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Over the past few episodes, we've taken a deep dive into the world of executive search firms and executive recruiters.
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And now, I want to review some of the not always obvious insights that came up in some of those episodes, and add something new that I think will fundamentally change how you think about working with search firms.
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But before I do that, let me share something that has happened in more coaching sessions than I can count.
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I'm on a call with a mid or senior-level executive, someone with great education, experience at market leading companies and a strong track record of success.
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Then, That person reports they're getting in touch with, and I'll put this in quotes,"search firms," trying to get their attention.
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When I ask which search firms, they can give me the names of firms but can't recall or don't yet have specific names of individual recruiters.
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And that's when I know we need to have a different kind of conversation.
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One about how executive search firms are structured.
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and really work.
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Stay tuned.
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Before I get into the main topic for this episode, how search firms are structured as a business, I'd like to summarize what we've covered in recent episodes about executive search.
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If you've listened to the episodes, this will be a helpful, I hope, reminder.
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And if you haven't, you can take a deeper dive by queuing up the episodes I'll be mentioning.
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So in Episode 25, we talked about a few fundamentals of the industry, specifically that there are two types of search firms, retained and contingency, and that they operate with very different economic models.
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Retained firms work exclusively for a client to fill a specific role, and they get paid a fixed fee to do it.
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As a result, they have a strong economic incentive to stay focused on their current searches and to close them quickly and efficiently.
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Contingency firms may have long term relationships with their clients, But they compete against other firms to fill open roles.
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As a result, they have an economic incentive to shop you around as a candidate to as many of their clients as possible.
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Chances are, if you're a listener of this podcast, you're going to want to work with the retained firms who typically fill the higher level, more desirable roles.
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In that same episode, Episode 25, I also covered a crucial point that many people are confused about retained executive recruiters don't work for you, they work for their clients, the people paying the bills.
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While they'll treat you ethically and professionally, the primary accountability is always going to be to their clients.
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In Episode 26, we discussed five key ways to get on recruiters radar screens.
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And those are, one, building a reputation for excellence, plain and simple.
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Two, staying connected with the people in your network who will ultimately refer executive recruiters to you.
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Three, sharing your narrative effectively.
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That's what you do, the context you do it in, and the impact of your work.
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Those are the basic things people need to know about you.
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Four, maintaining a complete and compelling LinkedIn profile.
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And five, being responsive to recruiters.
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even when you don't need them.
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Each of these approaches builds on the others to create a strong foundation for working with the executive recruiters who can be instrumental in advancing your career.
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In Episode 27, we talked about why reaching out cold to recruiters you don't know can actually hurt your chances of working with them.
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We explored how reaching out cold, that is without an introduction or referral, can lead you to being labeled as a"job seeker" in their database, a label that can raise red flags about you as a potential candidate in the firm's searches.
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And going back in time to Episode 14, I took a deep dive into why recruiters can be so risk-averse.
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I talked about the guarantee that most search firms offer to their clients, which is that if a placed candidate doesn't work out within the first year or some other contractually predefined period, the executive search firm may have to redo the search for free.
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This creates a powerful incentive for the recruiters to exhibit a bunch of risk-averse behaviors when they source and present candidates to their clients.
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So, being aware of your personal risk profile when it comes to engaging with recruiters and considering ways you might help ameliorate that risk is probably a good idea.
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With that review out of the way, I want to add something new into the mix that I think could change how you think about approaching executive search firms, and it's a fundamental misunderstanding I've seen among many of my clients.
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They believe their goal should be to get on the radar screens of executive search firms when they really need to be getting to know specific people in specific practice areas within those firms.
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You see, executive search firms aren't monolithic in the way most people often think about them.
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They're more like collections of specialized boutique search firms operating under one brand with a bunch of shared services.
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Think of them as businesses within businesses.
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Here's an example from my own experience at Isaacson, Miller, the executive search firm I was a senior associate at.
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We had specialized practice areas.
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In fact, we had someone who focused exclusively on head librarian searches.
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That's right.
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That was their entire focus.
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And I worked in the institutional advancement practice, focusing primarily on hiring chief development officers for nonprofits, members of their teams, and heads of alumni relations.
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So what does this mean for someone like you who might want to get on the radar screens at executive search firms?
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Let's say that I was still at Isaacson Miller, and you wanted to be considered for a chief development officer role through the firm.
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It's not enough just to target the firm.
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You needed to know or be known by the partner who led my practice, me or my associates.
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And if we didn't know you directly, you needed to know someone we knew or would likely reach out to for referrals in our searches.
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And let's say that you didn't know all this, and you happened to reach out to the person who ran the head librarian searches, because you didn't know any better.
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Well, I'm sure you can guess that you'd probably come across as a little out of the loop.
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This practice area structure combined with everything else we've discussed in previous episodes about executive search means that success with recruiters, executive recruiters that is, requires a much more focused approach than most people might assume.
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Instead of trying to get on the radar screens of firms, you need to first identify which practice areas in which firms are most relevant to your career goals.
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This might take some research and networking to figure out.
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Second, focus on building relationships with specific recruiters in those practice areas in those firms.
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Remember what we discussed in Episode 26?
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This happens primarily through referrals from people in the firm's existing network.
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Don't try to reach out directly if you can help it.
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And third, maintain those relationships over time by being responsive and helpful when recruiters you might be interested in working with someday reach out to you, even if you're not currently looking to move.
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As I covered in Episode 27, this long-term relationship building is far more effective than reaching out when you actually need something.
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Working effectively with executive recruiters is definitely a long game.
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One that's won through building relationships based on reputation, credibility and trust.
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It's not about quick fixes or mass outreach.
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It's about understanding how the business really works at the practice area level and aligning your approach accordingly.
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If you found this helpful, please share it with someone who could benefit from understanding how executive search firms really work.
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And if you're trying to figure out how to build relationships with the right recruiters in your industry, or you're currently a candidate in a search run by an executive search firm, consider signing up for a Career Strategy Session with me at careernarratives.com/strategy.
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See you in the next episode.
