Getting yourself headhunted

Our regional office is constantly bombarded with calls from executives hoping to get themselves headhunted.

They are anxious to send us their CVs, and keen to meet for the purpose of "putting a face to the name".

They are often under the impression our job is simply to spend time with them, and to help them find jobs. The reality: targeting or networking with headhunters is probably the least likely way to get yourself headhunted.

There is often in executives' minds a blurring of the distinctions between recruitment agencies, some of whom masquerade as headhunters and the real thing, such as tier-one executive search firm Korn/Ferry International.

Some recruitment agencies frequently tend to be little more than CV factories. They collect CVs from all and disperse them, more or less indiscriminately, to potential or actual clients.

Firms such as ours are different, as our focus is on the acquisition of talent for our clients. The real executive search firm is a research driven organisation that scours the market, around the world if necessary, to acquire the most suitable talent for its clients. Our clients retain us in the same way they would retain a top law firm or management consultancy firm, for a specific assignment.

The typical profile of the type of executive who gets headhunted is someone who is successful, totally engrossed in their job and usually not looking to move. Typically, these individuals do not have the time to network.

It is a Catch-22 situation. Those who want to be headhunted and are prepared to make the effort to network with headhunters are the least likely to be successful in achieving their objective.

Those, on the other hand, who are too caught up in their work to look for new opportunities and, in most cases do not seek them, are the most likely to get a call.

Best way

Is there any way to make it more likely that you will be headhunted?

At the risk of stating the obvious the best way to get headhunted is to do your current job right, to do your job with all your heart and soul and with all your talent.

The best executives, the star executives, and thus the ones most likely to get headhunted, are very good at their current jobs. They are committed servants of their organisation.

They do not play politics. They are driven by the success of their teams, by the success of the company for which they work. They are constantly pushing back the boundaries. They are innovators, they are leaders but at the same time team players. They abhor arrogance, they love results. They work long and hard, and on that note, we observe that few of our top candidates work less than 12 hours a day.

If you are a star in your field, you will get noticed. I guarantee you.

Being a star is not just about getting headhunted, or just about getting a bigger pay cheque. It is about something bigger.

It is about using your talent to its fullest extent and testing yourself every day. It is about never being content with what you have achieved. It is about innovation, and reaching for what seems like the impossible, day in, day out.

Movers and shakers

When we do our research for a client assignment, we take soundings from people in the relevant industry about the movers and shakers. We talk to people who give us comprehensive feedback on their colleagues. We look at those who are making a contribution to their industry. The stars soon become apparent.

Corporate stars are not necessarily the most brilliant, but invariably they are the ones that make a consistent impact. They are able to do so by doing their job very well, and by being able to inspire the people around them.

For those who are serious about getting headhunted, I would suggest the following:

Following these steps will separate and differentiate you from the pack and dramatically increase your chances not only of being headhunted, but of making it to the top of the company where you are today.

The writer is the managing director of Korn/Ferry International in the Middle East.