By: Peter M Felix 

Remember that when contacting executive search firms you are not necessarily doing them the favour you might imagine.

You may suspect that their business is driven by a flow of candidates looking for a move - but they’re not. They are driven by a specific client need and their mandate under retainer is to find the best possible candidate, whether or not that executive was looking to make a move. So there may well be a mismatch of expectation between you and the search firm. But rest assured that this does not mean that they are not willing to meet and discuss your career aspirations.They are, but only to a certain extent..

All executive search consultants must maintain contact with the market place, what is happening in major companies, shifts in compensation etc. And one perfectly valid way to do this is to talk to executives who are currently in the market for a new position. So when talking to a search consultant about your career remember that they may well find useful your commentary on the market, developments within particular organizations and indeed referrals that you may be able to maker concerning their current searches, assuming that you yourself are not interested in them. Share your information and the search consultant will share theirs , and hopefully will make a suggestion or provide you with information that will help you with your networking, bridge builidng etc. Create an awareness of yourself, this may help as and when an opportunity arises for which you may be well suited.

Remember that in the minds of executive search consultants , you are an “unsolicited resume” if you aproached them. You may or may well not fit a particular need that one of their clients has right now. But that doesn’t mean that something might not turn up in the future. Keeping in touch with relevant consultants makes sense both for you and for them. But do it selectively and be sympathetic to their time commitments on their current assignments. Like most networking activities this is not a quick fix, but a gradual and long term tool for career development.

Categories: Retained Executive Search