The hot topic for this week is the executive search firms. They are much misunderstood, and indeed it would be dangerous (and career limiting!) for me to make generalizations about them. However there are some insights worth sharing with you, as follows:
- They are retained search firms, and work for a fee. They exist to serve the needs of those who pay the fee, and that is not you.
- Only about 20% of senior IT vacancies go through these firms. The remainder are filled internally, or by personal networking, or by media advertising etc.
- The major league firms are generally not in the relationship management business. If they have a search, they may reach out to you. Don’t be surprised if you get a fairly cold reception by reaching out to them, because their interest lies in their current portfolio of opportunities.
- Smaller search firms may be more willing to help with polishing your resume, or keeping an eye out for opportunities on your behalf. In Europe, a few of the major search firms are now moving in to the relationship business, where they will actively approach employers to see if they have suitable opportunities, and they will call the candidate every couple of weeks with progress updates (even if there is no progress).
- If a search firm approaches you about an opportunity, be prepared to be a passenger on a journey, with someone else doing the driving. They will approach (say) 10 candidates, and so you only have (on average) a 10% chance of a worthwhile outcome. Meanwhile be ready for conference calls, visits to the search firm offices, visits to meet the client, and so on. Also be prepared to hear nothing for long periods of time, and to be dropped with little explanation. It tends to be a soul searching experience.
Don’t pester the search firm with reminders, because they just don’t have the time for that sort of thing. Instead, you might want to be smarter in keeping in contact with them -- ask for their help in tracking down the right individual in a firm you have heard about, or check an e-mail address with them. Your aim should be to keep your candidacy on their radar screen at all times, so that when they get a relevant assignment, your name appears on their list of contacts.
The major search firms include (with the national IT practice leader in parenthesis) are given on the Resources page of this website.