How to use a headhunter to help you get your dream job

Headhunting is a recruitment method in which the headhunter does a direct search of a profile fitting the job description without the need for the candidate to actively search for a preferred position. Right now, a lot of companies choose to externalize their selection processes to agencies specialising in headhunting, particularly when the higher-level job offers are in play.

 What a headhunter does is s/he collects the information about the profile and chooses the appropriate recruitment sources (e.g. professional social media, or direct search by tricking the competition to give up information about their employees). Once the candidate is contacted, the position is described to them and the recruiter asks for their updated CV. What follows is an interview with the headhunter and later on (after the candidacy has been presented to the employer) the in-company interview. It might seem easy but generally the biggest problem is that the candidate is already working and does not want to change the company.

Bu what happens if you do want to change your job but do not find a good offer? You might contact a headhunter to help you with your search. In this case it is very useful to know how one works, what to avoid, what to pay attention to etc. First of all, you need to be prepared to pay a fee—an experienced headhunter knows the market and has an insight of the offers that will never get published, therefore by paying you get access to his/her knowledge.

It is very important to have a well-written CV, preferably with an executive summary at the top, because this way it is easier for the headhunters to spot the essential information (since they usually spend no more than 10 seconds looking at your CV).

During the in-person interview you need to show good attitude and motivation—if you don´t, the headhunter might as well move to another candidate that seems more interested, and forget about you completely. Also, remember that you usually have only a 20-25% chance of getting the job you are applying for (and even less if you just had a general interview), since there is always competition and even in executive search there are always other candidates that will be presented to the company (a ¨shortlist¨ of applicants after the initial interviews), some of them called ¨outsiders¨ or ¨challengers¨ (people who don´t really fit the profile and only make a crowd in order to make you look better while being presented to the company—but it´s actually your job to stand out).

If you get rejected anyway, always ask your headhunter for a sincere explanation of why this happened—it might help you in your future searches, especially that the recruiter will probably ¨drop you¨ once you have been rejected two or three times. You need to become a master of your career, and if you do not push for information, nobody will give it you.

Another important piece of advice is that a headhunter will usually know when you lie, and if this happens, you will be blacklisted, so it is better to be honest. But on the other hand, be careful not to reveal too much confidential information, especially if you do not know the company name yet (and you will usually get it at the end of the process)—it might happen that your current employer will receive your CV from the headhunter and will realise that you want to quit without previous notice.

In the end, the most important thing is to be aware of the fact that you and the headhunter both have the same goal—to get you your dream job. This way everybody is satisfied; you, because you have proven to be worth being hired, and the headhunter, because s/he gets paid for helping you. It´s really a win-win deal!