Am I visible to the Search Community?

Douglas Baker

Executive search firms pride themselves on their ability to find elusive executives and bring them to their clients. That said, visibility matters, and if you are a step or two down from the C-Suite, ensuring that you have a well developed public profile can help to ensure that you aren’t overlooked for opportunities.

There is a lot of buzz lately about “personal branding” – turning yourself into a marketable commodity, replete with unique selling points. Just as consumer goods companies employ multiple channels to promote their wares, so you should use every avenue open to promote YOU.

This post discusses the importance of breaking into press – online, in print, you name it. It is the first in a series that will touch on some key ideas to ensure you are maintaining a public profile that Search Consultants will pay attention to.

By looking at how Search Firms operate you can optimize your visibility, particularly to the researchers who drive the name generation process. Costa Tzavaras, a Research Consultant from AESC member firm Enns Partners, points out the press is his first point of call on any new search. So breaking into the press will help ensure that you’re one of the first names on their radar. Remember that “press” encompasses all mediums: online, print and even company press releases.

Press exposure does more than bring you to a researcher’s attention, it allows them to target you more accurately. “This [process] not only results in the name itself, but also may give some other basic information, such as background and perspective on relevant topics,” comments Costa. You will be exposed to a potential dream jobs, and should avoid being targeted for positions for which you’re unsuitable.

National Press

The national presses offer you the widest possible exposure and being featured in a major publication lends your opinion greater weight. Additionally, once you have appeared as a source in one publication, it’s more likely that you will be approached for your opinion in others.

So how do you become an industry expert? Sarah Needleman, associate editor of CareerJournal.com - a free Web site from the Wall Street Journal – shares her perspective. “Find out which journalists specialize in your industry” suggests Sarah, “then contact them offering your expertise. The next time they need a quote or help with an article they may well contact you.” Journalists’ contact information is rarely hard to find. For example the Wall Street Journal includes contact details for journalists at the foot of its articles; find the ones that cover your industry and approach them.

Industry Press

Now, as the Bluesteps Career Guide notes, we can’t all get onto the front cover of Fortune or BusinessWeek (though clearly this would be nice and if you manage it all power to you). However industry press can provide great exposure and is far easier to break into. It may not have the glamour of a national publication, but the aim here is to become a ‘known quantity’ and for this you have to look at all the options.

Remember that the researchers and consultants at search firms are specialists. They know and follow their respective industries, reading the trade as closely as any within the industry itself.

Industry publications, both online and in print are always looking for contributions. You don’t have to be a budding novelist to write for them, they have editors to ensure anything published will be a well presented piece; many will expect only a rough draft on which they can build.

Finally, if you write a piece or lend your opinion to an article, remember to guarantee it is as easily found as possible. Costa suggests you keep in mind how much research is now internet based. To ensure that search engines turn up the articles you feature in, try to include as much basic information as possible. This includes your full name, position, and the company you work for (or at the least the industry you’re in). Make yourself Google friendly!

Good Luck.

Categories: Executive Career Management, Retained Executive Search
No Comments »