Purkiss & Company : Press : How to be Headhunted


The smart way to stand out in a crowd The Director, June 2005 Make yourself a target If you want to make the headhunter's shortlist you need to sell yourself hard. But, as John Purkiss explains, it's important to know exactly what they're looking for and to identify what makes you unique. EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRMS handle at least half of all senior appointments so it is worth understanding their needs to maximise your chances of reaching the shortlist. If you formulate your unique selling proposition and communicate it effectively, you are well on your way to achieving this. Just the Facts Search firms want relevant facts.. Instead, many candidates make the mistake of providing opinions about their personalities and character traits. They often describe themselves as "entrepreneurial", "hands-on" or "team players". There are several difficulties with this approach. First, consultants and researchers are trying to gather objective information to determine whether you are a relevant candidate. It is best to get straight to the point. Second, describing yourself in this way may not strengthen your position; quite the reverse, in fact. Most search consultants feel it is their job to form a view on what you have to offer. To put it bluntly, they do not want to be spoon-fed your opinions about yourself. They may even conclude that you are unfamiliar with executive search, which will not help their perception of you. Third, these statements are vague, referring to things that are difficult to measure. Therefore they do not contribute to the selection process, and most search consultants will ignore them. What's your USP? What should you do instead? When approaching search firms, it is useful to have a list of characteristics that make you different from other candidates. By thinking carefully about your qualifications, skills and experience you can distil them into five or six points. In marketing terms, this is your unique selling proposition, or USP. Search firms tend to use five or six criteria to select candidates for each assignment. If your USP matches three or four of their criteria, you are likely to make it onto the "long list" and perhaps the shortlist. It will help the search firm if you list these points in the covering letter or email that accompanies your CV. Tailor your CV The CV should include a one-page summary that gives them an overview of your career, with relevant data to indicate the size of the organisations for which you have worked. The covering letter or email should persuade them to look at the front page of your CV, which should then encourage them to turn the page and read the rest of it. Your CV will be one of thousands on a database, so you need to stand out in a crowded market. John Purkiss is an executive search consultant. How to be Headhunted, by John Purkiss & Barbara Edlmair, is published by How To Books (ISBN 1845280482, price £9.99).

The smart way to stand out in a crowd The Director, June 2005

Make yourself a target
If you want to make the headhunter's shortlist you need to sell yourself hard. But, as John Purkiss explains, it's important to know exactly what they're looking for and to identify what makes you unique.

EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRMS handle at least half of all senior appointments so it is worth understanding their needs to maximise your chances of reaching the shortlist. If you formulate your unique selling proposition and communicate it effectively, you are well on your way to achieving this.

Just the Facts
Search firms want relevant facts.. Instead, many candidates make the mistake of providing opinions about their personalities and character traits. They often describe themselves as "entrepreneurial", "hands-on" or "team players". There are several difficulties with this approach. First, consultants and researchers are trying to gather objective information to determine whether you are a relevant candidate. It is best to get straight to the point. Second, describing yourself in this way may not strengthen your position; quite the reverse, in fact. Most search consultants feel it is their job to form a view on what you have to offer. To put it bluntly, they do not want to be spoon-fed your opinions about yourself. They may even conclude that you are unfamiliar with executive search, which will not help their perception of you. Third, these statements are vague, referring to things that are difficult to measure. Therefore they do not contribute to the selection process, and most search consultants will ignore them.

What's your USP?
What should you do instead? When approaching search firms, it is useful to have a list of characteristics that make you different from other candidates. By thinking carefully about your qualifications, skills and experience you can distil them into five or six points. In marketing terms, this is your unique selling proposition, or USP. Search firms tend to use five or six criteria to select candidates for each assignment. If your USP matches three or four of their criteria, you are likely to make it onto the "long list" and perhaps the shortlist. It will help the search firm if you list these points in the covering letter or email that accompanies your CV.

Tailor your CV
The CV should include a one-page summary that gives them an overview of your career, with relevant data to indicate the size of the organisations for which you have worked. The covering letter or email should persuade them to look at the front page of your CV, which should then encourage them to turn the page and read the rest of it. Your CV will be one of thousands on a database, so you need to stand out in a crowded market.

John Purkiss is an executive search consultant. How to be Headhunted, by John Purkiss & Barbara Edlmair, is published by How To Books (ISBN 1845280482, price £9.99).