How To get Noticed By Headhunter's in every Labor Market Situation

Headhunters, executive searcher or whatever name we invent for ourselves are human and although perhaps we posses some idealism, our main task is to make a living. I've been in this business now for more then 25 years and I know we don't like to gamble. That we hate to chase unwilling candidates and are mostly as risk avoiding like anyone else.

• You don't know what the future holds, prepare, create and maintain your options
• It doesn't hurt to build a relationship with a trustworthy recruiter, you'll gain information you won't get otherwise.
• A good headhunter knows his market. He or she will put their neck out if their is a good risk/reward ratio.
• Set a Google alert on your name. Know about your online reputation and correct your trail if need be.
• If you are interested in a good working relationship with a recruiter (or anyone for that matter) follow up! Make your name stick in their minds.
• Don't brag! For instance it's almost impossible to find a sales person who didn't exceed their target by less then 100% during the last ten years.
• Build relationships with senior people!, it gives a clue to your aspirations.

Even Recruiters know how to work the Internet

Information at our fingertips. New challenges, we don't suffer a shortage of lead anymore but an excess. Stand out, let us implicit or explicit know you are the solution to the "War for Talent". Once you established that goal, somehow the whole community will know.

Imagine what it could to for your career if you were known as the absolute expert, or most promising young exec.

Linkedin is the starting point of most research. From their we Branch out. Make strong connections and utilize them. Senior ranking staff is not hard to approach. They love to give advise :-) . It will be picket up, whether you are looking for a career move or you have no intention to change.

Take care of your bread crumb trail

No matter what your occupation or interest is, when you communicate about it on the Internet you will inevitably start to leave a trail of bread-crumbs. And that's what a good recruiter is looking for. Your trail tells me a lot about your work, do you make waves or keep your head low are you really what your profile tells me what you are?

I check my candidates, usually even before I have contacted them I know if they are active online and communicating with other professionals in their field. And if so if the prefer to associate with those that are more senior or junior then they are. Are they blogging, what do they ventilate, opinions.

Internet also means "No Place to Hide"

Never make the mistake that you can hide online. My posts from 1996 keep popping up. And as with everyone not all my laundry is clean. I know that and you do to. So before I even call you I know your standing in your professional community, estimate earnings, hobbies, funny associations and even criminal records, tax and debt issues.

This might sound terribly intrusive, but all we do is checking resources open to us all. Now I can advise you how to create a great trail, perhaps in a next post I will. For now lets assume most of your life you were unaware of the impact Internet could have on your personal life and did some not so smart things.

At that point the great paradox of life comes in. Even if you acted like the greatest idiot on the globe before I could still present you as my favorite candidate.

Yes I did dumb things in my life, Luckily I'm Human

Let me explain, I know I did dumb things in my life, if you asked me about it would you be impressed if I could explain what I learned from them? Or would you be impressed if I denied the whole deal? Or even more complicated, what if I had a colleague who hated my guts and profiled me as a half criminal drug addict?

What I mean to say, whatever is out there and has to do with you person is findable. And no matter whether you like it or not if you search you will find it. And if we are getting along in our contact I WILL confront you with it. Your reaction to that confrontation often has more impact than whatever you wrote.

To wrap it up, make sure you know what is being said about you on the net.

Create the necessary alerts on Google or Yahoo.

If you know you can't be surprised by a question about it. Secondly make it a point leave a favorable trail. And never lie! If there is one loop hole these days its lying. It is going to be found out. And lets face it I rather have someone that made mistakes and has grown than someone who never did anything wrong in his life. That is just not possible :-)

It's probably my dark character, but I don't trust people who never ever had the urge to sleep with someone who isn't their regular partner.for better or worse Perhaps they didn't act or didn't dare is an other story. But if someone tells me that he or she lacks a human trait there are alarm bells going off in my head.

Distrust perfect people

Sex, Money and Power are the most important motivators, and there is nothing good or bad about that. Its the way thing are, It's up to every individual to find a way to live with it.