Why are “shotgun” mailings of 500 resumes to search firms not likely to lead to a job? This impersonal “hit-and-run” strategy runs counter to the methods search firms are using to find candidates.
Search firms are gaining a foothold, especially as the economy improves and companies have difficulty locating engineers and other high-tech workers. In fact, last year, individual search firms grew well over 20 percent domestically and internationally, according to the newsletter Executive Recruiter News (ERN), of Kennedy Publications (www.kennedyinfo.com).
Today’s specialized employment needs make recruiters more attractive to companies and individuals than ever. They’ve become accepted as part of the marketing landscape, largely because of their personal approach to meeting their clients’ staffing needs.
Many people use impersonal strategies to locate search firms with the hope of an easy job search. Generally, they’re assuming that:
– A single marketing attempt will produce job offers;
– People need to have contact with search firms only when they’re job hunting;
– Blind approaches can be effective;
– Referrals to firms colleagues and friends have used aren’t necessary.
Why plan at the last minute? Search firms should be approached when you’re not job-seeking.
As the workplace continues to become global, search firms will continue to use a range of techniques and vehicles to match workers with companies. Exec-U-Net, an international networking organization for senior-level executives and professionals (www.execunet.com), co-sponsored a 1997 survey of more than 3,500 search firms and 1,000 executives with Kennedy Publications. They reported that networking in several areas helped most in linking candidates with prospective companies.
Ten percent of responding search firms, executives and human resource staff were Canadian, with more than 56 percent of that group living in Ontario. Search firms in the U.S. and Canada reported networking with businesses, personal friends, target companies, other search firms and on-line services. On-line job listings alone, however, returned poor results. The results of advertising also paled.
Notice that two of the least personal vehicles, on-line listings and advertising, produced the least. Why, then, do people keep thinking that if they use impersonal methods to identify firms, they’ll get personal results?
Highly professional, personal self-promotion will help you capture the attention of search firms. Begin by building relationships with firms when they place someone in your company or when they place a friend, even if any of the executives work in fields different from yours. Don’t send a resume. Pick up the telephone.
Ed Blecksmith, principal with Larsen, Whitney, Blecksmith & Zilliacus in Los Angeles, a generalist firm, advises, “Get to know search firms in your community and industry. Drop them a note, saying that you see their name a lot in trade publications. Volunteer to have them contact you if they need to speak with someone in your industry.”
Lynn Seermon, search consultant at Witt/Kieffer Ford, Hadelman & Lloyd in west suburban Oak Brook, the largest U.S. firm specializing in health-care and higher education worldwide, says, “Return telephone calls, even if you aren’t interested in a position. Many search firms keep databases with thousands of people contacted, complete with notes, including call dates, interest, and whether a good referral was given, even if the person was friendly.” This information is available to anyone at the firm.
Then parallel the efforts of search firms. Sustain your campaign. The survey found that well over half of search firms invested three to four months in filling a job order.
Your results won’t materialize overnight, either.
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Dr. Mildred Culp is a radio commentator and author of “Be WorkWise: Retooling Your Work for the 21st Century.” Write to her care of tribjobs@tribune.com
