How to get headhunters to find you?

Headhunters are a great help when you are desperately looking for your next opportunity. Here are some tips to help headhunters find you and help you get your dream job.

You might have encountered a headhunter in a job fair or thanks to your social media or professional network. Unlike ordinary hunters you might be thinking of, these people are easier to spot.

You can find them under another name like recruiters, hiring specialist or HR experts. Those people are experts who work on behalf of a company to fill in, open positions with the right talent.

They can be seen as a connection between employers and potential candidates or jobseekers.

So, it is natural to say that headhunters can become a candidate best ally.

But how to get headhunters to find you? How to make them see that you are looking for a new job?

Here are six tips to help you get noticed by headhunters.

1.Make your presence known. 

Aside from updating your cv, cover letter or portfolio, make sure to analyze your e-reputation, digital presence and social profiles.

Knowing that LinkedIn is the social media that is dedicated for professionals, start with creating a strong profile.

According to a recent report, aside from referrals and internal hires, recruiters confirmed that social media served as a great source to find talents.

Which means that if you don’t have a strong network, or work within a company, your best bet is to get noticed thanks to social media like LinkedIn. 

So, start by perfecting and updating your LinkedIn profile, then navigate to your dashboard, find the “career interest” section and change your status to “actively applying”.  

This step will tell headhunters that you are open to offers. Hence, when you are exploring your preferences, make sure to choose job titles, industries, location, company size you are interested in.

Those details will help headhunters easily tell if you are a good fit for the position, they are sourcing. 

2.Turn your LinkedIn profile into a clear target. 

Once you’ve let headhunters know that you are actively looking for a job, give your LinkedIn an extra punch by adding some valuable keywords related to your profile and the position you want to get.

To determine the right keywords to include to your profile, try to imagine what would be the skills and experiences recruiters might look for to hire someone in the position you want to get.

Look through job descriptions in the filed you desire to find some good buzzwords.  

After putting this work in upfront, you will need to update your profile each six months or so with new certifications, promotions or responsibilities. 

3.Take notice of your surroundings 

While waiting to be discovered by headhunters, feel free to take a further step by being one of them.

Try to find headhunters that can help you. Spotting and selecting the perfect recruiter, can be a time saver, but for the start focus on building strong connection.

Few ways exist to attract head hunters.

First of all, if you are interested to work for a specific company, use your LinkedIn or any other tools to discover their internal headhunters. 

For example, if you want to work for big engineering companies like Jensen Hughes, search for the company name in LinkedIn.

Head to the employees’section and filter to 20000+ results, add extra filters by typing in the search bar words like “recruit” or “talent”.

You will find talent acquisition or hiring specialists working for that company. 

In the other hand if you are interested in a general industry, such us marketing or management consider consulting an external headhunting agency that work with a big number of companies and has a lot of clients and partners.

Consider connect with a local or national firm in your country.  

4.Make some meaningful connections 

Whether you have been noticed by a headhunter or you are the one who reached out to them, the most important thing is to build strong personal connections. 

One rule to respect if you are a job seeker always respond. 

A headhunter may connect you with the right opportunity for you, yet when you read the job description you may find that is not a good fit for you. 

So instead of ignoring their inquiry, respond. Thank the headhunter for the opportunity and inform them about your career goals, you never know, they may have another position that is suited for your profile.

If you don’t know how to reach to a recruiter/ headhunter follow the basic steps.

·       Introduce yourself, 

·       Speak about your experience,

·       Let them know your intention and motivation,

·       Consider offering a get to know you call or a virtual coffee meetup. 

The more personal you will make your connection, the likely they will remember you when the right job comes in.

5.Take a step back and survey your situation 

Like any other process, there are pros and cons related to working with headhunters. So be aware of them.

While you can profit from your friendship with a head hunter when it comes to job search, never forget that it is their job, they are making money when they successfully connect the perfect candidate to a company.

That’s why it is crucial to take a step back, to make sure that your interests are in top of your mind.

Certainly, a headhunter made that job offer sounds amazing to you, but is it really the opportunity you have been searching for?

Don’t be afraid to ask extra questions and do some researches on your own.

6.Continue to tweak your networking skills 

Practice makes perfect as they say. You have to be patient when you start networking and making professional relations.

Nothing comes easy. The fact that you are not already noticed by headhunters doesn’t mean you are failing or you are not improving your connecting skills.

Be persistent, take initiative, be active on LinkedIn, share some posts, sell your experience and aim to build long-term relationships with your network members.

You never know who will be the one who will notice you. So, keep your LinkedIn updated and follow up like it’s your job.

Finally, all your efforts will pay off.