Your next job could be a LinkedIn message away. In today’s professional world, it’s easier than ever to connect with headhunters and recruiters. However, standing out to capture their attention can be tricky.
If you’re ready to advance your career by working with a headhunter, there are some ways you can stand out. These foolproof tips will help you highlight your professionalism and get noticed by a headhunter today.
Amp Up Your Skills and Certifications
While communication skills will help you nail an interview, it’s the hard skills that will get your resume on a manager’s desk. When comparing your resume to someone with similar job history, a headhunter will look at your training and certifications. While you can’t change your job experience, you can learn additional skills to heighten your professional status.
For example, if you’re working in tech in New York City, you might look up “Salesforce training in NY.” Since many companies only offer training to corporate groups, you can ask your current employer to schedule the class for you and your coworkers. Once the training is complete, you can add “Salesforce” to your resume and discuss your knowledge with confidence. Other marketable skills include JavaScript, HTML, mobile optimization, and AWS. Companies want headhunters to recruit professionals with these types of relevant skills, so these types of classes will be well worth your time.
Polish your online presence
Your LinkedIn profile and other online pages will be the first impression that headhunters have of you. So, you want these pages to be perfect. Check that your professional experiences all have clear descriptions on LinkedIn and highlight the skills you learned in each. Clean up your bio and use keywords relevant to your industry.
You should also clearly state your career objectives on your LinkedIn profile. If you have a website, make sure that your bio is consistent across all platforms. Some professionals may benefit from hiring a resume writer to polish their LinkedIn and CV for them.
Use your network
Your professional network can be a great resource for connecting with headhunters, both on and offline. Reach out to former colleagues and friends who work in your industry, paying particular attention to those who work at companies that you are interested in. Be clear that you are looking to transition into a new role and pass along your resume.
If there is a headhunter working with their company, they can connect you and get you one step closer to your ideal position.
Connect with search firms
If a company is looking for talent, they may pay a retained search firm to recruit professionals for them. This is particularly true for executive-level positions. You can start working relationships with headhunters by connecting with these firms.
If a headhunter reaches out to you, be sure to respond and connect even if you aren’t interested in that particular job or company. They are likely recruiting for a number of positions and may have a role that better fits your interest. You can also reach out to them when you are looking to transition to a new job in the future, so continue to maintain this connection.
Highlight your expertise
Especially if you’re in upper management or a c-level role, you need to position yourself as an expert in your industry. You can do so by publishing thought pieces in industry journals or publications. If you are in an earlier part of your career, there are still ways to highlight your expertise. Keep up with a blog, participate in professional organizations, or start a side hustle in your niche. Putting this knowledge out there will help capture the attention of headhunters.
Job hunting is never easy. And this is true at all levels. However, you can experience smoother job transitions and more exciting opportunities by working with headhunters. While it can feel difficult at first, the effort will be well worth it when you have headhunters filling your inbox.
