Are you confused about the different kinds of recruiters, why you should connect with them, and what they can do for you? Did you know that internal recruiters and external recruiters — either retained or on contingency — help you in different ways?

As an executive, you’ve probably worked with recruiters in the past. The story I most often hear from my c-level executive clients is that they were pursued by recruiters while they were employed, and easily slid from one job to the next, without much effort. The recruiter(s) took over and landed them in most of their jobs.

Executive job search doesn’t work quite so easily these days, unless you’re very lucky.

Don’t expect executive recruiters to come knocking. They’re certainly out there looking for candidates like you, but with so much competition in the job market today, they’re looking at a lot more people. You may not be in demand in the same way you were a few years ago. You’ll need to reach out to them.

For help in sorting out all the pros and cons and how-to’s, go to the Work Coach Cafe and 2 posts written by Susan P. Joyce, online job search guru — one on Internal Recruiters, the other on External Recruiters.

Some of Susan’s tidbits on Internal Recruiters:

→  They have an insider’s perspective. They see how the organization works and typically know many of the people inside the organization, particularly the hiring managers.

→  They may be your advocate, if they believe you are the best person for the job.

But . . .

→  Their loyalty is to the organization. No matter how tempting, don’t tell them anything that you don’t want the rest of the organization to know.

→  They can “bar the door,” keeping you from being interviewed or considered, even if (sometimes, especially if) you try to go “around” them directly to the hiring manager.

And a few of her points on working with External Recruiters:

→  Contingency recruiters may be strong advocates of your candidacy – because they, or their employer, will earn a commission if you are hired.

→  They have an outsider’s perspective, so they are not caught up in the politics inside the organization, although – if they have worked with an employer before – they may understand quite a bit about how the organization and the people inside it operate.

But . . .

→  External recruiters are outsiders. They don’t know everything going on inside the organization. They may or may not know the people involved in every hire, so they may not be able to provide you with any meaningful coaching.

→  Your “cost of hire” (what it costs the employer to hire you) is higher than an internal referral or someone who walks in off the street because of the commission paid them if you are hired based on their referral. It can be as much as 20% to 25% of the annual salary.

Each kind of recruiter works differently. Understanding what motivates them can help you avoid making damaging assumptions that can derail your job search. Knowing how they work with candidates can help you to build positive, mutually rewarding relationships with them.

Related posts:

Build Winning Relationships with Executive Recruiters

Executive Job Search: How Recruiters Find You

Working with Recruiters For Senior Executives Over 50

photo by Rosmary

You may be wondering what “100% complete” is, and why it even matters.

When your LinkedIn profile meets their criteria for completeness, your profile is more likely to land higher in search results.

Your visibility increases dramatically. Executive recruiters and hiring decision makers at your target companies are more likely to land on your profile when they’re sourcing and assessing good-fit candidates.

In mid-February, LinkedIn changed the completeness criteria and the way they calculate profile completeness:

“The new calculation gives you more control of your score by emphasizing things you have direct control over, like Skills, and putting less weight on areas you may have less control over, like Recommendations. The score also takes profile freshness into consideration, so frequent profile updates can now help with profile completeness.”

Here’s what you now need for a complete profile:

• Your industry and location
• An up-to-date current position (with a description)
• Two past positions
• Your education
• Your skills (minimum of 3)
• A profile photo
• At least 50 connections

LinkedIn says that adding a profile photo makes your profile 7x more likely to be found in searches. Having your 2 most recent positions makes your profile 12x more likely to be found.

Looks like it’s time for you and all of us who rely on LinkedIn to attract business and job opportunities, to spend a little time working on our profiles.

Related posts:

My free ebook, Executive Branding and Your LinkedIn Profile: How to Transform Your Executive Brand, Resume, and Career Biography Into a Winning LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn Guide for Executive Branding and Job Search

Does My LinkedIn Profile Really Need a Photo?

Best LinkedIn Tips: Find LinkedIn Groups to Join

photo by nan palmero

You’re skeptical, but you’ve heard that Twitter can help you with executive job search, so you decide to take the plunge and set up an account, even though you have no idea what to do with Twitter.

You’ve selected @yourname, or a variation, for your username and popped in your email address. Then you moved on to the “Profile” page. You inserted your location and put in your LinkedIn profile URL for “Web”, because you don’t have a personal website. And you added the same photo you use on LinkedIn.

You can’t figure out what to put for your “Bio”, so you skip over that. You decided you’ll slowly feel your way around first, then come back to it, once you’ve got a handle on how to use Twitter.

That’s your biggest mistake as a newbie.

One of the first things you’ll be doing with your Twitter account is finding and following the right people . . . people you can learn from . . . people you can network with . . . people you can help . . . people who can help you achieve your career goals, or connect you to those who can help you.

These are people you want to stay top of mind with. You want these people to follow you back and watch your tweets.

Think about this. Unless these people you follow automatically follow back everyone, they’ll probably take a look at your profile before deciding whether or not to follow you back. I know I do. I’m selective about who I follow.

When I look at the profiles of new people who have followed me, too often all I see is a nice photo (or sometimes no photo at all), their name, and maybe their location. Since they’re newbies, they haven’t tweeted at all, or only a few times. And they’ve skipped over the bio.

How can I determine who they are and what they’re about with so little information? They’re not generating interest. They’re not giving me a reason to follow them.

With a branded keyword-rich Twitter bio – even one that fits into only 160 characters – I can get a feel for whether they’re someone I want to follow.

If you haven’t worked on branding yet, at least get your job title and most important relevant keywords into your bio. You can go back later and get some of your brand messaging in it.

And you can change your bio at any time. In fact, it’s probably not a bad idea to tweak it from time to time.

Increase your credibility and follow-ability by taking a few moments to write your Twitter bio.

Related posts:

Twitter Turbocharges Executive Job Search and Personal Brand Visibility

How Twitter Helped Me Build My Personal Brand

Twitter Executive Branding Strategy: The Beauty of a Retweet

55 Top Job Search Experts To Follow On Twitter

photo by josh semans

Do you have the same fear that many of my c-level executive clients have when I tell them they need a branded, 100% complete LinkedIn profile and to fully leverage all the social network has to offer?

If they’re employed, they worry that their employer, or someone at work, will see their activity and know they’re looking for a new job.

Some have a minimal profile they posted years ago and promptly forgot about. They never completed their profiles or used LinkedIn at all.

What they fail to grasp is that a bare-bones profile, with no keyword-rich Professional Headline, or Summary section, and little or nothing in the Experience section, leaves people viewing their profiles with no meaningful information to help them assess them.

No LinkedIn presence at all is as good as being invisible to the very people they need to be positioned directly in front of.

They need a fully fleshed out profile for passive job search — to be found by executive recruiters and the hiring decision makers at their target companies. As an undercover job seeker, they may not be able to be as proactive as those who are not employed.

LinkedIn has a kind of safeguard for undercover job seekers. You can temporarily turn off automatic updates to your LinkedIn network whenever you make changes or updates to your profile (along with other activities), so at least no one will be formally alerted.

• Go to “Settings” in the drop-down menu at the top right of your profile.
• Click on “Profile” and select “Turn on/off your activity broadcasts”.
• Make sure the box there — “Let people know when you change your profile, make recommendations, or follow companies” — is UNCHECKED.
• Go back in and check the box if you no longer need to hide your activity.

Obviously, anyone who is keeping track of you and other employees by checking their profiles will notice that you suddenly have a full profile or new information. Expect that people may ask you what you’re up to.

My recommendation to clients is to have a ready answer for why you’re busy on Linkedin.

The trick to crafting an answer is to frame your answer around how your LinkedIn activities will benefit your current employer, because that is indeed the case.

For instance, if you’re a CMO, you’d be wise to be working hard on connecting through LinkedIn with your vendors, agency partners, co-workers, other CMOs at other companies, and even competitors. They’re probably hanging out on LI, so you should, too.

You can say that you’re using LinkedIn to source new leads and help market the company. When existing customers or potential customers view your company’s LinkedIn profile, they’ll most likely also view the profiles of the top executives, like you. The new information about the company you just added on your LinkedIn profile will give a good impression of it and encourage people to do business with you and your company.

You can say that you’re busy on LinkedIn because you want to find and be found by top talent for your team.

Any number of viable reasons could suffice. Just keep your answer focused on how your LinkedIn activity will be good for the company.

Two things to consider:

1. You should obviously avoid posting updates about what kind of position you’re seeking, or noting anywhere on your profile that you’re “looking”. Instead, when you uncover a job lead, express your potential value to target companies and your interest through one-on-one InMails or directly through emails.

2. Just like every other executive job seeker, you should be getting involved with LinkedIn Groups and Answers. If you’re in an undercover search, be very careful what you post in discussions there.

Obviously, don’t let on that you’re job hunting or testing the waters. Instead, use Groups and Answers to demonstrate your subject matter expertise and thought leadership, and to stay top of mind with your target employers.

Related posts:

LinkedIn Guide for Executive Branding and Job Search

Does Your Online Identity Scream “Hire Me”?

The Lazy C-level Executive Job Search

photo by Dave-F

Have you ever been trapped in a one-on-one with someone you’ve just met, maybe at a networking event, who over-anxiously monopolizes the conversation, making you listen endlessly to their career achievements and goals?

While you’re trying to figure out how to extricate yourself from the agony, you’re thinking, “This guy needs to work on his elevator pitch. I don’t care what he’s selling. I don’t want to get stuck talking to him again.”

When I worked on branding for myself several years ago, I came up with my tagline, “Your unique value proposition . . . differentiated, strategically positioned, helping you land your next great gig.”

I’m still very happy with that statement . . . on paper and web page . . . but it doesn’t make for a smooth verbal introduction of who I am and what I have to offer.

So I worked on my verbal pitch.

I recently introduced myself to someone with a statement similar to this:

“I’m an Executive Branding and Job Search Strategist. I partner with top level executives to define what differentiates them from their competition and strategically position them to land their next great gig.”

The person I was speaking to said, “Just what do you do for your clients?”

At first I thought I hadn’t done a good enough job describing myself. Then I realized, his reaction was just what should have happened. He wanted to know more. He was giving me the opportunity to give him details. Excellent!

Here’s an elevator pitch for an actual client of mine “Tim” . . . for networking, job interviewing and even social events or when introducing himself to people in line at the supermarket:

“I’m a turnaround management expert in the Federal sector. I take on challenges no one in their right mind would touch and transform losers into profitable organizations. People always say, ‘If it’s broke, give it to Tim.’”

Things to keep in mind when crafting your pitch:

• Of course, you can’t work on your message without first working on your executive brand. The exercises in my 10-step branding worksheet will help.
• Just like your executive brand, it’s all about them . . . not you. Build your message around your potential value to your target employers.
• Differentiate yourself through your pitch. If you’re a CIO in high-tech, your message should be unique to you. It shouldn’t fit any other CIO in high-tech. Identify what you’re most known for and most relied on for. What are you the “go to” person for?
• Keep it short and conversational for easy flow — about 10 seconds, at most. These days, everyone is in such a hurry and we all seem to have shorter attention spans.
• Your message should pique people’s interest and compel them to want to know more about you. Give it a punch!
• Practice saying it in front of friends and family. Get their feedback. Practice it by yourself so that saying it becomes second nature and doesn’t sound forced.

Related posts:

Get Personal With Your Executive Brand Statement

Brand New Year. New Personal Brand?

Bullet-Proof Your Executive Career in the New World of Work

photo by Steve Snodgrass

Check out the latest addition to Job-Hunt.org‘s list of 12 (and counting) free job search ebooks on topics ranging from personal branding, interviewing, and career reinvention, to salary negotiations, working with recruiters and more.

Tim Tyrell-Smith, creator of the Tim’s Strategy approach to job search and Job-Hunt’s Personal Marketing Expert, authored the newest ebook, “How To Create A Personal Marketing Plan: The 5 Powerful Steps To Bringing Your Brand To Life“.

What is “personal marketing”?  Tim explains:

“It is the work you do once you’ve created a personal brand. You know who you are and, importantly, know how you are different from others wanting to play the same role in the world.

You have to expose your brand and ideas to people in a way that gets them leaning in. Not turning away. So you have to be smart.”

He further notes two universal truths:

1. “Marketing is hard. To do it right, anyway.

2. Marketing takes time. Only in rare cases will your brand become viral overnight (or even over a few months). People who ‘rush in’ are making mistakes. And those mistakes can be costly. Giving you a reputation that’s hard to shake.”

Tim is a wonderfully engaging writer. The ebook is quick to read (only 12 pages) and will give you actionable advice and resources, along with the tools you need to make your promise of value known to the world.

Tim takes you through 5 steps to create and execute your personal marketing plan:

1. Build a Personal Marketing Hub
2. Learn to Engage with People
3. Start Building Social Credibility
4. Inspire Sharing of Your Ideas and Successes
5. Take a Few Calculated Risks

Download the free e-book now. Tim and Job-Hunt welcome you to share it freely with your friends or networks.

Related resources:

My ebook, 23 Ways You Sabotage Your Executive Job Search and How Your Brand Will Help You Land . . . A practical guide to executive branding, marketing your ROI value and navigating the new world of job search

My free Job-Hunt ebook, Executive Branding and Your LinkedIn Profile: How to Transform Your Executive Brand, Resume, and Career Biography Into a Winning LinkedIn Profile

So you’re suddenly in an executive job search or planning one – by choice or by circumstance.

Things look different out there than they did the last time you were seeking a new opportunity, don’t they?

If you’re just starting out or, if your job search is lumbering on and you’re getting few or no interviews or action, you may not know how to job search well.

Or you may be lazy – thinking that if you put out a few feelers and get your updated resume onto plenty of job boards, you can sit back and wait for interviews to roll in. That makes you a passive or REACTIVE job seeker, instead of the PROACTIVE one you need to be.

Or you may be misinformed – putting most of your efforts into job search strategies that yield the lowest return on your time invested. You’re ready to put in the time and do whatever is necessary, but you don’t really know what you’re doing.

You’re a lazy, or misinformed, job seeker if you:

1. Skip over step one – identifying the kind of job you want, targeting the companies that will be a mutual good fit, and researching their current challenges to find out how you can help them solve their problems.

2. Run straight for your old resume (if you can find it) and update it – without first defining your executive brand, and creating content designed to market your ROI and resonate with your target employers.

3. Focus most of your time on job boards – the “monsters” and smaller niche boards. You think that job search in the digital age means hitting the job boards hard because that’s where all the job are. You don’t understand that most jobs are found by penetrating the “hidden” job market.

4. Fear having an online presence and putting yourself “out there” with social networking and social media. You don’t understand that executive recruiters and the hiring decision makers at your target companies are on LinkedIn and other social networks. If they’re hanging out there looking for candidates like you, you should be, too.

Get started with LinkedIn. If you do nothing else with social media, you need to be there, leveraging all that this social network has to offer, just to keep pace with your job-seeking competitors. See my LinkedIn Guide for Executive Branding and Job Search.

5. Neglected your network while you had a job because you didn’t think you needed them any more. Now that you’re looking again, you don’t have the time or inclination to re-connect. It’s too much work! You don’t understand that the way to get at those hidden jobs – where most opportunities lie – is through purposeful networking.

6. Haven’t researched what executive job search is all about today, so you can prepare and do all the back end work, before jumping in.

Are you a lazy or misinformed job seeker?

To get all the inside skinny on landing an executive job in today’s job market, see my post Today’s Executive Job Search Toolkit.

Related posts:

Bullet-Proof Your Executive Career in the New World of Work

5 Key Elements of a Strong Online Personal Brand

Social Media ROI: Is It Worth the Time?

photo by suvodeb