Hunt the Headhunters and Keep them in Your Network

It is normal these days that people especially from the Information Technology industry move from one job to another in search for better opportunities and higher rewards (base pay, bonus, perks, etc.). Gone are the days that employers question why applicants move from one place to another and take it as a point against the person; instead, a professionals’ value increases as they move from one company to another (provided every move is a better than the last one).

Experience in point
I myself have worked in five companies for the last six years and my longest tenure is less than two years. Before I joined my current employer, I remember being interviewed every other week and receiving a job offer at least once every two months from different companies. My job hunting has always been easy primarily because of headhunters.
Benefits of headhunters
Headhunters are one of the best options (the only better option I can think of is a direct referral from higher management) you have when seeking for employment because of the following reasons:
1. Quality of the Company – companies who have the budget to spend twice or thrice the amount for each hire are those that are most likely doing well in the industry. Also, headhunters screen and evaluate their clients to make sure the people they deploy are in good hands.
2. Confidentiality – posting your resume across the internet exposes you to so many companies as well as your current employer. I suppose you wouldn’t want that to happen?
3. Preparations – headhunters usually go out of their way to help you polish your resume, create additional documents to highlight your skills, experience and values. They also help you prepare for interviews by giving you tips, advice and background of the company and things that are most important to the client.
4. Job Offer – headhunters help you negotiate your base pay and other rewards to the client. In most cases, headhunters earn from their client by charging two or three months the base pay given to the successful hire; this mean that headhunters would do everything possible to negotiate a higher base pay for you. You are on a win-win situation because headhunters are trained on salary negotiation, know the market and have helped you boost your value to the client.
Hunt the headhunters
The first thing I did right after graduation was to submit my resume in a number of headhunters. After that, I chose the best headhunters who contacted me and have established a good working relationship with them and the person handling my account. My relationship with headhunters has been fruitful as they continuously inform me of the best opportunities out there together with the most valued skill sets. If in case I am not interested, I try my best to refer them to people in my network.
Conclusion
It is important to find and establish a good business relationship with headhunters since they work full-time in finding the best opportunities in the industry which could help propel you to greater heights; but remember, there is always a bad apple out there so choose the headhunters you are dealing with intelligently.
[tags]Recruitment, Headhunter, Job, Application[/tags]