to be dealing with the recruiting firm they retained.

5. DON’T despair if you hear nothing back from recruiters to whom you’ve sent your resume.

When you forward your resume to recruiters you know or send it to a targeted group of recruiters you have identified, you may get one or more calls immediately, or you may experience total silence--at first. Anecdotal evidence from recruiters in various professional forums indicates they may hold on to executive resumes of quality candidates for one or two years or even longer, waiting for a job requisition to come up that is a match. I have personally had numerous clients and friends who received calls months or even years later from a recruiter, many times resulting in an exciting career move. So liberally plant those seeds; you never know when one will sprout.

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Should C-Level Executives Optimize Their Resumes for ATS Systems?

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are just one more of many stumbling blocks in your rise to the top of an applicant pool in today’s extremely competitive job market. They generally need to be taken into account in preparing resumes for all but the top, C-level positions in a company. However, first let’s properly define ‘C-level’ or ‘C-suite’ positions.

While it is not uncommon for people to refer to VP and SVP candidates as C-level, the term correctly designates only CEOs, CFOs, CTOs, CMOs, etc.--since the letter ‘C’ in the acronym refers to ‘Chief’. These are the officer positions in a company. Less commonly, the term can be applied to EVPs, although most consider it technically incorrect to do so. If EVP is indeed the top level (below the Board) in a company, it could arguably qualify as a C-suite position.

Whether the executive resume you submit for a C-level position will be screened by an ATS system depends on several factors. Typically the number of applicants for a given C-level opening is fairly low, making it less likely for an ATS system to be used. However, if the position is publicly advertised or open to handling by contingency recruiters, applications may still be managed by an ATS system. If the opening is handled by a retained search firm as an exclusive, more than likely the resume will not be subject to ATS screening.

According to Jonathan Ciampi of Preptel (a firm that specializes in analysis of resumes for how they will rank in ATS screening systems), “In my experience, CEOs, CFOs, CTOs, and CMOs do not go through an ATS.” He further suggests the following rule to determine if executive resumes will be filtered through an ATS system: “Will the Board of Directors be interviewing this person? If you can’t answer “yes”, then plan on dealing with the ATS system.”

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How to Avoid a "Rick Perry" Phone Interview Moment

The About.com Job Search and Careers group on LinkedIn often has some very insightful and useful discussions. Today was no exception. Career counselor Marshall Karp offered a simple but great job search tip: "Have a list of your selling points or a resume by the telephone, in the event you get an unexpected interview invitation call."

Along with developing and committing an "elevator speech" to memory, this is a strategy that I routinely advise my executive resume clients to use. I also recommend putting key points on a business card to index card sized cheat sheet, laminating it, and carrying it at all times--preferably in the handbag, coat, or pants pocket where their mobile phone is typically kept.

The recruiter call for that dream opportunity will more than likely come in when you least expect it, and probably when your mind is elsewhere. The last thing you want to do when you answer your phone is to come across as nonplussed, babbling, and scrambling for the right words to say. With your notes in hand, you can pick up that phone with confidence.

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Where Will You Find Your Next Job?

Those on the employment market will find the following statistics informative.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, of all jobs "created":

• 32% are new ones.


• 68% are to replace employees who left for one reason or another.


• Of all hires made, 40% are selected from internal candidates.

Of special relevance to an executive in targeting his or her job search efforts is the fact that by far most jobs are with small to mid-size businesses:

• 120 million employees work for 8 million employers.


• 55% have fewer than 100 employees.


• 81% have fewer than 500 employees.


• Only 19% of workers are employed by companies with 500 or more employees.

These facts can be taken into consideration as you develop your executive resume and prepare yourself for the interview process. Certainly large-scale team management, financial management, and organizational process experience will be attractive to major employers and are well worth highlighting in your executive resume. However, since your best employment prospects lie with start-up to mid-tier companies, don't forget to also promote qualities such as an entrepreneurial outlook, creativity, hands-on attitude, and ability to manage in situations of uncertainty--all of which will be of interest and value to these employers (and arguably, to much of the Fortune 500 as well).

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Executive Bios: A Nice Ego Booster, but What Are They Really Good For?

I write executive bios for the majority of my clients nowadays, and occasionally run into questions regarding what some potential uses for the document might be. A bio can be extremely useful for an executive in a surprising variety of situations:

* in networking, as a "softer" alternative to the executive resume, when you don't want to be perceived as a job hunter or seem "needy"

* as a meeting or interview follow-up, especially if you've already provided your resume

* as supplementary info for a job opportunity or newly won position--where Boards of Directors, hiring committees, investors, clients, and other outside parties have an interest or role in the decision

* as an introduction piece to be handed out or read before you take the podium as a speaker

* as background for you as a contributor to a professional event or publication

* for retained recruiters - they will use or modify it to submit to the potential employer

* for display on your personal website

* for display on job sites or professional networking sites

* on websites where you are a contributor or are being featured

* for press inquiries or interviews

* to provide to corporate, nonprofit, community, or other Boards of Directors of which you are a member

It can be useful to have both a full (one-page) executive bio and a shorter (one or two paragraphs) version. The condensed version can be especially useful for LinkedIn Profiles or to provide a quick summary for your introduction at a conference or meeting.

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Addressing Your Cover Letters: Do You Come Across as 19th Century?

We all know that when submitting your executive resume and cover letter for an executive position opening, it is important if at all possible to address it to a specific, named person within the company. If you are responding to a blind, recruiter-posted opening (the company with the position is not revealed), you will want to address a specific person within the recruiting firm that has the assignment.

Oftentimes a job posting will not include a name, so it is necessary to do some research. Ways in which you can ferret out a contact name include:

• Google the company for third party information or articles about them
  


• Visit their corporate website
  


• Call the company during business hours and just ask who is in charge of the department you would be working with
  


• Call the company after business hours to see what you can glean from their automated voice mail system
  


• Search LinkedIn and leverage your contacts there to get a name
  


• Consult sites and databases that specialize in company information (e.g., CareerBeam, GlassDoor, Vault, Hoovers, etc.)

But what can you do if accessing all of those resources does not yield a person to whom you can address your submission?

In this case, you will have to use a generic salutation. Possible choices would be “Dear Hiring Manager” or “Dear Hiring Executive.” Other acceptable greetings are “Good Morning” or perhaps “Good Day”--especially appropriate if you hail from Australia ;-). If you want to brand yourself as stilted and “nineteenth century,” address your letter “Dear Sir or Madam” or even worse, “To Whom It May Concern”!

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Leveraging LinkedIn Without Current Employer Repercussions

Optimization of your LinkedIn Profile is a step I recommend that all of my executive resume clients take--regardless of their job market status. Whether you are an active job seeker or happy where you are but open to career advancement (who wouldn't be?), LinkedIn is where recruiters are increasingly trolling for candidates. So it only makes sense to make yourself easily found by recruiters browsing the site and to impress them when they do.

You may ask: Why bother with LinkedIn if I am not actively engaged in a job search, and is it safe to use LinkedIn when I am currently employed?

Firstly, it is perfectly fine to use LinkedIn while currently employed! Secondly, may I lay the job security concern to rest: If asked about it by your employer, you are using it as a contact manager, to develop new business contacts and increase your networking ability within your current position so as to keep on the cutting edge of your industry. Simply do not check the “seeking new opportunities” box--recruiters don’t pay any attention to that anyway. (Since the passive, currently employed candidate is considered most desirable by recruiters, you may actually give yourself a bit of an edge by saying you are not looking actively.)

In case there is any remaining doubt on this, it is a fact that some companies actually now require all employees to use LinkedIn as a way of developing business relationships or bringing in new business. So don't be defensive about your presence there!

If you are a passive candidate (or an active one but don't want your current employer to know it), the message you convey on your LinkedIn profile will differ subtly from that of an open job seeker. Your summary and work experience content should be more focused on establishing yourself as an expert in your industry and field of work versus marketing yourself as a potential employee. The differences can be subtle, but if you try to read your profile from the perspective of the two audiences, you'll get the idea.

LinkedIn can be one of the more effective items in your job search toolbox. LinkedIn allows you to build a professional network, search position openings, and use their database to identify people with whom to network at your targeted companies--for free. It also gives you the invaluable capability to collect professional endorsements from past and present subordinates, colleagues, and superiors, which you can also include on your resume.

With LinkedIn now considered by many to be the #1 candidate sourcing tool used by recruiters, it is a place where you want to be highly visible. You can accomplish this by optimizing your profile to be found in keyword searches and joining and participating actively in groups relevant to your area of expertise and industry. The goal is to maximize your visibility and establish yourself as a subject matter expert in your field. Once you have done that, the recruiter inquiries will come.