I could have called this post “Find a job – in spite of headhunters.” So, you have already noticed that I am not a real fan of so-called executive searchers! Well, I consider most of them to be arrogant and not particularly helpful. Please bear with me for a minute and I’ll explain everything.
I daresay that my skill-set is quite unique and my experience in business development, project and change management rather comprehensive. Moreover, I am fluent in English, German, and French. Thanks to Beata, I also have a professionally written CV that tells a story: my story. I sold my own company a while ago and set out on the quest of searching for a challenging executive position in an international firm.
Sure, this is not an easy task but the target is worthwhile. First, I created a list of headhunters that I wanted to contact. It comprised about 30 companies. Of course, you can subscribe to Bluesteps, pay a fee and upload your CV to be visible to all executive searchers affiliated to this organisation world-wide. Well, I think if one is really looking for a job it is better to be more active and I worked my way through the members list.
As I knew it was important to talk to people I looked for the person in charge, and contacted them in order to ask if I could send them my CV. Almost all of them agreed. The ones that didn’t (or I thought they did not) were either not bothered with answering my request or denied it in the most arrogant tone I have come across. However, in most of the cases I do not know what the recipients did with my CV since I did not receive as much as a confirmation. There were four companies that actually were prepared to talk to me and out of these four, two always answered my calls or e-mails when I asked about news.
At this point I want to share some information about a very helpful executive searcher. If you are in the financial industry or a related field have a look at his website. His name is Alex Turner, owner of Zander Associates. It is very unlikely that he has a client who needs my skills, but I spoke to him and his judgement on my CV really assured me that I was doing the right thing.
When Things Gain Momentum
Of course, it is not the headhunters’ fault if they do not have a mandate that matches my profile. But, the behaviour that most of them deem to be appropriate is simply unacceptable and I very much doubt if they are able to judge what their clients need and what candidates are able to deliver. They obviously forget that they need both parties to live. Why would I want to work with them?
Coco Chanel once said that one should not waste time banging at a wall hoping that it would transform into a door. I could change the executive searchers and therefore it was time to change my attitude and my search strategy.
As soon as I took this clear-cut decision I saw a lot of temporary positions that could be a good match. Most of them were via an agency; a different league than the so-called executive searchers. Within one week, I spoke to 15 different companies about positions they had in their portfolio.
Motivated by this new plan, I saw a temporary project directly advertised with a large international consulting company on July 1, 2015. I called the HR department. The lady was very helpful and asked for my CV as I thought that their standard process was too bureaucratic for me.
My first interview and the assessment took place on the very next day, followed by the second interview and the salary offer within two days. Two weeks after my first contact I had my first working day as a Senior Manager responsible for a large and challenging project. The contract is limited to 18 months, but I am working in IT where 18 months is close to “forever.”
Bottom Line
My recommendation is only to work with people that treat you nicely and that you trust. And trust yourself and your skills. Be firm but polite and never – I repeat: NEVER – try to be anyone other than yourself. Sooner or later, your true self will surface anyway.