Since the onset of the pandemic, the job market has changed. Many companies have either reduced their staff or slowed down hiring to broadly cut costs and handle the new telecommute demands. With almost half of the population fully vaccinated, it seems the worst is behind us and hiring is picking up.
For companies looking to hire new talent, finding the right candidate has never been more important. Here is where the executive recruiter firms come in.
Table of Contents
- Executive Recruiter Firms
- How Does It Work?
- How to Get the Top Executive Recruiter Firms to Find You?
- Top Executive Recruiter Firms
Executive Recruiter Firms
A successful executive career doesn’t ‘just happen’ and is not linear. Understanding how the best executive recruiting firms find candidates, what the search process is and what to expect when the recruiter calls may help maximize your career potential.
An executive recruiter firm acts on behalf of the client (the employer) and works on the hiring company’s interests and needs. An employer who generally wants the very best candidate to fill in a senior-level executive job will bring in a third party to deliver executive search services. The job of these recruiter firms is to find the best candidate and persuade them to take the job irrespective of them being active or passive candidates.
Understanding how the executive recruiter industry works may help maximize the chances for a recruiter to notice you.
How Does It Work?
- The executive recruiter firms work for client companies, i.e., the organizations doing the hiring. They play a key part in the job search and provide suitable candidates to the organization. The potential candidate also must be able to understand the primary motivations of the recruiting firm.
- Retained executive search consultants mostly fill more senior roles than by any other hiring process. The executive recruiter firms proactively source the right candidate on behalf of their clients doing the hiring. The firms simply don’t forward applicants’ resumes.
- Generally, opportunities are managed exclusively and mainly focused on confidentiality. Most of these opportunities will not be listed on any job boards.
- The headhunter will target potential candidates and directly approach them.
Recruitment Process ? Identify → Approach → Assess → Internal Interview → Shortlist Candidates → Client Interview → Negotiation → Completion
How to Get the Top Executive Recruiter Firms to Find You?
Executive recruiter firms rarely run ads. They hunt for the best candidates through specialist researchers, who will cumulate the potential candidates for an opportunity. The search process varies according to the needs of the industry.
High Online Visibility
At present, you can’t hope to scale your career graph without leveraging the power of social networks. With easy access and extensive reach powers, it continues to be a vital aspect of recruitment. High online visibility can go a long way in helping you come under the headhunters’ radar.
You can build a social media profile, share information and expand your network. You must stay visible and active by frequently updating your profile. You can also pick another social media platform such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to share your knowledge based on your industry. Of specific note, you should maintain this as a separate account and share information relevant to your job search, and not associate this with your personal accounts.
LinkedIn is an online portal where two-thirds of recruiters match professionals to suit their job profiles. It is essential to maintain your profile updated.
High Authority
Proactively look for industry events and attend them. You may get an opportunity to meet Key Opinion Leaders and colleagues and to share your knowledge and experience. By garnering valuable information on current trends, you may have opportunities to interact with global companies. You may also seek opportunities by attending educational or networking events and seminars.
Strong Personal Brand
A strong personal brand overrides every other form of visibility. Just like how a company’s strong brand presence manages to attract customers, your personal brand should attract clients and executive recruiters towards you. Although a few other practices can help circulate your name among potential recruiters, a prominent personal branding philosophy does a better job establishing your credit and leadership.
It helps to set you apart from the crowd, intrigue your recruiter, and make them want to know more about you. Try to establish a positive public brand.
Google yourself often and find ways to improve your ranking to be on top listings. Optimize the URLs with keywords and updated information.
Achievement
Increase your visibility by sharing your knowledge within your organization and proactively seek promotional opportunities. You may volunteer or give presentations at relevant industry events, where the audience will be key decision-makers.
Honors, promotions, and professional accomplishments will attract the top executive recruiter firms.
Networking
The most effective way is to get referrals through your personal and professional networks. Sharing your interests, goals, and career aspirations may bring you great opportunities through your network.
Most executive recruiters rely on their first or second-degree network contacts to refer top talents to firms and potential employers. If you manage to network regularly and maintain contacts with the right professionals, you may likely be within the recruiters’ professional orbit.
Contact
Make a personalized introduction to hiring managers, industry-specific recruiters, or colleagues. You can send an e-mail that introduces yourself, your admiration of their work or contributions, and your interest in having a brief conversation to discover more about them. You may share information about your background and your business endeavors.
Join Professional Trade Organizations
Professional associations in your discipline let you create and build strategic alliances with people in your industry and have opportunities to enable your industry knowledge and showcase your skills.
Combining these strategies will get you on the radar of the top executive recruiter firms.
Top Executive Recruiter Firms
Located in Los Angeles, California, Korn Ferry is a global recruiter firm with over 80 offices worldwide. A trendsetter in executive recruitment since 1969, Korn Ferry operates closely with clients and candidates to effectively craft human capital schemes and solutions. With broad industry expertise and world-class leadership teams, Korn Ferry is one of the top recruiter firms in the world and has managed to hold its ranking.
N2Growth is a startup executive search firm that offers business transformation and leadership development. It is a fast-growing firm and offers global executive search across diverse industries such as healthcare, government, financial services, and agriculture. They are on-trend with cutting-edge technology, use of social media, modern assessments, and diversity effort.
Heidrick and Struggles focus on legal compliance and executive attorney placements and have a database of talent that includes executive experts in finance and HR. They assist businesses with executive search and consultant assignments.
Egon Zehnder has been assisting clients in finding the best leaders through their meticulous identification and assessment process. Egon Zehnder maintained a long-term outlook approach to ensure outstanding performance and fit by regularly following up with candidates and clients.
A dominant executive recruiter firm in Europe, Egon Zehnder has slowly and steadily established its base in America.
Spencer Stuart has its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, a global leader in executive search, with over 50 offices worldwide. Top companies in search of guidance on senior leadership needs consider Spencer Stuart, an adviser of choice. Their client base range from medium-sized businesses, entrepreneurial startups, multinational corporations, and nonprofit organizations across diverse industries.
Spencer Stuart is probably the most traditional search firm on the list, but they are the best at what they do with one of the best board practices in the business.
Few other notable executive recruiter firms are:
We hope this list of executive recruiter firms helps you in your quest for the perfect career arc.
By using the strategies mentioned above, we hope you find your dream job.
If you are looking to develop your personal brand, contact us and we will find the right partner for you.