 | |
Bryan Power, our Director of Client Services
and a leading international executive search consultant, answers
some of our most Frequently Asked Questions:
Can a search
firm such as Valerie Frederickson & Company help me find
a job?
Maybe. Search firms can be a helpful part of your job search
strategy. Different recruiters work on different positions
through their specialized industry knowledge or client bases.
Through extensive networks, search firms also know of job
openings that you may never hear about on your own. By sending
your resume out widely, you ensure that your information will
be entered into various confidential databases and you may
be alerted to a greater number of positions. However, search
firms are not there to help you, per se. They are there to
help their clients fill positions, and therefore their focus
is on the corporate client, not the candidate. If you are
not a candidate the client is interested in, the search firm
will let you know and keep your resume in their database for
future consideration. Unless you are the right fit for an
active search, there may be little a search firm can offer
you right away.
How should I
manage the relationship?
A sophisticated networker calls a recruiter once a quarter
or so to share some information helpful to the recruiter.
If you change jobs, you should let recruiters with whom you
have a personal relationship know about it. Recruiters love
reciprocal networking and will be pleased to know about your
personal success. You may be able to help them get work at
your new company, which will endear you to them for life;
they may find you a more desirable candidate because of this
new company experience. Recruiters can also be good confidantes,
sounding boards and advisors, as well as provide help with
compensation and reading the market. If you want to change
jobs, letting a recruiter know is a good way to get “feelers”
out in the market.
I don’t
want my resume sent out without my permission. How can I control
it?
VF&Co, like most retained search firms, will keep your
resume strictly confidential, and will contact you before
presenting you. We will not share your resume with any employer
or give your name to anyone else without obtaining your specific
permission to do so. We will talk to you about a particular
position and then ask your permission to share your resume
with that employer. By working with VF&Co, you gain the
advantage of managing your career and job search in privacy.
Once in a while, we hear that other recruiters may have used
a resume without someone’s explicit permission, but
to us, confidentiality is paramount.
Can I send you
two resumes? I have two different kinds of jobs I can do.
We will only save one, so the answer is ‘no.’
However, even if we did, providing two or more resumes comes
across unfocused or scattered. If you can’t fit your
background and what you have to offer a prospective employer
on one resume, you have a problem you need to solve by either
further soul-searching or better marketing. Valerie Frederickson
& Company’s Career Management & Consulting services
can help you.
I met with a
recruiter and he wanted me to pay him to find me a job. Should
I?
It depends on what you’re talking about here. If you’re
talking about a career counselor who is going to help you
with your resume, strategize your job search for you, give
you valuable feedback, and maybe share some of his or her
personal contacts which have been developed through years
of networking, then, yes – he or she deserves to be
paid like any other professional. If you’re talking
about someone who says that she or he will represent you,
market you, and help you get access to hidden jobs, then probably
not. Most individuals end up disappointed when then hire what
we call a “retail career management firm,” pay
thousands of dollars, and then don’t get much perceived
value. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Real
recruiters are paid by companies, and not by individuals.
Why don’t
recruiters call me back?
Think about it from our point of view: millions of individuals
have lost their jobs over the past couple of years, and they
all want us to call them back, as a courtesy. Unfortunately,
the sheer numbers of prospective candidates make this courtesy
impossible. Instead of running the risk of turning off a recruiter
with relentless phone calls and emails, listen to their feedback
about what the next step is going to be and give them a little
room to do their jobs. If you are a current candidate for
a particular search, then of course we will update you we
have new information. But otherwise, please respect how busy
we recruiters are, and remember how we are compensated.
|
