Level up your career

Every week, I’ll write one bite-sized, practical career lesson you can use at all stages of your career.

Today’s insight: How to get head-hunted

Okay…before I dive in, what does being headhunted even mean?

 Headhunters are people who work for search firms and look for people who are a good fit for open positions. It’s pretty much a fancy word for an external recruiter.

 If someone has been headhunted for a job, that just means they didn’t apply for it traditionally. Essentially, a recruiter contacted them and invited them to an interview.

 Getting headhunted is like playing the career and job search game on easy mode! Instead of applying for jobs, you’re getting found and fast-tracked through resume screeners. 

 Headhunters also make it easy for you to passively job search — even if you’re happy at your current job, they’ll contact you for new opportunities and you’ll stay up to date with what’s out there.

Who can get headhunted?

 You often only hear stories about senior execs being headhunted to work at another company — and that might make you think that headhunting only happens to executives or uber-geniuses.

 But, anyone — at any level — can get found, aka headhunted, by other recruiters.

How do I improve my chances of getting head-hunted?

Let’s break it down.

  Get headhunters to find you (aka ‘inbound’)

• You want to make it easy for headhunters and recruiters to find you when they’re looking for someone in your field. Since they all use LinkedIn, that’s where you should start. 
• Improve your LinkedIn profile and use the right keywords so you show up in their search results when they go looking. How? 
  
• Use this tool if you haven’t yet: It’ll scan your profile for free, tell you where you’re going wrong, and what to do to fix it so you get more profile views.
• To be transparent, we built that tool — but it’s by far the most effective thing out there for optimizing your profile — it’ll give you keywords to add and tell you which sections are a little light. Link here.

 Find and connect with headhunters (aka ‘outbound’)

• Getting found by them can be a slow process. But, there are ways to get on their radar and speed things up. 
  
• Search LinkedIn for head-hunters that specialize in your industry (e.g. search “[your industry] recruiter” and filter by your location).
  
• This is key — the more specialized they are, the more connections and expertise they’re likely to have.
• Reach out to them (use these copy-and-paste templates), tell them who you are and ask them to save your details. You’ll be top-of-mind the next time they fill a role. 

Reference: Resume Worded – Free instant feedback on your resume and LinkedIn profile