Business mentor: Catching a head-hunter's eye needs strategic planning

Q:I think it is time for me to move on to a new role. How do I get noticed by a head-hunter?

A: Howard Chaffey, director of executive search firm BridgesOne, replies:

Just as you should have a strategy for your business, you must have a strategy for your career. To get noticed by a head-hunter takes some forward thinking and planning.

You need to know where you want to be in two to three years' time and start building the profile to achieve those objectives. Your plan needs to be specific enough that you can evaluate career moves as on-strategy or off-strategy.

Head-hunters operate through the use of extensive networks. They connect with people who know other people.

So how to get noticed?

* Build a profile which can be easily identified by desk research. Speak at conferences or write articles, get involved with your local institute or professional body, and associate with people who are where you want to go.

Participate in your alumni association and make sure you are known and respected by your suppliers and customers as a good operator.

Take part in strategic planning groups and know your competitors so you can act as a third-party commentator.

Treat yourself as a product that requires a profile.

* Contact a head-hunter in your industry.

* Network to help and be helped. Take the calls from head-hunters and be a source as well as a potential candidate. Consultants are more favourably disposed towards helpful, objective people for preferred clients.

Get to know those people who have already been head-hunted.

Develop a relationship with key reporters for your industry so you can comment on industry issues. Also, make sure you attend strategic conferences because search companies will read the delegate lists.

* Use the internet to carefully select the search firms with whom you list your resume. Avoid the general sites if you are a high performer.

Ensure you are identifiable and contactable from your own company's website. Academics do this a lot; universities constantly promote their professorial stars.

These tactics will get you noticed but this is only part of the process.

Getting the right role takes objectives and a plan. Do something beyond your normal job requirements to draw attention to yourself and your abilities. Show you have a plan for your career; be co-operative but not desperate. These strategies are not a short-term fix.

* Send Mentor questions to: ellen_read@nzherald.co.nz.

Answers will be provided by Business in the Community's Business Mentor Programme.