You never know when an amazing career opportunity might be on the horizon and therefore making yourself visible to headhunters is essential for ensuring you don’t miss out. Luckily, by investing a bit of time into making yourself know in the industry and forming a personal brand for yourself, you can keep yourself firmly on the radar and will be getting a phone call about your dream job in no time.
Here are a few areas that you can focus on to improve your chances of being spotted by a headhunter. Good luck!
Maintain your LinkedIn profile:
Over the recent years, LinkedIn has become an invaluable tool for executive search firms, providing thousands of potential candidates at their fingertips and it can be equally as beneficial from the candidates point of view too.
If you’d like to be in for the chance of being head-hunted it is essential that you keep your LinkedIn profile up to date. The ‘summary’ box is particularly important and is worth taking the time to fill out properly. By using keywords to describe what it is you do and have experience in, you optimise your likelihood of appearing in people’s searches. The same can be done by including descriptions of each of your previous job roles and adding your skills to the bottom of your profile will also help to maximise your visibility.
Not only this, more and more employers will now check out your LinkedIn profile upon receiving your application, so make sure it paints you in the best possible light and emphasises your relevant skills, for your best chance of success.
Your CV:
It never hurts to keep one eye on the job market and therefore it is always useful to make sure that your CV is well constructed and up to date. You may wish to send your CV to recruitment firms in order to be considered when new roles come in, but distribute it with caution. Firms who work on a retained basis will only forward your CV with your permission, however agencies who work on a contingency (success only) basis aren’t quite as strict and may choose to send it out at their will. Before sending your CV to a recruitment firm, it is important that you have proofread it thoroughly, to ensure that there are not any spelling or grammatical errors and that it reads well, as a poorly written CV speaks volumes.
It’s best to avoid creating a general CV; tailoring it to your industry and making your ambitions clear is much more effective and demonstrates your commitment.
Create useful contacts:
You know the saying “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”? Well it’s kind of true. When it comes to filling a role, the head-hunters first point of call will always be people they know and contacts that they have made, before turning to alternative sources such as LinkedIn. This being said, identifying consultants in your industry and connecting with them on LinkedIn or Twitter will help to get yourself know. Interacting with them about common interests can help to create a professional relationship and place yourself on their radar.
Building contacts shouldn’t be done solely online, however; attending networking events will give you the opportunity to meet recruitment professionals in your industry. Be sure to exchange details and put the effort into maintaining these relationships, or you’re at risk of being forgotten.
Build a personal brand:
If you want to stand out from the crowd, building a personal brand for yourself is extremely useful. Identify your most valuable attributes and skills and concentrate on making them the focus of your public image. Building yourself a presence on social media or at events can help to develop your personal brand, by connecting with people and building relationships. Be supportive and willing to help, as by lending others a helping hand, they may be able to return the favour in the future when you need it.
You can also make use of social media to portray yourself in exactly the way that you would like to be seen by others, by sharing your thoughts and opinions for discussion. Adding a photo to your profiles will make it more personal and will make people feel like they know you.
RELEVANT: How To Act When Headhunters Call You
